It's Not Babel, It's Babbling
The idea of using only one language wherever they go has long been an erroneous choice by some Americans. Of course, because English is spoken almost everywhere as a lingua franca, many who venture outside their native country don't bother to study another language. Or they simply do their best to unlearn the little they learned in high school of Spanish or French, let alone Italian or German, the other two most offered. It seems that belief has rubbed off on a few people in Spain.
There was a meeting of important members of the Real Madrid soccer club a few days ago. The members got to air their complaints. One referred to a game played against Liverpool in Kiev. He complained that, when asking directions of a police officer in Kiev, the officer replied in English. The member stated that he is Spanish, he doesn't have to know English, "es que soy español, no tengo que saber inglés." My dear sir, when Spanish reaches the level of lingua franca, then you can expect someone abroad to speak Spanish. Until then, the only lingua francas the western world has mostly known are English and French. And I'm not even going into the East or Mid East, where that would most likely be Arabic or Mandarin Chinese, and where English still takes the cake in this century. But not Spanish, except in concrete areas of the Philippines.
This overblown exaltation of Castilian Spanish has become alarming as of late. Many nationalist groups have appeared, first against African or Asian immigrants, later against the independence movement of Catalunya, that use the language card to claim marginalization in their own country. While Castilian is the official language of all of Spain, there are communities with their own, co-official language. That language is taught in local schools, and encouraged through certain laws, such as in Catalunya, where stores must use Catalan in their signage. All those who opt through official exams to a public job in those communities must also show their dexterity in the local language. In jobs in education or the judiciary, it is obligatory to know the local language, whereas it merely sums points in your favor if the public job is in other sectors.
The political party, Ciudadanos, filed a motion to get rid of the obligation of knowing the local language for those exams. They argued that that obligation hinders job movement. Ciudadanos is a rightist party that, at times, seems to be to the right of Genghis Khan, at least when it comes to the different cultural identities that make up Spain. Franco would have been even more proud of them than of his inheritors, the Partido Popular.
Their argument falls flat, because anyone who wants to sit the exam in a region with its own language, can simply study that language. Most are easy to learn, given the similarities amongst them all, except Euskera. And in the case of Euskadi, the language is not obligatory for most public jobs, only for those where a working knowledge of Euskera is necessary.
But one of the representatives of Ciudadanos in the Congreso, Toni Cantó, himself a Valenciano who must have studied his language in school, argued a couple of days ago that Castilian has disappeared in many regions. "Nobody can deny here that Castilian has disappeared from places like Catalunya, the Balearics, the Comunidad Valenciana, the Basque Country, or Galicia." ("Nadie puede negar que el castellano ha desaparecido de lugares como Catalunya, las Baleares, la Comunidad Valenciana, el País Vasco, o Galicia.") Come again?
Hmmm. That is interesting. So all those people I heard speak Castilian in Vigo the other day, they weren't from Galicia, and Vigo is, in reality, a deserted city? Or a couple of neighbors who speak Castilian, they're here on a visit? So, whenever I hear people speak Castilian, it's because none of them actually live here. And when my doctor speaks Castilian, he's really from Valladolid, and he's working here illegally because he doesn't speak in Galego?
There is an association, Hablamos Español, that contends that the regions with a second language want to impose that minority language to the detriment of Castilian. Their argument is that there is a financial angle behind it, because those that want to impose the smaller languages get money from the government to do so, that they are after that money to create a linguistic monopoly that lives off the government and obliges children to learn in a language that is not their maternal language. So, if one of these families were to move, say, to Germany, would their kids be able to learn in their maternal language? I doubt it. And German would be a little more difficult than Galego or Catalán.
These are ways of thinking that have been left over from when Franco ruled over the "one, great, and free" Spain, and when Castilian was the only language taught in schools and used in the street. The sad part is that these people deny all the benefits of learning a second language that is spoken around them, and then want their children to be perfect English speakers. They argue that Galego, or Catalán, or Mallorquín, or Euskera won't be of any use to their children in the international work force. And that is so wrong. While they may not need to speak in Galego in Berlin, learning to switch back and forth in different languages from an early age helps the brain create different channels and make it more adaptable to thinking differently and learning other, more difficult languages. And it keeps minority languages from dying out.
