Do you also speak English? – Why English as a second language is generally better in certain countries

 

[women showing confusion*]

Several years, I attended a conference in Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, and needed to talk to a bank in regards to a credit card issue. I entered a local management branch and asked the question “Does anybody speak English or French?”. Of the more than 20 executives, college graduates I presume, only one said that she could speak a little French. The less said about the Spanish taxi driver who could not even read an address, the better. By contrast, almost all Israelis, from taxi driver to bank executives,  speak quite passable English, some of them almost fluently. This contrast leads to the question of why in certain countries most people know, as compared to study, a second language, English being the most common and most useful, while in others the second language is truly foreign. As I see it, admittedly based on intuition, the following four factors influence absorption of English and other second languages to one degree or another:

Resemblance – Learning a foreign language, especially for adults, is a daunting jump into the unknown. Clearly, if a person’s native tongue and the second language have the same alphabet, even with small variations, the latter feels already seems a bit familiar. If the two languages share some roots, e.g., French/English and German/Dutch, people find it significantly easier to study and remember vocabulary, a vital step in learning language. Yet, having a different alphabet or different roots do not in themselves make a language unapproachable but merely add an element of difficulty.

Government policy – Most national education systems include English as part of their curriculum. However, the starting age, number of hours, training of the teacher and quality of the materials vary significantly. Clearly, the ideal is to start teaching a foreign language as early as possible since small children enjoy superior language learning capabilities. Ideally, locally produced learning materials are better as the cultural references better reflect the experience of the learners. Some governments use their power to influence television programming, choosing to produce and broadcast English language learning programs for various ages. English road signing as a matter of policy also increases exposure to the language. In this manner, English becomes a second language, not a foreign language.

Exposure – Regular exposure to a second language creates natural opportunities to use it. While many countries still dub movies and TV programs, those ‘forced” to hear the original English, even with subtitles, improve their listening and reading comprehension to one degree or another. The Internet era has clearly elevated English to an essential language in navigating the Net and accessing information. Searching, whether for information or products, clearly involves some English as the machine translation of sites in many languages can be extremely confusing. Academics in almost all fields depend on English language sources, whether written or oral presentations, to stay up to date. Regardless of their origin, the language of communication of most tourists is English, especially in countries with exotic languages. Where English is prevalent and useful, people see the need to learn it.

Willingness – The subjective element has an important influence . Specifically, people in some countries, in particular those that had great empires or are geographically isolated, feel great pride in their heritage and assume that others should speak their language as a matter of respect. They view speaking a foreign language as unnecessary and, to a certain degree, degrading. Clearly, not every citizen shares this attitude but often a large percentage of population do feel this way. By contrast, native speakers of statistically irrelevant languages, such as Hebrew and Islandic, know that outside of their country (and a few cities abroad in the case of Hebrew) they must speak English. It even becomes a matter of pride and high style to insert English in their native languages. A look at the store signs in Israel shows how highly English is esteemed. People have to be open to using a foreign language to make it a true second language.

Looking at the spectrum of use of English throughout the world, we can see, on the one hand, countries where the English-speaking tourist has no problem managing with a sprinkling of the local language and large portion of English. On the other hand, there are places where tourists have to resort to sign language and pictures, such as in many parts of China and even a few countries in East Europe. The reasons for this variance are far from simple and involve government policy, the international reality and intrinsic attitudes. The result, among others, is that not all countries are created equal in tems of foreign language accessibility.

* Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.

Picture credit

Beautiful nothing

 

[picture of the Golan Heights from Ma'ale Gamla]

I just celebrated my birthday in a guest cabin (tzimmer in Hebrew) on the southern edge of the Golan Heights community of Ma’ale Gamla. The view from the porch overlooks a long barren slope leading down to the valley below with the fruit groves and water reservoirs and the eastern edge of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret in Hebrew) to the left. In the far distance there are hints of Tzfat and other northern cities in Israel. Actually, due to the cloudiness and rain, everything was a bit grey and fuzzy. Aside from that, there is almost nothing there – no cars, no noise, no people and no tumult. In fact, the nearest restaurant is some 35 minutes by car. In short, aside from the fat garden cat (who has somehow avoided becoming lunch of the local wild dogs) and the resident birds, there was no action.

While for some this would be vacation from hell, for me, this is the place where merely being here makes me smile. I felt grounded there, at peace, undisturbed by the winds of real life. The nature is as unspoiled as you can get (and only 30 minutes from where I live). Bird song and cat meows filled any sound void. The quiet allowed my soul to relax. The pitterpattering of the rain on the roof was calming, reinforcing my determination not to anything forced. As for food, we brought our food, allowing us to eat whenever our stomachs so requested. As a couple, a few days away from the daily small annoyances of domestic life only reinforced why we are together. Work did not exist. As for what I did, the list is short: solved crossword puzzles, read le canard enchainé, stared at the Kinneret, slept, rested and ate too much chocolate; in short, I had a perfect weekend.

When I lived in Oregon, many moons ago, I knew factory workers who lived for their annual hunting trip, talking about it all year round and planning it in great detail. I now understand that type of thinking much better. These blessed moments of being where we want to be may be few and far between but they justify why we put up with the annoyances of work. I am lucky in that I have created a solid work balance and enjoy my routine. Still, balancing translation and teaching can sometimes be stressful in terms of time management and tasks. The knowledge that a few times a year I can do what gives me unadulterated pleasure makes life so much better.

There are those for whom heaven is an exciting day in a big city. For me, a quiet day in nature is much satisfying. Nothing can be so beautiful.

