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From: rwp@hogpc.UUCP (R.PAUL)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: RE: English-only Speakers as Unclutured Slobs
Message-ID: <349@hogpc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Feb-84 13:19:55 EST
Article-I.D.: hogpc.349
Posted: Wed Feb 29 13:19:55 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Mar-84 07:41:04 EST
Lines: 70

[]
Andy Tannenbaum says:

> The ability to perform a specific task comes, most often from
> practice, which comes from a need to perform that task.  ...
> People talk about the fact that SO MANY people who speak native languages
> other than English also learn English, and use that as an argument
> that we should learn other languages.  This argument holds no water.
> People learn English because they find it useful, or necessary.  Not
> out of a sense of goodwill, not out of a pursuit for culture.

This is in reaction to the earlier berating of a net.flame contributor
for stating that he was proud of knowing no other language than English.
While I would agree with Andy that knowing only English does not make
one an "uncultured slob", I do see reasons other than actual need for
learning a second language.  In addition, I believe that his reasons
for the non-English-speaking person's learning English is true only
indirectly in many cases.

After learning Spanish, German, and Russian, I can still see little or no
direct need for having done so (although I actually did use Spanish in
real life on a very few occasions).  However, I did not learn those languages
because I thought I was likely to use them very often.  I learned Spanish
while in high school because many colleges consider having learned a second
language important in their acceptance criteria.  While learning Spanish
I discovered that, in addition to learning a new language, as a student of
a foreign language, I could also learn more about my native language and
increase my knowledge and understanding of a culture different from my own.
As a result, I developed a longing to learn more new languages, and I studied
German and Russian while at college earning a degree in computer science.

One might say that my study of foreign languages was rather fruitless since
I do not see myself using Spanish, German, or Russian on the job; but I
would argue that, while I may have gained little or no direct benefit from
my linguistic studies, the indirect benefits have been plentiful.  For
example, learning a new computer language has become a relatively simple
task, describing the results of technical work to upper management or to
marketing people becomes much easier, and understanding the environmental
influences which may cause people to argue with what I as a technical person
might consider fact is likewise simplified.  The basic skills required in
any of these cases are highly related to the skills developed in learning
a foreign language.  Furthermore, I contend that these skills must be
developed in a discipline different from that in which they will be applied
if they are to be truly transferable to new situations.  I also contend that
the skills developed in learning a foreign language can be transferred to
most any discipline.

This brings me to the reason why many non-English-speaking people learn
English.  Of course, the direct cause is often that their school systems
require it, but this requirement has grown out of observations similar to
those I have made above.  That is, the learning of several foreign languages
(and I know that some European schools require students to learn two or
three) is an aid in developing basic skills which are important to doing
the most effective job in most any profession.

I do not mean to say that only those who have learned foreign languages can
effectively use these skills.  That would obviously be false.  What I do
say is that learning foreign languages is a highly effective method of
developing these skills and perhaps the best method for doing so.  Those
who would profess pride in speaking only one language may not be uncultured
slobs, but I have difficulty in finding valid reasons for their pride.
If one such reason is that those individuals have managed to perfect the
basic skills developed by learning a foreign language without having learned
a foreign language, then I see a reason for pride; but show me a person who
professes to have perfected any skill, and I will show you a pompous fool.

				Rick Paul
				AT&T Information Systems Laboratories
				Lincroft, New Jersey
				ihnp4!hogpc!rwp