Comments RE Call for response: Tipoff from Becky Kline RE: article in AMERICAN EDUCATOR

[McGinnis, Scott]

From: Maria Carreira [mailto:carreira at csulb.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 8:14 PM

I'm curious to know if I am the only one out there that is not moved or
convinced by arguments such as "For example, we in America understand
perfectly well what we mean when we say a "glorious" morning. If you
said that in France, people would be puzzled. Has a battle been won on
the front? "Glorious" here can apply to the weather--in France, it
cannot. Why is that? The very perception that there is a "why" (to which
there is no answer) is an eye opener... What is foolish in one idiom is
clear as day in another. The two languages have two ways of cutting up
the experience of the world."

As I see it, learning another language takes many many years of hard
work, whereas understanding that languages use different vocabulary to
communicate different perceptions of the world only takes a handful of
well chosen examples. It seems to me that as a profession, we are in
dire need of powerful arguments that can convince the average American
that the long hours of hard work involved in learning a language are
well worth the trouble. Until we come up with arguments that can satisfy
the general public (not us), we will continue to face the usual problems
of public perception.

Best,

Maria M. Carreira, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Spanish
California State University, Long Beach