Rant ahead:

[kyrasantae]

One of the disadvantages of subscribing to LJ communities such as linguaphiles and finland is that inevitably, users ask about learning Finnish or studying in Finland and all that. Now, I don't have a problem with it, but sometimes the enthusiasm of these users sting me deep inside. I hold my tongue and say nothing there, but I will say it here.

Great, you want to go there and study there and learn their language and their culture - but why? What has it ever done for you?

I think there's a long-standing opinion of Finnish as a very different and very difficult language, and one of a land from which (apparently) a lot of good music exists (apparently) (mostly in English). The issue with this is that the language becomes a novelty, rather than complementing the intrinsic cultural and historical identity that comes with it.

And that bugs me, just as much as people who are head over heels over learning Chinese because it's the next big business language - go ahead and learn it, but don't learn it just because you can/should/want to, learn it because you care about it on more than the surface level.

I think that if it's more of a novelty for yourself, then learn it locally (as I'm doing with German) or on your own; but if you want to take that big step and dive into the sea, ask yourself first why you want it, and then do it like it means everything. "Genuine interest" isn't quite enough.

Comments

[krikkert.livejournal.com]

Neither am I. It smacks a bit of elitism, and discrimination with regards to motivation.

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

As my early morning fog clears up, there's nothing wrong with learning anything for practical reasons (my "thing" about Chinese has less to do with the language in itself but the misconceptions about the Chinese culture in regards to it)...

However, the immediate "I'm gonna jump right into the language by going there" - without necessarily realizing (though this is fortunately not always overlooked) that it also means jumping into the culture - clicks something funny in me, for accepting the necessity of exposure to that culture demands more than only respect for its positive aspects, but also respect and acceptance of its perceived negativities.

Yeah, that's clear as mud. But there's a reason I posted this as a rant - it is not a request for debate, as I never request debates - it is an expulsion of opinion.

Learning German

[(Anonymous)]

Learning German is useful to advance one's science knowledge or one's knowledge of warfare over the past 200 years. However, a few simple phrases of American Legion German should be enough for anyone. That is to say, German phrases learned while hoisting a few frosties at the local American Legion Post, e.g., "Kommen zie hier mit der hande hoch," covers most situations. The other situations can be handled with, "Nicht schissen; nicht schissen." Please forgive my spelling. I never learned to write in German.

Re: Learning German

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

You're talking to a pacifist, so knowledge of warfare is completely out of the question. Science, however ... ;)

I misplaced that parenthetical comment re: German - it should have come after "locally", as I'm taking courses in it (I've changed this). One of the underlying reasons that I chose to learn German is to better understand the structures behind English; another is to learn to sing in another language. I make no illusions/delusions about wanting to be part of German culture or learning it for the purpose of using it in potential future travels. It's certainly handy for that, but it's not why I'm doing it.

That said, one may interpret these reasons as "frivolous" - but at worst, frivolity is exoticism. And exoticism is not a good way to approach things.

Additionally speaking, I strive to never do anything that does not somehow take on more meaning than its surface meaning; I strive not to do or learn anything "because it's fun" or "because it's challenging" or "because it's interesting/weird". (The latter in particular reeks of exoticism.) "Because it's useful" is fine (as in the German example above).