Date； 2007.03.26(Mon)
The fear of speaking English
The fear of speaking English less than perfectly is a peculiarly Japanese one.
Most of the world speaks English less than perfectly, yet they struggle on regardless of grammar mistakes and bad pronunciation. The myth that native speakers speak always perfectly is also under scrutiny. The very definition of a native speaker is slowly collapsing amid international marriages, bilingual education and increasing chances to travel work and live in other countries.
If anything, the luxury of speaking only one language will bean increasing rarity in the future. Only the poorest, or ironically, the wealthiest countries, will live monolingually. The poorest countries have trouble accessing the world through other languages, while the wealthiest too confidently assume others will. Learn their language. Dropping this monolingual myth is the first best step to truly make a change.
Japan surely ranks first in the world in sheer numbers of grammar books and electronic dictionaries, not to mention English lessons, yet how often do these help to better understand how to live in the world? The diversity of languages is a testament to the beauty and ingenuity of the human species.
But the future is likely to rest on humankind's ability to create an international culture of communication.
The age of the tower of Babel, where humanity was punished for its pride by being split into different languages, may just be coming to an end. No one can afford to relish its uniqueness at the expense of working with others in a common language. That’s all folks. See you next time. Bye!
Most of the world speaks English less than perfectly, yet they struggle on regardless of grammar mistakes and bad pronunciation. The myth that native speakers speak always perfectly is also under scrutiny. The very definition of a native speaker is slowly collapsing amid international marriages, bilingual education and increasing chances to travel work and live in other countries.
If anything, the luxury of speaking only one language will bean increasing rarity in the future. Only the poorest, or ironically, the wealthiest countries, will live monolingually. The poorest countries have trouble accessing the world through other languages, while the wealthiest too confidently assume others will. Learn their language. Dropping this monolingual myth is the first best step to truly make a change.
Japan surely ranks first in the world in sheer numbers of grammar books and electronic dictionaries, not to mention English lessons, yet how often do these help to better understand how to live in the world? The diversity of languages is a testament to the beauty and ingenuity of the human species.
But the future is likely to rest on humankind's ability to create an international culture of communication.
The age of the tower of Babel, where humanity was punished for its pride by being split into different languages, may just be coming to an end. No one can afford to relish its uniqueness at the expense of working with others in a common language. That’s all folks. See you next time. Bye!