No, not on vacation, unfortunately…  I’ll be starting the comprehensive examinations for my department tomorrow.  In a nutshell, it consists of writing a 50+page essay response, during the course of a week, to a list of 4-5 questions which I’ll receive tomorrow morning.  As such, I doubt I’ll be blogging much until Tuesday, the 7th.  I may still pop in from time to time (yes, I am one of those nerds who relaxes from a long day of reading and writing by…  reading and writing some more), but I can’t guarantee that I’ll be keeping up with the blog in the next week.

Wish me luck!

As compared to MY personal fave, “a vacation from learning.” (HAR!)

Interest in vacations with an academic streak is gaining in popularity. According to a 2006 survey by the Travel Industry Association, 56 percent of travelers said they were interested in taking an educational trip, and nearly 22 percent said their interest was much higher than it was five years previously.

Kaplan defines such excursions as “a vacation in which a credentialed expert provides lectures and/or instruction.” That translates to daily classes or hands-on workshops in the subject of your choice (e.g., foreign language, classical music, art, cooking) held in a select destination (Paris, Shanghai, Santa Fe, etc.). Many programs also pair course work with field trips to food markets, museums, ruins, restaurants and other attractions that provide further illumination.

Foreign language study is perhaps one of the more obvious meeting points between travel and study, but there are many more.  Some countries have learned how to harness their traditions and culture for luring in tourist dollars.  For instance, Thailand has made a killing literally teaching Thai culture in the form of such pursuits as cooking, meditation, martial arts, and massage (no, the legal type!) classes, which one can find across the country on the well-traveled tour routes.  Other countries in SE Asia seem to be following suit.  The rise of eco-tourism has created a cottage industry in ecological/biological-study tours.  Europe has always been a destination of choice for art-lovers, but now some museums and private schools are capitalizing on by offering classes.  Check out your options before you hop a plane, as prices and deals vary.  Also, make sure you get a profile of their main market.  Some of these programs are very much pitched for retiring but still able-bodied baby-boomers, and others cater more to the young backpackers set.  Knowing before you go can make all the difference in how much you actually enjoy the experience.

I came across the following article on the shortage of sign language interpreters. It offers a nice introduction to the subject of “deaf-speak,” which, despite it’s prevalence is oft misunderstood as it’s quite literally “a culture apart.” For those who wonder, please click and read:

For many people who are deaf, there is a culture that surrounds them. People who are deaf have a common pride in overcoming adversity. They choose what they want to be called — “deaf” and “hard of hearing” being the most common terms preferred, according to the National Association of the Deaf. Children attend residential schools so they can learn to live and communicate in the world around them. Their language is a key part of their culture.

“It’s a foreign language,” said Cheryl Willis, a staff interpreter at the Dothan Regional Center for the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. “It’s just like any other foreign language.”

Learning a foreign language in its native country is more than just a crash course — it’s survival. Immersion programs combine classroom sessions with homestays and cultural outings, so that you are all-consumed by the language. You eat it, read it, drink it, speak it, even sleep it (Spanish words were woven into my dreams). If you regress into your American self, you will get lost or left behind or order the wrong kind of salsa. So, you need to talk local, as best as you can.

I received the following link (to a newspaper article) recently:

Hong Kong seems to have an unspoken rule about the local dialect being impossible to learn for foreigners. Caucasian foreigners, that is. I never see Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos, Thais or Indonesians having any trouble with it, nor those ubiquitous American Mormon missionaries. So it cannot be the case that only Chinese have the ability to speak it. Indeed, local Chinese expect the above-mentioned, as well as overseas Chinese of any distinction, to be able to fluently speak Cantonese after a certain amount of time, or upon arrival. Thus it is not the dialect itself that is “too difficult” but locals’ and Caucasians’ perception of it.

