>Susan Hottle wrote: >"I still marvel at how many Europeans use more than two languages! Fluent in >two& can get by in a couple more!!" > Pene Piip wrote >This is because in Europe the school curriculum dictates that a student learns >the mother tongue& two other languages. This is compulsory! >In Soviet times the schools in Estonia taught Russian, as well as German& >Estonian. >Now students learn Estonian with English as first 2nd language& then they can >choose between Russian, German,& recently French. Other languages are offered >at Tertiary Level. >But I don't understand why Russian people don't seem to know English! The >country is one of the competitors in the Eurovision Song Contest but not a >member of the EU!
My cousin, living in my grandfather's village on the east side of the Rhine from Alsace complains that while the children learn English in elementary school, they have to take French in the higher grades because it is a requirement that their second language be the one on the other side of the border. They want to learn English because it is more useful economically. Her uncle has been a baker in the US since 1956. When I pointed out that the French/Alsatians had to do the same thing, she retorted that they already spoke German since they are Alsatians, and Alsace was part of Germany for a long time. Unfortunately there is absolutely no history of making lace in that part of Germany. Sigh. The real advantage for Europeans is that they learn at least on other language before the age of 10. After that, the synapses in the brain close, and the same facility in another language is very hard to attain. In the US, they only start teaching another language to most students when they are 13. BIG difference. Hopefully that is changing. But with such a huge country, and with only one language, historically, and only Mexico as a border country where everyone speaks another language, apologies to the Quebecois, the advantages of a second language are not immediately seen. People in the US tend to be at least as provincial as those in other countries. It is not to be wondered at, since few go to a country where English isn't the main language. And, the US is actually quite good at absorbing other cultures into its own. My one grandmother never learned English, although she was born here. The town where she lived in Minnesota was populated exclusively by Russian Me nnonites, who spoke German, [long story] and so there was no need. Her son, my father, was tri-lingual. Low German at home, English in school, which is where he learned it, and High German in church. But since my mother didn't speak German, I didn't learn it at home. Daddy tried, but we didn't live in a German community. And the German speakers around me, like my other grandmother and the German born grandfather, would never speak it to me, as they wanted me to be American. Since I grew up in New York City, home of the immigrant, I can say it was the same with Italians, Russians, Jews, Greeks, who all came over from somewhere else. And I can say it is the same way for the large Puerto Rican community here in Lancaster. The children come with their parents to the parent teacher conferences, so the child can translate to the parents what the teacher says. And no one mentions lace. Very sad. I am not aware of the Puerto Ricans making lace here in Lancaster, yet I know it is part of the Puerto Rican culture. Ah well, I have Arachne. Lyn in Lancaster, PA, where it's sunny and cold this morning. 26F -3C. But the tree branches are turning red with buds, and I'm taking the train to the Philadelphia Flower Show tomorrow, which for me is the beginning of spring. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
