Babel

I dare to write and "hang" it on the net but, hey, what I write are things that I really do know.

I have a personalized Google home page and one of the subjects I get news from is Linguistics (both in Spanish and English). I've just read something that got on my nerves. You can check it here if you understand Spanish.

It says that Catalonia is the region in Spain that has the highest scholar failure. OK, that is fine by me, I can believe it. The problem comes when it says that it is like that because of the "linguistic immersion", i.e. because we teach all subjects in Catalan [except, obviously Spanish, English and other second languages]. Oh, come on! I am Spanish Speaker and I had no problem with that (well, some in my early childhood but non afterwards --if I failed was because of me, not because of the language it was explained in). After reading it I've turned back to my colleague at work to ask her about that. She was born in Jaen (Andalucía) and came when she was very little. She told me that she didn't have any problem with it. And though, she is Spanish Speaker; and though, "my Catalan" is "better" than her's; and though, I failed and she didn't.

What is all that about? Oh, come on.

I guess the Statute (Catalan Constitution) thing is creating that boycott and that "silliness" and this I-say-whatever-I-want-only-to-make-Catalans-look-bad.

It says something very funny, though: "The linguistic immersion has failed terribly and it has to be switched to teaching in the mother tongue of the pupil, as pedagogues and international organizations have always recommended". Yeah, right, that's why Spanish cannot learn a second language. But, what is funny in this is that this is now saying: let's teach children in Spanish, Catalan, Arab, Chinese, Romanian, Lithuanian... and this is only a bit of the whole bunch of languages that coexist only in my 14 thousand inhabitants town. Imagine in Madrid or Barcelona, there will be a school every two steps!

I can't believe people is so closed minded.

Before the new 10 European countries joined the EU I read an small article about how bad that was for the English language as, when all those "poor Communist people" come to England to "steal our benefit", they will create new English-whatever Vernaculars (non-English speaking people mixing English with their own language).

This is just pathetic. As I say in my SEV (Spanish English Vernacular) they are taking an ace out of their sleeves just to bother.

[I sent a letter to the editor of that digital newspaper and has been published on the 27th of November. Click here]