If there were Language Olympics…
Hello Mynglers!
I was watching the 8th World Games that currently take place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and somehow my thoughts were led to languages! You may now wonder “What games?” and “How are they linked to languages?” but bear with me!
The World Games are bringing together 3000 athletes from 98 participating countries for this quadrennial sub-Olympic event. In contrast to its Olympic cousin, the World Games feature more than 30 “less global appealing” sports including tug-of-war, water skiing, Frisbee and rock’n'roll! These sports have thousands or even millions of enthusiasts. Some people view these as jokes, while others take it as their professional goal.
The question is who gets to decide which sports are considered “mainstream” or “serious” enough and which are worthy to practice? Most importantly, what has this has to do with language learning?!
Let me explain:
There are about 5,000-6,000 different languages spoken in the world today. We often use different criteria to judge whether something is worth of investment such as popularity, usefulness or value.
While Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly spoken language, English is granted as the most useful one. In addition, Spanish, French and German are some of the obvious popular business language to learn; Arabic and Hindi recently joined the list due to their attractive booming markets.
People would certainly argue learning languages is not always for business use. Sometimes it’s simply a way to connect and interact with different cultures, while others learn a new language for family reasons.
So back to the question, how are languages considered “important” and “relevant” to learn?
Would that be languages that can be officially certified? What about dead languages like Latin or Ancient Greek? And what about all those fictitious languages that spread from a writer’s imagination? They captured the people’s hearts and minds and expanded in wondrous and unexpected ways. Would you consider it a joke or juvenile thing to learn Klingon or Quenya? After all they are languages with proper grammar and dictionaries. People may learn new languages due to the educational aspect of it and the pure pleasure they obtain. We have all experienced the excitement of mastering a new skill, haven’t we?
I’m going to use myself as an example.
Since I was a kid I wanted to learn Quenya but I was either discouraged by my peers or didn’t find the time. I have this ongoing debate in my head, should I only spend time on enhancing the professional language, English or the local language, Dutch, given I have recently moved to Amsterdam, or Quenya, my long-time interest? OR Mandarin, or Japanese? This list can go on and on and on and on. But I need to have a priority here, right?
Panos
July 24th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
I voted for Dutch. I think it also good to speak at least a little the language of the country you are living in. This depends of course on how long you plan to stay there.
And I wanted to add that you are really doing a great job at Myngle. Keep it up!
July 25th, 2009 at 10:42 am
May I share my experience. I am in a country that is crazy about English but strange because the people seldom speak or don’t want to speak it. My first year was a real disaster as I couldn’t communicate with them except through my gestures and smiles. In the long run, I decided to learn their language for some basic reasons: for communication and to get into the situation I am in, personal fulfillment and pride as the local residents appreciate a foreigner who speaks their tongue….the feeling of equality.
At present, I don’t insist them to speak English (they find it too difficult) but I joined them in their language.
Hello Mr.Panos,
You seem new in Myngle. I read all your pieces and I like them. Kirsten is right. You are doing great. Congratulations. Carry on!
Klara
July 25th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Hi Panos, great post! It reminded me of an interesting article I read a few days ago. It was about the importance of lifelong foreign language learning and how it changes the brain structure significantly. So, learning languages is not only highly useful, but beneficial for our health as well.
As for which languages to learn, I think you should pursue your dream. Mine has always been to learn Gaelic…still don’t know why:o)
July 27th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Have a look at this link, The language Olympics have already started, why not make an Olympics of Myngle, or maybe Myngle can sponsor an Language Olympics?
July 27th, 2009 at 5:07 am
Turkish Olympiad
Competition at the 7th Turkish Olympiads has started in Kızılcahamam district of Ankara with colorful performances by participants. State Minister Egemen Bağış has also participated in the event. Seven hundred students from 115 countries were at the opening ceremony in Ankara along with organizers and other guests on Thursday. Speaking at the ceremony, Bağış congratulated Turkish volunteers who had opened schools in a number of countries since they established a brotherhood among nations.