The real oases of Israel

 

[Desert oasis*]

Israel traditionally is a magnet for tourists. They come to touch the portkeys, as Harry Potter would say, to their spiritual past, whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Bajai. Whether it involves the Wailing Wall, church at Capernaum, Dome of the Rock or Bahai Gardens, the touch with these old stones creates a magic connection for many visitors.

For those open to and seeking the modern Israel, the magic is its omnipresent oases, not those in the desert but in the surprises hidden in its people. What makes physical oases so special is neither their greenness nor the sandy color around them. It is the sudden wealth that appears from nowhere, from deep under the ground. Likewise, Israel is an extremely heterogenous country with people from all countries of the world and all backgrounds. Even the tourists in their air-conditioned buses cruising the country from one old rock to another notice how excited and energetic people are. The constant babble of Hebrew and Arabic, among the many languages, creates an almost monotonous background. However, even a monotonous short conversation reveals unexpected wealth.

Unlike many countries, outside appearance simply does not reflect the person. For example, as part of the introduction to the course I teach, I ask my engineering students, in the early to mid 20’s, to tell me about something special they have done (in their short lives). In response, I have met national swimming champions, winners of international karate championships and professional divers, to name just a few surprises. Just recently, the head of the Israeli Translators Association, Uri Bruck, gave a fascinating and detailed Zoom lecture on the history of the English translation of the Bible. I have known him for many years but had no idea that he was so knowledgeable in the subject and had delved into it out of curiosity, not as part of any religious studies.  In fact, it is quite common in Israel to discover the person next to you in line in the supermarket wearing old jeans and a faded sweatshirt is the head of a hospital department or institute of academic learning. Appearances can truly be deceiving.

Granted, like the slug jelly beans in Harry Potter (again), the surprise  is occasionally less than pleasant. A seemingly innocent comment can trigger a wild tirade from a taxi driver. However, far more often, the modern Israel is filled with omnipresent oases, the unexpected fruit riches of its people. These discoveries are, in my mind, more interesting and palpable than its famous old rocks and clearly render any trip to Israel unforgettable, as Nat King Cole would say.

* Always add caption to pictures to allow access to the blind. 

Picture credit:Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/papafox-7788876/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=3281084">Peter Fischer</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=3281084">Pixabay</a>

Valencia, plus or minus

My wife and I recently visited Spain, more specifically Valencia, for the first time, spending a total of a week in that city. The purpose was to attend a conference (see previous post) but we also played tourist. Seven days does not make you a connoisseur of a city but still creates clear impressions, however errant they may be.  So, I apologize in advance for any rushed judgments.

As the name of the city suggests, the oranges and orange juice were plentiful and good.  For that matter so were the coffee and beer, which I thoroughly enjoyed (but did not abuse). As for the Sangria, I am allergic to grapes and chose to avoid it but not because of its taste.  In terms of meat, there was lots of jamon (ham) and its cousins.  Of these porcine delicacies, I acquired a tasted for certain sausages (whose name escapes me but they are small and red) but found the bacon rather limp. We spent the whole time in the old city and ran into two phenomena, churches and smiles.  Our walking guide said that there were 24 churches in only the old city only, albeit with only a few actually regularly active. They do provide interest, both architecturally and historically, but that is a matter of taste. Actually, the most interesting site to visit in the old city is the covered market. It is clean, large and filled with tempting food, especially oysters, one of my favorite foods.  The oysters I sampled, twice, were among the largest I had ever eaten. In terms of atmosphere, the smile and good humor of the residents is contagious.  The Spanish way of rolling through life is a nice contrast after the tension of Israel.

Less is not always worse but sometimes detracts. For example, the level of knowledge of English outside the hotel was close to absolute zero.  For example, I had to ask a question at a bank and entered a branch of a major European bank.  There were at least 10 bankers, assumingly with college degrees, but only one could speak French while none could speak English.  I was rather surprised to see this level of monolinguism in a city of 1 million people.  Likewise, the desserts and pastries in particular were far from tempting and not worth taking seconds. I find this surprising given the high-quality raw materials that we saw at the central market. A bit spoiled by my French heritage, I also found local use of spices in food to be a bit minimal and unbalanced, aside from saffron, of course. Furthermore, the lack of light in the sky until 8:00 in the morning was almost uncomfortable but the Valencians are not to blame for that. On the other hand, I was impressed by train system in Spain.  We took the express train from Madrid to Valencia and sat in the quiet wagon.  The trip was indeed fast and quiet.  Speeds reached some 300 kph with almost complete silence in the cabin.  We took advantage of it on the way back to Madrid and enjoyed our siesta.

On the bright side, we didn’t see much of the three things and were quite happy to make do without them: sugar, salt and litter. Those sweets we did eat lacked the overbearing sugar content typical of American and many Israeli desserts. Likewise, people with high blood pressure can relax in Spain, apparently, as cooks don’t overdo the salt, at least where we ate. Finally, the Valencia I saw is a clean city, almost without the plastic bags, cigarette buds and sunflower seeds that are typical of many Mediterranean cities. You can  call it addition by subtraction.

All in all, we had a wonderful time, discovering an unknown world and fueling a desire to explore other regions in Spain. Writing this post, I thought of Alexander Dumas, who funded his writing by writing travel guides, including to Spain and Russia, funded by hosting governments of course. I paid my own way but enjoyed the never-ending process of unfolding the world and discovering alternative realities.  Hasta la vista, Spain.