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To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (10873)	9/8/2008 12:03:02 AM
From: Wyätt Gwyön	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71454

Now at the University of Hawaii she is studying Japanese this quarter, no doubt to the same ineffective result. actually, probably to much better effect, though it may be she simply has no talent for languages. one cannot write her off simply because she never learned to speak French at an American high school. the way they teach those old-school foreign language courses (French, German, Latin) at US high schools is beyond retarded. they turn the language into some weird kind of algebra where each sentence is a problem that must be solved. especially the verbs, LOL. there are fetishistic books like "500 French Verbs". and of course nobody speaks French in class. you can buy those stupid verb books at any bookstore, which attests to their popularity, and to the popularity of ineffective teaching methods. what do people think, that in the middle of a conversation they're going to whip out their 500 Verbs? no, these books are designed for Language As A Problem. they are Tools to help Solve Problems, like French Composition and other such drivel. get out your protractor, it's time for foreign language class! by contrast, Japanese courses are taught not as math, but to learn to communicate effectively. what a concept. i don't know about University of Hawaii's Japanese program in particular, but their Korean program and Korean Studies dept are the best in the world outside Korea. i visited the campus this summer. the Korean Studies department is housed in a building that looks like a Korean Buddhist temple.

To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (10873)	9/8/2008 3:20:25 PM
From: dybdahl	5 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71454

Much of that can be explained using normal psychology. I grew up bilingual German/Danish, and even though I speak both languages perfectly, I'm not able to translate between them. Later, I also learned English, and I cannot translate between English and Danish/German either... I was at a meeting in east Europe (not Russia) with an important person. He spoke his native language, and I spoke English. The translator translated everything he said into English, and translated my sentences into Russian... why Russian? Because the translator learned English from a Russian-speaking teacher. Also, if you look into MBTI personality type indicator, it is based on a model where the brain has 4 centers, and only one of them is close to the speech center. If your ego is far away from the speech center, chances are that you're not so precise in your speech. Reality is much more complicated than what language can ever describe, and the choice of language is an important factor in developing a culture.