I hate what the American education system has done with teaching languages, that is to say NOTHING! I hate the fact that for some reason actually learning language is not mandatory. The classes are required to graduate but there is no actual requirement to learn. Spanish is considered a dirty language so no intellectuals ever actually take the class, which means even in Spanish 4 there are still morons whom you can't ever practice Spanish with. French class is better, or at least every person I know who took French knows it remarkably well. And yet Americans are still rarely fluent in a language besides English. Everyone else in the world speaks more languages than we do.
The Germans obviously have an innate advantage over me when learning Swedish since the two languages are about as close as Spanish and Portuguese. Moreover, I hate that the Swedes are so patronizing to me cuz I can't speak Swedish. When I was at a gasque, they were playing some Jeopardy game and someone told them to speak in English since there was someone who didn't speak Swedish. I was the ONLY person that didn't, so they had to make everything harder for everyone in the room just cuz I was there. They say that's cuz it's rude to speak in a language that someone doesn't understand, I see it as when you're in PE and you step up to bat and everyone in the field moves in. Would it be rude of them not to accommodate for your lesser ability?
They also say it's easy for Swedes to learn English, so why doesn't it work the other way around? Because everything on the TV, radio or computer is in English, it's constantly forced down your throat and you learn it practically in utero. It's not easy, you just have a 10 year head start, which is evidenced by the fact that I am as good at Swedish as a 4 year old. Also, whatever they're teaching us it's not what people actually say. So if I'm expecting "Hello, how are you?" I'll likely get "Sup homie G?" then they'll wonder why I haven't learned anything.
This post brought to you by the panic of not understanding Swedish speech 24 hours before my final.
3 comments:
So...how did the final go?
Better than expected, but my expectations were very low to begin with. The parts I did get right were so obviously right I don't even need to worry. The parts I didn't get were irredeemable. We had to listen to an entire traffic report to get the answer to one question. And I think somebody was shopping for a 'pelota'. We'll see how I did in a week.
Well, I've been looking for a blue pelota for the longest time, extra large with pepperoni--you know, the kind with the tassles. So if you find one, let me know, will you?
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