Comments on: Portrait of a linguistic shirker

By: Migration, constraints, and suffering – Language on the Move

Migration, constraints, and suffering – Language on the Move — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 21:13:38 +0000

[…] I. (2016). Portrait of a linguistic shirker. Language on the Move. https://languageonthemove.com/portrait-of-a-linguistic-shirker/ Piller, I. (2016). The real problem with linguistic shirkers. Language on the Move. […]

By: Jean Cho

Jean Cho — Mon, 02 May 2016 06:35:00 +0000

I agree with Benjamin that a lack of time usually experienced by working parents is one of the reasons that hinder foreign language learning. At the same time, however, I do believe that there are more intimate reasons related to individual language ideologies as seen in Graf’s case. His attachment to the German language must have been much stronger than others for being a novelist. Learning English was a threat to his German, without which he would lose his raison d’être . It suggests that one should look into ideologies related to both the original and foreign languages in order to properly understand “language refusal” among immigrants. An interesting and albeit opposite case can be found in Murakami Haruki, who was willing to learn English and actually lived in the U.S. for writing (obviously in Japanese). While he is known as a proficient speaker of English, he describes English as a “sad foreign language”. It doesn’t necessary indicate his frustration at not being able to master the language but he experienced and observed that feelings associated with learning a language that is not a mother tongue were just sad, particularly for immigrants.

By: Benjamin Geer

Benjamin Geer — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 12:52:00 +0000

I suspect a more common scenario is the one I find myself in. I learned three second languages very well as an adult. Then, three years ago, my wife and I moved to Germany, speaking very little German, because she got a fixed-term academic contract here. All along we’ve been assuming that we wouldn’t be able to stay here permanently even if we wanted to, and thus that there wouldn’t be much point in investing in gaining a high level of proficiency in German. Even if we were highly motivated, having full-time jobs and raising a child simply doesn’t leave us with enough free time and energy to do so. I know from past experience that to reach an advanced level, one needs to study and practice the language almost full-time, which was possible when we were childless students. Now we would need to find a babysitter just to be able to take a language course in the evening, during which we would be exhausted after work, and which would reduce even more the limited amount of time we can spend with our kid and with each other. The only way I can imagine myself learning German is if I could do it during working hours, which is the only time I have enough energy to concentrate on such a demanding mental task. This is indeed what I’m planning to do, but my boss is unusually flexible and understanding; how many bosses would agree to such an arrangement? Moreover, in my experience, language courses have been nearly useless above novice level. I’ve found private lessons to be much more effective, but they’re much more expensive. How many immigrants could afford them? If my own experience is any indication, some of the requirements for immigrants to learn the local language would be (1) permanent employment contracts, (2) flexible working hours and/or childcare provision enabling immigrants to devote considerable time each day to learning the language, and (3) funding for private lessons for those who can’t afford them.