Mind you, as I’m studying Cantonese at the moment, this struck a chord. To wit, Cantonese hasn’t yet struck me as being even “very hard” — let alone “impossible,” but, of course, as someone who already speaks Mandarin and Taiwanese, I’m probably not the most representative Caucasian learner of Cantonese. Still, I’ve heard this schtick before in many many places, talking about languages as varied as Japanese, Dutch, Hungarian, and Navajo. There is a constant assumption that there is something “special” about certain languages that makes them “more difficult” or “impossible” for outsiders to learn. This is demonstrably false, as there are inevitably foreigners from all background who do, indeed, learn those languages, and often even some high-profile media personalities will be non-native speakers. As the article points out, there is a certain sense of having a “club-language” — inaccessible to outsiders — by certain locals. This is often evidenced by the open hostility some show towards those foreign residents/visitors who do effectively learn the local dialect.  Like the author in the article, I’ve personally experienced some rather “painful” conversations with people who, despite extremely poor English skills, steadfastly refuse to speak their native language to me — despite clear evidence that 1) I can speak/understand it; and 2) it would make the conversation a lot quicker and easier on both sides.

Still, the flip side to this sentiment is a sense of entitlement often held by Westerners, which convinces them that they simply shouldn’t be expected to learn local dialects. In essence, the attitude is: “I am a Westerner… No matter where I am, you must serve me in English.” The pure asininity of this position should be clear, but it has always amazed me just how many people swallow this attitude instinctively, and are indeed aided and abetted in their endeavors to not learn a language by locals whose own bigotry gives them a vested interest in promoting the “impossible language” myth.

The Mexican government provides books, materials and even teachers to provide Spanish-enrichment classes to American schools, colleges and non-profit organizations, in a little known effort to help Mexican immigrants and other Spanish speakers be fluent in Spanish. The program helps a population with a high drop-out and illiteracy rate master their native language that in turn prepares them to learn English.

Not as strange as it may seem…  It’s essentially based upon the same precepts as bilingual education — with the thought that by teaching Spanish literacy, they up the emigrants chances of learning English, improve their overall job prospects, and better their chances of success in the US.  The immediate counter-question, of course, is whether or not they have invested in similar programs to teach the poor/illiterate in Mexico itself.  Such would illuminate whether this actually is a noble infrastructure-improvement campaign or a craven investment aiming to improve the chances of receiving substancial remittances (which, by most economists’ admission) are practically holding up the Mexican economy at the moment.  It does seem that if they made tackling illiteracy a national priority, it would boost people’s employment prospects within Mexico, making the emigration issue moot (and, ultimately, such would lift the Mexican economy as a whole).

And, behold, the natural counterpoint to yesterday’s article:

California’s immigrants are more assimilated, with more of them reporting last year that they became U.S. citizens and most Spanish speakers now saying they speak English very well, a sharp rise from 2000, according to U.S. census data released today.

As stated yesterday, this puts the lie to the oft heard assertion that present immigrants are just “not assimilating.”  They are, but they are being replaced by new immigrants at such a rapid rate that there is a net-rise in the number of residents (legal and otherwise) who are not assimilated into the American mainstream….

You gotta love those naturalization ceremonies — truly stirring affairs!  Congrats to my friend Sharon who became an official “Yank” this morning!  Welcome to the American family!

And 20% feel they don’t speak English “very well!”

Let the chattering commence:

“It’s very disturbing when 1 in 5 people is not communicating in the common language,” said Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. “Culturally, it creates a sort of tribalism. This country doesn’t have a predominant race or religion; it just has values. That’s a very thin bond. We have shared values and a shared Constitution; we also have to have a shared culture and language… When immigrants congregate in enclaves, they have a harder time learning English and becoming fully American… It’s time to go back to the melting pot, control the borders and let assimilation, integration and intermarriage work…”

Versus

It’s not that immigrants don’t want to integrate - it’s that they need more opportunities to learn English, said Jin Sook Lee, an assistant professor of education at UC Santa Barbara, who remembers the oversubscribed English-as-a-second-language classes she used to teach at community college…. “The fact that people speak a different language in their homes is one of the most untapped resources in our country,” Lee said. “With globalization in economics and politics, we need language competence. These speakers have a great potential to fill out this language gap in our society.”

