#027 -Language and arrogance.

#027 - In this episode Gabi explains why we shouldn't judge other accents or varieties with superiority and superficiality.

Check out my blog:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/blog/

Click on the link below for transcriptions:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/podcast-transcripts/

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/001

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/002

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/003

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/004

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/005

Click on the link below to listen to this  episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/006

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/007

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/008

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/009

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/010

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/011

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/012

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/013

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/014

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/015

Click on the link belowto listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/016

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/017

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/018

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/019

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/020

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/021

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/022

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/023

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/024

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/025

Click on the link below to listen to this episode:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/026

Visit my website:
https://learninglanguagesinsocietywithgabi.com/ 

Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button!

Thanks!

Transcript

Hi everybody, my name is Gabi and today I’m going to talk more openly and more spontaneously about my personal thoughts on ideology. Specifically language policies or language ideologies. 

So why am I making this episode just out of the blue, you might wonder? Well, I am persuaded that there’s always a positive and a darker side to every language policy. Even if it’s on behalf of the conservation of the native language of a nation or region. 

I am a huge advocator to keep local languages and dialects alive. Language is the sauce of a culture. There is so much you can understand from a cultural perspective when you speak a language. It’s not even an exaggeration to say that if you can understand, recognize and imitate the sense of humor of a given language you are half-way into becoming a citizen of that specific country.

There is so much to unpack here, but I’m not going to go very deep in any of it yet. I just want to touch on a couple of different topics. I guess the first one is are going overboard with pushing people to accept that a local language or a local variety of a language is superior or far superior even than other varieties spoken in a different country? 

Why are we so obsessed with the claim that our local language variety is the best one, the most correct one, the most melodic or the most beautiful one?

There is no such thing as better or more beautiful in a strictly objective way in the world of languages. Languages are abstract systems of communication. Period. That’s all there is.

Any other conjectures about correctness or beauty are mere thoughts of cultural superiority. Or just plain arrogance. Let’s not be arrogant when judging the way others talk.

The other day at work I was having a conversation with a colleague about the local variety of French that people speak in the Quebec province. We were discussing specifically the Quebec accent. My colleague is from France and his accent would be considered a standard French accent. 

Well, he essentially went into a linguistic rant about how awful, how inappropriate and how difficult to understand the Quebec accent is compared of course to the real French accent from France. Needless to say I thought the comments were borderline disrespectful and out of touch with reality. 

And the mockery was rather unnecessary. But this little chat made me too aware of the fact that however arrogant and chauvinistic it may seem we all hold some kind of sentiment in our hearts about a certain dialect or language. But we have to keep in mind that it is a subjective sentiment. Based on prejudice rather than facts. It’s a cognitive bias. 

I didn’t want to pursue the conversation or even try to defend the honor of those French speakers in Quebec. I did try to point out the fact that people in Quebec speak a similar variety of those French settlers who arrived a few hundred years ago to Canada. But he immediately dismissed the fact shaking his head in disbelief. People are often so confused about language matters that not even the truth seems legitimate enough to persuade them to change their mind. In conclusion ignorance is not always a bliss.