The amazing athletes at the French Open
If like me you've been watching the French Open, the most grueling of the four grand slams because it's played on clay, you've probably been struck by the sight of athletic young men and women doing what so many Americans find so difficult: speaking a foreign language.
True, that language is always English, which we already speak. And English is the so-called international language. But these are jocks who, minutes after a grueling match, are able to express themselves intelligently and sometimes eloquently in another tongue.
The other day I watched an interview with Dinara Safina. She is not one of the top players and so not often interviewed on American TV. So I wasn't expecting much. But she spoke very good English, an English that was free of the cliches many of our own athletes tend to feed on. (I loved when she said that, sometimes watching her older brother Marat play at his best, she cries.)
Safina, by the way, is from Russia and trained in Spain, so English is her third language. In her match against Elena Dementieva, Dementieva threw up an errant toss on her serve, caught it, and yelled "Sorry" to her fellow Russian. Dementieva's second language is French.
Announcers are always bemoaning the poor performances of Americans on clay, but the excellent showings of Europeans - not only on the court but in the studio - always make me bemoan our poor performances with foreign languages.
Of course the one exception seems to be the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, whose English is pretty rudimentary. The Swiss champion Roger Federer, on the other hand, speaks colloquial English. And if he ever wins this tournament - the only one of the four to elude him so far - he will be able to wow the fans anew by giving his victory speech in French.
Allez, Roger.
Comments
I know what you mean...but foreign language teachers (at least in high schoool, and soon to be seen in college) aren't always the best teachers. In my high school (in Florida), within a span of about a year or so, out of 5 foreign language teachers (4 Spanish, 1 French), one was found murdered and another was thrown in jail for accosting a 15 year old student. They found him trying to flee at the airport. If you're between 14 and 18 and learning a second language is of interest, you're probably better off with Rosetta Stone. (Although I loved my French teacher, who was a sweetie. She gave me the French award in 11th grade...God knows I can hardly speak it now).
On another note, my friend is half Persian/half Swedish (raised in Sweden). She knows how to speak 3 languages, including fluent English, and gets top marks in college. And she's only 19! I asked her to translate the names of all of the Ikea furniture (Flarke, Klippan, Gosa. Then I asked her about meatballs, because Ikea and meatballs are the only things I know about Sweden). She noticed a big difference in the maturity levels of college students here compared with college students in Sweden...I think a big part of it is that kids seem to be given more trust by their parents there. Her mother was one of those parents who said, "If you want to have a drink, just do it at home." Here so many of us are kept at arms length, especially girls. Lots of us are quite responsible in high school and don't know how to deal with the freedom college promises us...the result is the idea of "spring breakers." I feel bad for both kids and parents. In Sweden I guess all of their federally sponsored incentives help though...like universal healthcare, education, etc.
Posted by: jen | June 6, 2008 4:37 PM
The position of English as an international language is greatly overrated; the arrogance of English-speakers who insist on only speaking English abroad proves the point.
This is why I would make the case for Esperanto. Apart from being a non-national language, it has great propadeutic values. Esperanto actually helps language learning!
Detail can be seen at http://www.esperanto.net
Posted by: Brian Barker | June 7, 2008 12:26 PM
I'm a Welsh-speaking Englishman who also speaks Esperanto.
Esperanto has grown and developed naturally in the 120 years since it was launched into life. It stands ready for wider use. There's nothing wrong with English - but there is an alternative.
Posted by: Bill Chapman | June 10, 2008 5:46 PM