These people remind me of the ugly Americans that wander around the world in their little English bubble, and don't bother to learn anything about other cultures, just see them in comparison to their own, superior culture. Unfortunately, the world seems to be headed back in that direction of closed curtains.
There was a meeting of important members of the Real Madrid soccer club a few days ago. The members got to air their complaints. One referred to a game played against Liverpool in Kiev. He complained that, when asking directions of a police officer in Kiev, the officer replied in English. The member stated that he is Spanish, he doesn't have to know English, "es que soy español, no tengo que saber inglés." My dear sir, when Spanish reaches the level of lingua franca, then you can expect someone abroad to speak Spanish. Until then, the only lingua francas the western world has mostly known are English and French. And I'm not even going into the East or Mid East, where that would most likely be Arabic or Mandarin Chinese, and where English still takes the cake in this century. But not Spanish, except in concrete areas of the Philippines.
This overblown exaltation of Castilian Spanish has become alarming as of late. Many nationalist groups have appeared, first against African or Asian immigrants, later against the independence movement of Catalunya, that use the language card to claim marginalization in their own country. While Castilian is the official language of all of Spain, there are communities with their own, co-official language. That language is taught in local schools, and encouraged through certain laws, such as in Catalunya, where stores must use Catalan in their signage. All those who opt through official exams to a public job in those communities must also show their dexterity in the local language. In jobs in education or the judiciary, it is obligatory to know the local language, whereas it merely sums points in your favor if the public job is in other sectors.
The political party, Ciudadanos, filed a motion to get rid of the obligation of knowing the local language for those exams. They argued that that obligation hinders job movement. Ciudadanos is a rightist party that, at times, seems to be to the right of Genghis Khan, at least when it comes to the different cultural identities that make up Spain. Franco would have been even more proud of them than of his inheritors, the Partido Popular.
Their argument falls flat, because anyone who wants to sit the exam in a region with its own language, can simply study that language. Most are easy to learn, given the similarities amongst them all, except Euskera. And in the case of Euskadi, the language is not obligatory for most public jobs, only for those where a working knowledge of Euskera is necessary.
But one of the representatives of Ciudadanos in the Congreso, Toni Cantó, himself a Valenciano who must have studied his language in school, argued a couple of days ago that Castilian has disappeared in many regions. "Nobody can deny here that Castilian has disappeared from places like Catalunya, the Balearics, the Comunidad Valenciana, the Basque Country, or Galicia." ("Nadie puede negar que el castellano ha desaparecido de lugares como Catalunya, las Baleares, la Comunidad Valenciana, el País Vasco, o Galicia.") Come again?
Hmmm. That is interesting. So all those people I heard speak Castilian in Vigo the other day, they weren't from Galicia, and Vigo is, in reality, a deserted city? Or a couple of neighbors who speak Castilian, they're here on a visit? So, whenever I hear people speak Castilian, it's because none of them actually live here. And when my doctor speaks Castilian, he's really from Valladolid, and he's working here illegally because he doesn't speak in Galego?
There is an association, Hablamos Español, that contends that the regions with a second language want to impose that minority language to the detriment of Castilian. Their argument is that there is a financial angle behind it, because those that want to impose the smaller languages get money from the government to do so, that they are after that money to create a linguistic monopoly that lives off the government and obliges children to learn in a language that is not their maternal language. So, if one of these families were to move, say, to Germany, would their kids be able to learn in their maternal language? I doubt it. And German would be a little more difficult than Galego or Catalán.
These are ways of thinking that have been left over from when Franco ruled over the "one, great, and free" Spain, and when Castilian was the only language taught in schools and used in the street. The sad part is that these people deny all the benefits of learning a second language that is spoken around them, and then want their children to be perfect English speakers. They argue that Galego, or Catalán, or Mallorquín, or Euskera won't be of any use to their children in the international work force. And that is so wrong. While they may not need to speak in Galego in Berlin, learning to switch back and forth in different languages from an early age helps the brain create different channels and make it more adaptable to thinking differently and learning other, more difficult languages. And it keeps minority languages from dying out.
These people remind me of the ugly Americans that wander around the world in their little English bubble, and don't bother to learn anything about other cultures, just see them in comparison to their own, superior culture. Unfortunately, the world seems to be headed back in that direction of closed curtains.
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| "The Real Academia Galega detects the disappearance of Galego around some cities." "Then what do they speak, because Castilian has also disappeared, according to that 'calamity'." |
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