HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-10-23, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1996 PAGE 5.
Learning
English
as a second
language
A spelling reformer indicted
For fudge was before the court cited
The judge said 'Enough —
His candle we'll snough
And his sepulcher shall not be whicted."
Anon
Do you ever think what it must be like for
a newcomer to Canada? I mean a real
newcomer — someone from Sri Lanka or
Hong Kong or Ulan Bator who not only has
never heard of k d lang or W. Gretzky — but
doesn't even speak English?
Can you imagine trying to learn English as
a second language?
How long would it take you to figure out
what a sign like NO THROUGH STREET
means? How long would it take you just to
figure out how to pronounce that second
word — is it "thruff' as in 'rough'? 'Throff as
Swahili
in 30 minutes
One of the large multinational
corporations in London approached me. It
seems that there was one of their executives
being transferred to one of their plants where
Spanish was the spoken language. The
executive and his wife had next to nothing in
the way of Spanish and so the request was
that I take the two and bring them up to
fluency in the short time that remained
before they took off.
The operative words here are "in the short
time." This assumption was based on an ad
the company had noticed, which made a
plausible case for learning a language
quickly. "Within a few days," it said, you
can order a meal. In two weeks, "you can
converse with native speakers. After 30
days, you are comfortable understanding and
speaking your new language."
Such statements have driven me up in the
journalistic wall in the past. Yet, in spite of
my lamentations, it seems that hope springs
eternal in the minds of those flogging
language courses; because of this every so
often I have to set the record straight.
As my readers know, I am the last person
who would attempt to discourage anybody
from learning a language. My nomadic
existence in my younger days added five
more languages to the three basic ones I
started out with and, while living in so many
places may have had its drawbacks at times,
the linguistic bonus that it bestowed on me is
literally priceless.
However, if you are not to get mired down
in frustration by your efforts to learn a
foreign language, I think it should be made
in 'trough'? 'Throe' as in 'though'? 'Thrup' as
in 'hiccough'? or is it 'thraow' as in 'bough'?
No, as a matter of fact it's 'throo' as in
'through'.
In the labryinthine logic of English, we lie
in a bed, but lay an egg. A song is sung, but
a criminal is hanged. And we don't
pronounce the 'p' in pneumonia, the 'd' in
Wednesday, or the entire middle of words
like Worcester and Leicester.
Or, for that matter, the 'gh' in 'through'.
'Ch' is pronounced one way in 'character'
another way in 'charter'. Same with the letter
'g' in 'general' and 'gun'.
I'm glad I was born into an English-
speaking family — I don't think I ever could
have learned it from a book.
Especially if the book contained 'Janus'
words.
Are you familiar with Mister Janus? He
was a God the Romans honoured a couple of
thousand years ago. Janus was Heaven's
doorman as far as they were concerned, and
when they built statues of him, the Romans
gave Janus two faces: one facing forwards,
the other astern.
That's where the concept of Janus words
comes from. They too, have two faces, or
meanings — and they face 180 degrees away
from each other.
Take the word 'cleave'. A loving couple
clear that, in spite of what the ads say, there
is no royal/short road when it comes to
learning a language not native to you. If you
are really comfortable, as the ad says, in
speaking and understanding a language after
30 days, I'll climb the Matterhorn.
Ask any of those who have immigrated to
Canada how long it took to feel comfortable
in English and I'll bet it was much more than
30 days. English has this horrible habit of
spelling words one way and saying them
another. It has any number of words which
sound the same, but have totally different
meanings, not to mention sounds which exist
in very few other languages. This is enough
to give one an inferior complex for a decade.
Every other language has its own
roadblocks. German has a word order that
defies logic; Russian has case endings that
would defeat Julius Caesar while the
Romance languages, such as French, Italian
and Portuguese, all have complicated uses of
the subjective form of the verb, something
that has all but died out in English. Asking a
person to get on top of things like this is just
asking too much.
The ad would have one believe that, not
only are you going to feel comfortable with
a foreign language after such a short while,
but you are going to be able to make
speeches to educated business associates,
such speeches to be pivotal in concluding a
business transaction, etc.
Let me tell you my experience when I go
to Switzerland. Most of the people I deal
with in that country speak English and have
for years. But what happens when We get
down to the details? Most of the German
Swiss prefer to speak to me in German; all
the French and Italian Swiss waste no time
in using their own language. The few that
like to use English invariably mix in
German words now and again just to be sure
can cleave to one =other. But an ax can
cleave a chunk of firewood. Thus, 'cleave'
means to stick together and to split apart.
Go figure.