Good points both, arguing from the two basic opposing perspectives on the still-simmering immigration debate (would you really expect less from two college professors?). They are both correct, more or less, but the split in opinion is a function of individual forecasts of prevailing politics in the next few years. Let me explain:

All research shows that immigrants are learning English at approximately the same rate as has been the norm throughout the history of the republic. Usually the 3-generation rule applies, with the 1st generation immigrants learning barely enough to get by, the 2nd generation being fully bilingual, and the 3rd generation typically being monolingual English speakers. Of course, there is great variation in this: Gov. Schwartzenegger is a handy example of a 1st generation immigrant who, despite a heavy accent, speaks English very well. There are also some groups that maintain their traditional language for freaky long times (e.g., my mother’s family, German Mennonites, came over in the 1600’s and only stopped speaking primarily German at home during WWI). The X-factor in the current immigration wave is the fact that continual replenishment of new immigrants in what has become the most prolonged immigration boom in this country’s history has simultaneously raised the profile of a single language besides English to an unprecedented degree, and has overwhelmed the rate of assimilation, resulting in a continuous growth of immigrant “enclaves.” Simply put, immigrants are coming in faster than they can be assimilated, and immigration opponents’ “doomsday scenario” is that we will eventually hit a “tipping point” wherein immigrant communities will decide en masse that there is no real benefit to assimilation as there will be plenty of goods and services offered in their own language nationally. Of course, no one can really agree as to where this tipping point would take place — to date, it’s just conjecture. There’s no need to point out that there are individuals who already reject assimilation — that just proves the fact that individuals do so, not entire immigrant populations. For every Aztlan-embracing, conspiracy-theory mongering person who bitterly rejects assimilation into the American mainstream (while continuing to demand access to its material benefits), many others proudly embrace citizenship together with its rights and responsibilities. Besides, America is rejected by some of its own sons and daughters (paging Ward Churchhill and Bill Ayers).

The real divide between the two sides comes in their conjecture on the future state of immigration. If immigration continues at the same rapid rate that we have witnessed for the last 20 years, and continues to outpace the forces of assimilation, then we will begin to fracture on ethnic/nationalist grounds. It’s the (oft unspoken) law of the world: distinct nations (re. ethnic/language groups) living together within the same country will eventually start to squabble. Imagine a headline that, say, “60%+ of all Americans speak something other than English at home.” It would necessarily mean a seismic cultural shift in the country. While the language teacher in me starts to swoon at the thought of so many bilinguals, the practical side of me looks at my birthplace (Canada) and does not wish that sort of nationalistic in-fighting on this nation. The flip side of the divide is to assume that current rates of immigration can not possibly continue unabated, whereupon one has to wonder what all the fuss is about. If immigration rates dip, and the country experiences a bit of a breather (which historically, it always has), then all present immigrants will be assimilated over the coming generations and this will all be a historical footnote. This is why last summer’s “amnesty wars” in the Senate and the House were so contentious and so important, because ultimately they proposal under discussion had the potential to cause the above headline to read nationally within 20-50 years. Of course, there are other intervening factors. The present economic downturn catastrophe is likely to put the brakes on immigration for a bit. Any serious efforts at enforcement against illegal immigration (I know, not bloody likely given the current two candidates for POTUS) would also have an effect. There was a noticeable drop here in AZ after the new employment laws went into effect this year. Any factor that deprives immigration of constant influx of “new blood” will reinvigorate assimilation. Ultimately, if immigrants view their livelihoods and well-being as being connected to the larger community — and not just an “ethnic enclave” — they will, by-and-large, embrace the English language and American culture just as previous generations have.

Hey, you study a language for a couple years in college… Maybe, if you’re really lucky, you get to spend 1-2 semesters abroad using the language, and you come back with a reasonably high grasp of it… And then, you get a job, you start a family, you settle in a suburb, and before you know it, you realize you haven’t used the language in 10 years, and you’re forgetting it… You struggle to use the language when opportunities present themselves, and you find yourself forgetting the “easiest” of vocabulary…

The classic struggle: how do we maintain language skills when we are away from the groups that speak the language?

SMUDaily has an article devoted to tips for keeping your language chops in practice, but it can all be summarized as “continue to practice.” It’s simple and difficult at the same time. Language study loses its urgency when it no longer is a determines how well we can grocery shop or do our jobs. If you are away from any community that speaks your chosen foreign language, if you want to maintain your skills, you have to create a community. Fortunately, the rise in internet technologies makes this easier than ever before, but it still takes some considerable effort. Read books and magazines in the language (check regional/national pages of Amazon.com). Listen to podcasts and radio broadcasts. Make “friends”from other countries on websites. Check for language clubs in your local area. It’s doable, and if your FL skills mean much to you, it’ll be worth it.