Organized by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER), this year’s Turkish Olympics will host 700 students from 115 countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Venezuela, Benin, Ethiopia, Congo, France, Italy, Uganda, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. A cultural festival will be held on May 30-31 at Altınpark in Ankara, where the students will promote their countries.
This year’s International Turkish Olympiads, in which students will compete in 13 categories ranging from poetry to songs, will be held in Ankara, İstanbul and Bursa. Turkish Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan will award students who receive gold medals with a Turkish Language Service Award.
Turkish Olympiads team visits Toptan in Ankara
After the official program concludes, the activities will continue in various provinces in Anatolia. Last year mini Olympiads were held in five provinces. This year the number has increased to nine. İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Antalya, Erzurum, Kayseri, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş will host students from different countries.
A group from the 700 students who will perform in the Turkish language visited Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan in Ankara on Thursday.
Accompanied by Professor Mehmet Sağlam and the board of executives of the committee, students gave examples of the shows they will perform at the Olympiads. Impressed by the songs they sang and poems they read, Toptan talked with the students in Turkish. Wishing the students good luck, Toptan told students to take his kind regards to their countries. Recalling a Turkish school named after him in Kyrgyzstan, Toptan asked Kyrgyz participant Azamat Tankeev, “Do you know there is a school named after me in your country?” The student answered no. Stating that Iraqi and Georgian students speak Turkish quite well, Toptan asked these students how long they had been learning Turkish. The students said although they did not speak Turkish before, they learned Turkish at schools opened in their countries. Students dressed in their local clothing presented gifts to Toptan.
Parliamentary Culture and Arts Committee head Erbay Kücet also drew attention to Olympiads’ stress on the Turkish language being the “Language of Love.” He said it is very important that children from around the world come together to spread love throughout the whole world.
29 May 2009, Friday
TODAY’S ZAMAN İSTANBUL
July 27th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Hello Mynglers,
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to help me out and for all your comments!
I did some thinking over and I think I agree with Kirsten and Klara and I’ll go for the local language first-Dutch!
Klara, thanks for sharing your experience. I’m sure many can understand and relate to all the strugles and difficulties when moving to a new country. And I also start to feel how vital it is to speak the local language. It is not necessary for me to get by but it makes a huge difference when it comes to being a fully functional and active member of the society.
Marina, you are right! I read about that as well. It’s no secret that learning foreign languages has positive effect on our brain. I actually plan to write a post about it. Some of the findings are fascinating so stay tuned : ) Good luck with learning Gaelic. It is such a beautiful language. And it was also a main influence on the creation of Quenya
As a personal note, thank you for all your kind words. They mean a lot!
Panos
July 28th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Hello Alper,
Thanks for posting the article. What a great read!
The language olympics is a great way to communicate with other cultures and learn languages. Apart from the Turkish language olympics thereare also Russian and Arabic!
Here is a nice vid a found of past Turkish language olympics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apSWMVIFTGg
You can see the passion and enthousiasm in everyone! It’s just a great celebration of culture and shows how languages bring everyone together.
Thank you for letting me know.
Definitely a topic that needs more investigation : )
Panos
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:20 am
Your very welcome Panos, and yes you are right, this idea should be more investigated.
I have offered this idea to Myngle to do something like this in all countries, to make students from all countries moce to a country where they would like to be, for example, Chinese students who would like to learn English, by singing songs, reading poems, how great this would be, imagine, all the world coming together because of the Language Olympics,
THE SPREADER OF LOVE…sponsored by Myngle!!!!!!!!!!!
I think to be honest, this was what all the great leaders in History and NOW are trying to do, getting people to know each other.
And now with a medium like internet, we all can do this.
Please support this idea, this is a favor I would like to ask everybody who reads this article.
Step by step, paso a paso, adim adim, stap bij stap, We can do this…so please let this dream come true!!!
Alper