The Old Git Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Me too. Not that I agree with the criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaipyr Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Do you not think that before considering Manx kindergartens, more emphasis should be placed on what are really more useful languages. Let Manx be available to learn, but maybe not enforced. I think it rather 'nice' to maintain the language and is an interesting activity to learn. I also accept that much can be gained. But I am very cynical of any ambitions to make such things compulsory. I suspect that much of the effort is to bring back a dying language largely to restore Manxness for its sake, but this seem a process of reification. Bilingual Manx/English kindergartens have been up and running for quite a few years now. The language is not compulsory anywhere, and there is no desire for this to happen. Compulsory Irish has done the language no favours in Ireland, and the traditional compulsory French in the English school system has also had a dubious impact. I'm glad you think it 'nice' that Manx is being maintained. Whilst that might be the initial motivation for people to learn a few words, ultimately that is not enough of a reason to continue on to fluency. If you knew what an amazing language Gaelic is, and could appreciate how it describes the world you would understand why people fall in love with it. Some people have the attitude that learning any language at all is good, except Manx. Others believe that if only we could go back to the days before the Tower of Babel then we would all live in peace and harmony. I, probably because of my experiences learning Manx, strongly believe in tolerance for linguistic and cultural diversity. The loss of a language is the loss of collective history and culture, and bilingualism teaches tolerance for that diversity. In Oklahoma there is a an English Only school policy that means that Native American Pawnee and Sioux schools are not eligible for state funding. The French have a similar 'French is the language of the Republic' policy, so Breton, Flemish, Basque, Alsatian, Catalan, Corsican, and Occitan schools struggle to get any funding. Mandarin Chinese is the compulsory language of instruction in Tibetan secondary schools. You will find the same attitude of 'why don't you learn a useful language' used against speakers of the Aztec languages in Mexico, Welsh speakers in Wales, Gaelic speakers in Scotland, Hawaiian speakers in Hawaii, and Maori speakers in New Zealand - despite 99% of these people being completely bi-lingual in the dominant language of the state they live in. The human brain is perfectly capable of learning more than one language. I want to ask you to be tolerant and enjoy the great diversity of human expression - but judging from your posts you may be too infected with the 'one culture from here to the Urals' mentality of socialism that really wants to limit expression to a monotonous repetition of political mantra. Excellent reply - pity LDV doesn't get it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananaman Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Excellent reply - pity LDV doesn't get it! LDV trolls for the sake of it I know. I was lucky enough to have Bobby Forster teach us ( sadly for only one year) Manx lessons at QEII. It's not just the language you have to learn abouth the Island. He was an Englishman but was in a similar situation to those that aren't Manx but are accepted as one of them. I can remember my Grandad having an argument with this 'English bastard' in Moughtins. You couldn't have got a more proud Yorkshireman than my grandad. But it (the Island) was his home and he loved it. I suppose if no-one gave a flying nat's arse we wouldn't have forums like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Excellent reply - pity LDV doesn't get it! LDV trolls for the sake of it I know. I was lucky enough to have Bobby Forster teach us ( sadly for only one year) Manx lessons at QEII. It's not just the language you have to learn abouth the Island. He was an Englishman but was in a similar situation to those that aren't Manx but are accepted as one of them. I can remember my Grandad having an argument with this 'English bastard' in Moughtins. You couldn't have got a more proud Yorkshireman than my grandad. But it (the Island) was his home and he loved it. I suppose if no-one gave a flying nat's arse we wouldn't have forums like this. You are just trying to wind me up. But if I am not 'getting it' could someone maybe explain a bit further. Why should we teach Manx and not Norse? Or early Irish, etc. I can appreciate how learning a language can make you form a different understanding of a culture. But I maybe need to understand more how it has relevance for the culture that exists today. My qustioning relates to the motivation and utility of the language. Is that all is required, an insight into particular aspects of Manx culture that have disappeared? Because you can't bring back to life a culture that has gone and what merit would there be to 'create' a new one by adopting the Manx language? Are the motivations nationalist, because it does come across as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman2 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Excellent reply - pity LDV doesn't get it! LDV trolls for the sake of it I know. I was lucky enough to have Bobby Forster teach us ( sadly for only one year) Manx lessons at QEII. It's not just the language you have to learn abouth the Island. He was an Englishman but was in a similar situation to those that aren't Manx but are accepted as one of them. I can remember my Grandad having an argument with this 'English bastard' in Moughtins. You couldn't have got a more proud Yorkshireman than my grandad. But it (the Island) was his home and he loved it. I suppose if no-one gave a flying nat's arse we wouldn't have forums like this. thats a good post .. your grandad was a shrewd honourary manxman for sure .. he took the island to his heart and rose above the all to common stopover/comeover in their 4 wheel drive monstroseties and their plentiful 4 legged friends. he had respect for the place and did not treat the island as just another stepping stone in life.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyboarder Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 It's mentals galore in this thread. Oh yes, there's a glut of mentals all right, it's wall to wall mentals. Mental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.