Connections.

[kiya]

We live for words and die for words
Principles we can afford . . .

--"One By One", Chumbawamba

Discussion on rasfc about languages. Political influence on.

My great-grandparents (great-great? Mom hasn't been consistent) were subversives. Taught Polish when it was illegal.

Need to learn language. Honor ancestors who would have died for it.

Memory.

Comments

[morningwind.livejournal.com]

My mother has refused to teach me Japanese; the little Japanese I can remember is my grandma's contribution from when I was very young, but most of it has flown out of my head. I considered taking Japanese in college, but was surprised at the intensity of Mom's diapproval. The way she talked me out of it was by reminding me of how difficult the language is (she's right about that) and how having to study it in college would be miserable, what with 8:00 classes everyday and Language Learning Lab time and etc.

It's not that Mom's ashamed of Japanese culture (she even majored in East Asian Studies), but she certainly resents it...and I think her opposition to me learning Japanese stems from that, and perhaps a desire to "shield" me from getting hurt. The latter I can understand, but I've never been all starry-eyed about Japan and I fully recognize that in Japan I would only be a gaijin: a foreigner. Still, just learning the language would be awfully nice.

[kiya]

(Heh. I was going to ask if you'd studied any other languages for a moment, and then had a "Duh, right, stupid question" response. ;) Advantage of knowing your high school curriculum, hey wot?)

I've got a number of friends who've studied it (one with a tendency to mutter in it a lot of the time), and some others who have picked up bits from hanging out a lot with the first group.

Do you have any friends who're studying the language? You might be able to pick up bits of it with that sort of osmosis, or even help them with drills and the like.

[morningwind.livejournal.com]

I have friends who like to learn Japanese catch-phrases or curses, but that's about it. ;) I've found that I'm pretty good at understanding my mom and grandma when they speak. Actually reproducing entire sentences? That's a different matter.

I'm going to try to study it on my own, since Japanese classes here are a pretty hefty committment. Good luck with Polish!