common themes in the introduction thread

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stephen
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Joined: Wed 19 Jul, 2017 5:17 am

common themes in the introduction thread

Post by stephen » Wed 13 Mar, 2019 1:06 am

Many views about the value of language learning tbat have veen expressed have been formed while outside Australia. What doesn't come through so strongly, but which I believe is equally valid is the experience of those Australians of one cuktural or linguistic background who have spent time living or interacting in one or more of Australia's muktucuktural communities. That can be through personal friendships, having a partner, or even living in a region of Australia with a dominant culture other than the Anglo-culture.

Refecting on what some classmates have commented about Australia being monolingual, I think I have a different experience in that regard. Living in China now on and off for 15 years, I find time I spend in Australia refreshingly multilingual. Besides a couple of ex-pat haunts (bars), the smallish (only 4 to 6 million population) city that I live in is monolingual. It is not possible to get basuc goods and services in any other language here besides Mandarin or the Gan dialect (or Uyghur in certain restaurants). In Sydney, I can go 2 hours in crowds hearing people speaking 20 different languages - nobody speaks any foreign language in public in the city where I live - there is intense social pressure here not to. Another point of reflection is a comparison between Australia and Bangladesh and West Bengal. My impression during my visits over the past 4 or 5 years is that that region is bilingual - Bangla and English.

It was mentioned in the postings that Australia could concentrate on just a few foreign languages. I think that if that is something that the government undertakes then it becomes a geo-political statement, but if private individuals choose at a grass roots level, then it reflects personal values. There is also mention made of "Asian" languages. I find the term difficult to come to terms with. I spoke Thai as a child in monolingual (pre-tourism) Thailand and now Mandarin and Gan as an Adult. Asia is a geographical region, not a linguistic family.

There was a mixture of levels of competency in the language mentioned in the initial posts. Some were native speakers, and others still attaining competency. There were also a variety of degrees of attachment to the community of speakers of those languages. Some identified with the communities, some had visited and some had very little contact.

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