From: Olga Bourlin (fauxever@sprynet.com)
Date: Thu May 16 2002 - 01:51:39 MDT
From: "Amara Graps" <amara@amara.com>
> Olga Bourlin:
> >"Dossy":
> > > Because it's easier to learn languages at a young age than it is
> > > as an adult.
> >No argument there - of course it is. But that still doesn't answer my
> >question - "But why?"
>
> You don't learn well about a culture if you don't know their language.
One can make the argument that one cannot learn well about a culture unless
one lives in [whatever] particular culture for years, starting from a young
age, but that is not usually practical except for families whose work takes
them abroad for a time. "Living alongside the natives" may give a child a
glimpse of a culture, but I think the culture in the child's home will still
predominate. IMO, a child learning the French language (say) in a school in
the United States will not have as good an insight into the French culture
as a child who actually goes and lives in France for a few years - whether
the latter child speaks French in France ... or not.
> (who hopes that the human world does _not_ diminish into a bland, uniform,
> monoculture)
I don't know how to break it to you, but the Colonel's chickens have already
invaded Beijing.
Olga
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