The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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The German dilemma thelinguist.uberflip.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 27 OPINION & COMMENT Is German's reputation as a 'difficult language' putting off UK learners? JOANNA BIERNAT German is not a popular study language among English learners. This is mainly down to the fact that German tends to be referred to as a complicated language. A belief in the complexity of German is not new. The scholar Mark Twain 1 provided a strong argument for German being a significantly confusing language. According to him, there is no language so 'untidy' and 'without a system'. No wonder learning it is considered to be an uphill struggle. Nowadays, even native German speakers associate their mother tongue with a high degree of difficulty, particularly since the new spelling rules came into effect. This is partly why German Studies is not a popular choice in schools, universities and adult education in Germany. In looking into and beyond the complexity of the German language I found that English speakers tend to believe that English is more simple grammatically than German and less detailed in its forms of expression. Its sentences are considerably shorter, and the number of relative sentences and grammatical exceptions is lower. Moreover, in the UK, learning German is seen as problematic and challenging compared to languages such as French, Spanish and Italian. Observations Having taught German in the UK for more than nine years, I have observed many English-speaking students experiencing problems in formulating simple sentences and understanding basic grammar rules with which students of French or Spanish usually have few problems. Meißner claims that, when defining a particular language as difficult, learners do not mean it in a purely linguistic sense, but more likely refer to their own learning experience, which can have a significant impact on language perception. 2 After Educational issues have dominated coverage of languages in the media over the last couple of months, with Schools Minister Nick Gibb's announcement that the Conservatives intend to implement their manifesto promise to expect all pupils to take GCSEs in 'traditional subjects', including a modern language. NUT General Secretary Christine Blower was quoted as saying that this had, in effect, made the EBacc compulsory. Foreign language learning in Wales also enjoyed a number of column inches with the publication of the first Language Trends survey of secondary schools. The headline from Wales Online captured the key point that 'foreign languages are becoming increasingly marginalised' in Welsh schools. The news sparked a number of letters and opinion pieces, including Abbie Wightwick's 'Why I wish I had pursued foreign languages' and a great piece by the British Council's Mark Herbert in The Telegraph. In other news, The Express had one of its now regular digs at the costs of translation and interpretation in public services, reporting that the 'taxpayers' bill for migrants up in court' was £17 million last year. The way it was reported suggested that these migrants were almost certainly criminals (rather than witnesses, victims or people unjustly accused) and that many spoke English while pretending not to. The election in May brought the news that newly elected MP for Aberavon, Stephen Kinnock, speaks five languages, but these do not (yet) include Welsh. Kinnock shares the distinction of having a degree in Modern Languages from Oxbridge with Mary Creagh MP, who was briefly a candidate for Labour leader. But my favourite piece of coverage this time has been Jeb Bush's widespread use of Spanish in his presidential campaign in an attempt to appeal to Hispanic voters. His campaign logo, 'Jeb!' has proved particularly adaptable, nicely translating into Spanish as ¡Jeb! Teresa Tinsley is Director of Alcantara Communications; www.alcantaracoms.com TERESA TINSLEY © SHUTTERSTOCK