The good news is that, even with some deterioration of your immediate FL knowledge, the skill isn’t “lost,” per se, so much as simply shoved to the back of a mental drawer. Language skills can be reactivated by renewed study or reimmersion. I’ve been through this many a time with my own languages, but I find that whenever I am placed into a situation wherein I need to intensively use a language that I may not have touched for years, although I have a rocky start, usually after “priming the pump” for 5-10 minutes, things start coming back easily. Additionally, if I go back to a country, usually I’ll pick up where I left off (skill-wise) within a couple weeks. The brain remembers… It just takes some time and effort.

Quick note: My own personal nemesis in this regard is the tendency for my brain to prioritize languages based upon current use patterns. I.e., if I am in Japan, it’ll be more difficult to recall and use languages other than Japanese (and English, of course), as it will become foremost in my brain. Fortunately, when I’m in the U.S., I pretty much have equal access to all of my languages (although, admittedly, due to my wife’s presence, Chinese tends to stay more “primed” than others). Studying an additional language can also throw things a bit a-kilter — especially if there is any significant overlap with languages you already know. While a brand new language probably won’t have enough activation to mess you up too badly, the act of studying actually tends to put concepts into the forefront of your memory, and can sometimes suppress access of better-known vocabulary from other languages. For example, my current Cantonese study, has caused me, upon occasion to have to “think through” certain vocabulary items when I speak Taiwanese — to ensure that I’m not confusing the two (many words are very close between the two languages — think Spanish/Italian).

Three years ago, the Defense Department set out to increase sharply the number of military personnel who speak strategically important languages. Progress has been slow, and the military has not determined how to reach its goal — or what exactly that goal is.

They tried appealing to soldiers pocketbooks — they offer substantial bonuses for critical language proficiency — but apparently only 1.2% have earned such thus far… The sense I get from military friends and colleagues is that everyone seems to feel that they’re on the right path, but everything is moving predictably slowly. We’ll probably have a large cadre of Arabic military linguists in 20-40 years, but by that time our primary military focus may well have shifted somewhere else. The difficulty is in predicting these needs — something we’ve done extremely poorly historically.

Ultimately, they may well be hitting some logical constraints. As I’ve mentioned here before, when one joins a branch of the armed services, military linguist is perceived as one of the better roads to take, offering serious skills with practical applications outside the military, as well as often having bonus schemes attached and some considerable prestige. The only position that is continuously draws more applicants is “pilot.” However, many report that, once in the linguist training program, the training they receive at DLI or elsewhere to learn the language is extremely rigorous, and the attrition rate is high. The process is long, expensive, and relatively few candidates finish (compared with the beginning applicant pool), so, while they are trying to recruit more people to the position, the very rigors which ensure quality act as brakes on a sudden enlargement of the ranks of qualified linguists. They, in effect, can only hope higher numbers of highly competent and motivated people throw their hats into the ring.

Sigh! I am tempted to tell them to hire me then… But, honestly, I don’t think I could hack that many push-ups…

Just thinking out of the box here, but one strategy for the military to beef up their numbers would be to try offering heavy incentives for people with pre-existing language skills to join (and thereby streamline their training). It would also be worth it to consider what duties could be separated out and performed by civilian contractors. It’s likely that this already happens to some extent, but I’ve no idea how much. The limiting factor to both ideas is security considerations. For example, an American-born child of Arab immigrants, fluent in Arabic and English could still face restrictions on what work he/she could do, due to security clearance problems stemming from the fact that he/she would likely still have non-U.S. citizen relatives (possibly still the parents). I discussed this with a military recruiter once a few years back, and was shocked to find that, despite their practically salivating over my resume, that they would be unable to use my linguistic talents until my wife was naturalized as a US citizen. Even after being naturalized, my wife, if she were to join the military would still face a reduced security clearance because her immediate family is all still in Taiwan.