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Dealing with discrimination in TL culture | ||
Tags: Discrimination | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| AlexL Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6878 days ago 197 posts - 277 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 1 of 24 23 November 2011 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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Oftentimes our studies of foreign languages will take us outside of our comfortable Western liberal democracies
and into countries where very different values from ours are common. There are many foreign cultures that are hostile to women, to gays, or to people of certain religions or ethnicities. Has anyone ever been in a situation where love for a language conflicted with discomfort in the TL's country / culture? For example, I spent a year studying Mandarin in China, where homosexuality is not generally accepted. (Some Chinese teenagers are becoming more accepting, but on the whole it's not a welcoming environment.) For the whole year, I stayed in the closet as not to strain relations with my Chinese teachers, friends, and host family. Whenever homophobic views were expressed, I felt uncomfortable. My love for Mandarin was tested by China's apparent unwillingness to accept me. Have any of you had similar experiences, due to race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, etc.? How do you reconcile the fact that you love the language with the discrimination you are subjected to by that language's culture? 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6453 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 2 of 24 23 November 2011 at 7:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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My interest lies mostly in languages that are dead, thus however violently opposing my persona the culture of it
might be, that does not pose any problem. Most of them had slavery, torture, capital punishment &c. &. that does not comply at all with the modern world we live in today. Nevertheless I’ve come to understand that foreigners to some degree usually can surpass what would normally be accepted just because they are just that, foreigners. Being gay myself though I would not happily travel to a country where my lovemaking were illegal — but I can definitely see myself studying a language of such a country. I don’t see traveling, nor revealing personal details, as something imperative. Too be disturbingly honest and rude I find Sweden, where I live, to be the best place to be, and would rather not move hence. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5128 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 3 of 24 23 November 2011 at 8:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can't say I have ever felt discriminated against directly, but as a woman you do meet different views about what you can and cannot do, the further away you get from Scandinavia.
I was a bit surprised though, when I was in Ukraine on a language course, and found out that the American military men who were at the same school as I were warned that Ukraine was not a good country for students of African American background. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5175 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 4 of 24 23 November 2011 at 8:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not being in your situation, I cannot speak to what the consequences would have been had you openly expressed -- or at least not repressed or hidden -- your orientation, but I'd encourage anyone to be themselves insofar as it remains safe to do so. There are always open-minded people wherever you are. One shouldn't have to hide. Moreover, as a foreigner, more is usually permitted and you could even further advance the situation of other homosexuals. Edited by Arekkusu on 23 November 2011 at 9:04pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JimC Senior Member United Kingdom tinyurl.com/aberdeen Joined 5341 days ago 199 posts - 317 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 24 24 November 2011 at 1:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I only learn one language and do so because I first liked the culture. I learn the language to help when I travel there. I doubt very much that I would ever learn a language of a country who's culture I did not agree with and could not embrace.
Jim 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| TixhiiDon Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5258 days ago 772 posts - 1474 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, German, Russian Studies: Georgian | Message 6 of 24 24 November 2011 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is a very interesting topic and one that I have thought about a lot myself. I am
hugely fascinated by Eastern European countries and languages, and I have spent a lot of time in that part of the world. However, I am also gay, and although these countries do not impose legal restrictions on homosexuality, neither are they known for their tolerance. While living in both Russia and Poland, I ended up coming out as I just found it too tiresome to be constantly lying and hiding, and despite some rather weird comments from my Russian friends as they tried to reconcile their prejudices with their like of me as a person, I have never found myself in any trouble. Now I live in Japan, which is a lot easier, not because Japanese people are particularly liberal and open-minded, but simply thanks to the almost total lack of machismo which is such a blight on so many cultures. I do sometimes think I should have gone for Swedish, or Dutch, or just stayed at home (!) and made things easier for myself, but hey, who wants an easy life? Much more fun to take a few small risks, and challenge yourself and the perceptions of people around you. Edited by TixhiiDon on 24 November 2011 at 2:24pm 14 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| prz_ Tetraglot Senior Member Poland last.fm/user/prz_rul Joined 4653 days ago 890 posts - 1190 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Bulgarian, Croatian Studies: Slovenian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, Armenian, Kurdish | Message 7 of 24 24 November 2011 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | ||
Me. ...Says a person, who studies Bulgarian and Persian and learns Macedonian and Chinese. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| xander.XVII Diglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4848 days ago 189 posts - 215 votes Speaks: Italian*, EnglishC1 Studies: French | Message 8 of 24 28 November 2011 at 10:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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No, never.
This isn't due to particular open-minded people I've come across, but to the fact that I've visited just few countries in which I have been living long enough to be discriminated in any way. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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