How about the word 'sanction'? The
government sanctions the use of seatbelts in
cars, but it also employs sanctions against
South Africa. So 'sanction' means to endorse
and/or condemn.
Huh?
Similarly, 'fast' can mean speedy or it can
mean immobile. You can run fast or be stuck
fast in the mud. You can 'dust' a crop in a
field (pour crud on to it) or you can 'dust' the
living room table (wipe crud off it).
The word 'left' can be used to mean
departed or still remaining. (He left this
morning. There's one cupcake left.)
'Overlook' can be taken to mean inspect or
ignore, 'buckle' can mean to wilt or to tie
together.
Can someone please tell me how any mere
human being can be expected to make sense
of a language that features Janus words —
words that can have exactly opposite
interpretations?
Like the word 'conservative'. My
dictionary says it comes from the word
'conserve' meaning to preserve and protect
(the countryside).
So how does that explain Brian Mulroney?
they have used the right word in English. If
they have not, I tell them the word they
should have used.
The only exception to all this is a banker
friend in Zurich who has lived in Canada for
many years. When we first met, we used
English because there always seemed to be
somebody present who did not speak
German. Now we have gotten so used to
English that we constantly use it. Each of us
is confident that the other knows what he is
talking about.
In short I would like to meet one of these
30 day wonders just to see how fluent he or
she is.
By all means learn a foreign language or
even more than one. Just remember that it
will not come in 30 days or anything
approaching that.
However, when it does come, you will be
delighted at your accomplishment. There is
an. old saying that learning a new language
opens 1,000 doors. How true it is!
Letter
THE EDITOR,
One of the tributes missed for Jack Bryans
was his desire and success in getting a new
school in Walton.
Jack engineered it so Gordon McGavin
would buy 12 acres from Ernie Stevens and
overnight trade this land on the old schools.
The government had put a freeze on school
building but if you already had the land you
could go ahead.
The rest is history and many people now
agree it was a great idea and a great school.
Thank you Jack Bryans. It was a pleasure
to know and have you in our community.
Neil McGavin.
The
Short
of it
By Bonnie Gropp
A doctor with huma'nity
I have this image of the old country
doctor. They didn't whine about being
roused from their sleep to tend to a sick
child, nor complain about fighting their way
down a country road in a winter blast. They
were never too busy for someone ill and no
one was too poor to receive help.
It sure is a different world now, isn't it?
Angered by the 10 per cent clawback on
their earnings, which Ontario's doctors say
would force them to provide millions of
dollars of free services this year, they have
threatened to refuse new patients. The issue
inspired the Tories to discuss high-level
money with the doctors.
Nurses, who earn an everage annual salary
of $43,600 a year to a doctor's $180,000, are •
being laid off by the thousands. Doctors on
the other hand have zero unemployment.
Hospital closures and a reduction in many
health services areas to save costs, make the
issue seem a bit like the fat cat trying to steal
all the cream.
It all also makes it rather difficult to feel
too sorry for them.
I truly do believe that good doctors earn
every penny they make. I do see the
frustration in having someone else
controlling the amount of money I could
make.
However being a good doctor goes beyond
a knowledge of the profession. It is above
all, using that knowledge, that talent, to help
others at no small sacrifice to themselves.
Real doctors, good doctors I don't believe,
enter the field of medicine for the money,
and they're well aware that it will be much
more than a 9-5, five- day-a-week career.
They are tireless and compassionate.
Perhaps my ideology is an unfair one, but
it is one that I feel fortunate to have based on
experience. Our family practioner when I
was a child, was the stereotypical house call
doctor. Kind and gentle; Dr. Earl's presence
was often remedy enough for a patient in our
home. A phone call brought him almost
immediately to the house and the time he
would spend was unhurried, while his caring
demeanor and tenderness soothed many
minor ills.
Doctors like him were often taken
advantage of. They were undoubtedly a
special breed and while many of today's
may share his compassion or even have
greater practical skills, it is unlikely they
would make even half the sacrifices.
Then there's Dr. Jim Withers. An internist
and teaching physician in Pittsburgh. He gets
top marks for, if not bedside manner, than
curbside. For over three years Withers has
led a team of two dozen doctors, who three
or four nights a week administer to the needs
of the homeless in the city. They don't stop
at tending to their medical needs either, but
provide them with food and clothing.
Colleagues say Withers has gone out in
sub-zero temperatures for several nights in a
row without complaint. He picks maggots
out of open sores and clips the nails on fetid
toes.
His patients say he gives them dignity.
Withers says treating them is a way of
getting back the humanity he lost after
graduation.
Arthur Black
International Scene
By Raymond Canon