Dear all,
I enjoyed last week's discussion where not only ufology but also religions, cultures, and issues of right to know are addressed. Thanks James for having the interesting article!
This week we are going to talk about issues of the conflict between mother tongue and English. Though the case the author addressed is happening in Indonesia, I think we may reflect what happens there to what may happen / has happened in Taiwan. As Maria is from Indonesia, it would help us better understand the situation if Maria can provide her personal experiences and perspectives. However, Maria can't make it on July 31st. That's ok. We still have alternatives. If possible, Maria you can leave you comments regarding the article below on this blog, or you can share your perspectives with us the week after.
Sorry Maria I did not intend to put you on the spotlight, hope you dont mind :P
So here's the article we are going to discuss on July 31st (Taiwan time):
As English Spreads, Indonesians Fear for Their Language
Talk to you soon :)
Best,
Angela
What a news! ^.^
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I was so surprise to encounter that my 6 years old nephew could speak English more fluently than when I was in high school! But he is not attending any english-speaking private school, although still private school (since he is a Chinese, and still, no Chinese feel "at home" at public school). The different with my generation is that he began to experience English every since he was in Kindergarten, plus ... computer game! Compare with my childhood, I began my english after I finish elementary school, even the holywood movies that was broadcasted on TV program were translated into Indonesian.
Before we judge if it's a good phenomena or not, I think we need to ask ourself, what language is for. It's a tool for communication right? That's why our first president chose Bahasa Indonesia (which actually is from Malaysia) as our National Language because it was the most spoken language in Indonesia at that time (due to commercial activities). You might already know that Indonesia used to have 27 provinces, and each province at least has 3 different local languages, which I can say, completely different from one another. So you can say, even Bahasa Indonesia was once a foreign language in Indonesia.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLike Japanese, there're new terms in Bahasa Indonesia too. The English word "internaTional" is translated into "internaSional". When I read Indonesian newspaper, sometimes I need English-English dictionary to be able to understand those new terms. Worst, the Bahasa Indonesia that is on the "market" now is either acronym or abbriviation.
ReplyDeleteSo how if it's extinct?
Well ... The original languages that were spoken in South America were extinct completely, lost to Spanish and Portugese, and they still can communicate well.
Although I agree that it's crucial to protect indigenous culture (language somehow reflect to each different culture) and maintain our rich humanity, but, who can survive a life without conveniency?
I can't. ^.^
And with this fast globalization, mix-race marriage, I believe the border between culture is fading further away. Is that bad? I don't think so, for me it's a new culture.
A word from my husband, he believe that second language should be teach when the kid has reach a certain maturity, or that kid gets mix-up and can't even speak his mother tounge well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the article, Angela! Now I know that learning English is dangerous ;)