Um,,,What's that word again ?

The recent post in The Economist by their columnist using the psuedonym, "Johnson' brought a chuckle. The author relates an amusing anecdote in which she, as a native of Ireland now living in Brazil, has learned to speak Portuguese with a decidedly unique accent to the native Cariocas. Her visit to a school in Sao Paolo prompts amusement by the students who have difficulty understanding her pronunciation of their language.

She concludes the article by asking her readers for their own 'depressing moments' on their own road of language study. Although I didn't reply on the article itself, I immediately recalled one embarrasing moment from a trip to Berlin I undertook a few years ago. I had just left one of that city's fabulous museums, and was riding the Strassenbahn on a cold January afternoon when I suddenly realized that I couldn't find the scarf I had earlier in the day. "Mein Schaf...", I muttered to myself,under my breath, but loud enough to be heard by other riders. "Wo ist mein Schaf ?" I quickly became aware of some snickering by the riders within earshot. I couldn't figure out what was so funny, but it wasn't hard to determine that it was me at whom they were laughing. Finally, a woman across the aisle leaned over to me and said in English, "Did you lose something?" "Yes, my scarf", I replied. "Oh, she said. That's unfortunate, because it'll be much harder to find that than the sheep you said you couldn't find". Yes folks. Schaf = sheep. Schal = scarf. Lesson learned.

Je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes...

The Economist magazine has a blog written by a writer using the pen name, "Charlemagne". I read it when I can, but not often enough. Charlemagne recently wrote this article about the decline of foreign language abilities in the UK. I especially like the comment in the article that "Learning a foreign language teaches you humility, empathy and respect for others. In Europe, it teaches you the ancient links that unite our squabbling continent."
Well said. I've studied languages my whole life. I've been fortunate to visit Europe many times for work as well as pleasure, but to my deep dismay, I've never had the opportunity to live there for an extended period of time. I've strongly encouraged my daughters that in addition to whatever else they take up in their life, a firm grasp of second language would be to their advantage and betterment. I generally an open minded person, but I cannot understand why some people have no interest in learning more about life in other countries. This isn't just about language studies - it's about really trying to be more aware of the cultural influences that affect the way others see us, and we see them. Studies of language (if left unfettered) will naturally lead to study of history, literature, art and ultimately a better understanding of what makes us tick.