OK, I hear what you are saying, Sam . . .
But, consider this:
What to say?
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
I don't know...
For some strange reason, I have been feeling the urge of learning some other language lately. . .
What do you think?
Does that make me unpatriotic?
Must be Spring ;-)
ReplyDelete...or maybe just that spam in your mailbox.
ReplyDeleteDo androids dream of electric sheep?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking of Blade Runner's prescient Sino-American cultural mish-mash spliced into a landscape where general corporate influence dominates (as evidenced by the large electronic billboards featuring product placement).
There's no running away from it, Chinese is all the rage.
If one is going to learn a foreign language, Chinese may be more like it:
Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey — dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy.
But another contrary trend has educators and policy makers abuzz: a rush by schools in all parts of America to offer instruction in Chinese.
Some schools are paying for Chinese classes on their own, but hundreds are getting some help. The Chinese government is sending teachers from China to schools all over the world — and paying part of their salaries.
At a time of tight budgets, many American schools are finding that offer too good to refuse.
In Massillon, Ohio, south of Cleveland, Jackson High School started its Chinese program in the fall of 2007 with 20 students and now has 80, said Parthena Draggett, who directs Jackson’s world languages department.
“We were able to get a free Chinese teacher,” she said. “I’d like to start a Spanish program for elementary children, but we can’t get a free Spanish teacher.”
(Jackson’s Chinese teacher is not free; the Chinese government pays part of his compensation, with the district paying the rest.)
No one keeps an exact count, but rough calculations based on the government’s survey suggest that perhaps 1,600 American public and private schools are teaching Chinese, up from 300 or so a decade ago. And the numbers are growing exponentially.
(...)
The number of students taking the Advanced Placement test in Chinese, introduced in 2007, has grown so fast that it is likely to pass German this year as the third most-tested A.P. language, after Spanish and French, said Trevor Packer, a vice president at the College Board.
(...)
Experts said several factors were fueling the surge in Chinese. Parents, students and educators recognize China’s emergence as an important country and believe that fluency in its language can open opportunities.
[The New York Times: Foreign Language Fade in Class - Except Chinese - 01-20-2010]
Do Dolphins speak Chinese?
ReplyDeleteAhhh... sweet sweet ignorance.
ReplyDeleteUpon telling a local gal about my previous marriage to a Brit she proclaimed quite seriously, "Oh my! You can speak British? I don't even know what it sounds like!"
Call me unpatriotic but I think French sounds way sexier than English.
'Course, I also have this completely bizarre attraction to men counting in German. No other words... just numbers. Hubba.