按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
learning Italian。 Italians are nicer to foreigners trying to learn their language than any
other people whose language is a major one。 A passable attempt to speak French in
France is likely to bring little but grudging comprehension from the French。 A passable
attempt to speak Italian in Italy will likely lead to an explosive exclamation； “Ahh； you
speak our language！” followed by an offer of a free espresso。
Dutch
It’s easy to dismiss Dutch as a slim shadow of its big language neighbour； German； and
of possible interest only to those Americans eager to ingratiate themselves with an aging
aunt in Amsterdam with a valuable art collection。 Not so fast。 In addition to the Dutch
spoken in Holland； there are millions of Belgians whose language may be officially
called Flemish but is actually nothing but Dutch going under an assumed name。 You’ve
also got millions of educated Indonesians who speak Dutch as a historical echo from the
four hundred years of Dutch colonial rule。 Moreover； Dutch is the mother tongue of
Afrikaans； the language of those white South Africans whose ancestors were the Boers
（boer is the Dutch word for “farmer”）。 Afrikaaners not only understand Dutch but look
up to Dutch much as an Alabaman looks up to someone who speaks British English。
Dutch is much simpler for Americans to learn than German。 There are only two
genders （oddly enough； not mascuine and feminine； but common and neuter）。 Verb
endings don’t change as much in Dutch as in German； and its word order is more like
English than German’s is。
You need not pretend Dutch is a beautiful language。 The Dutch themselves joke
about the coarseness of their language。 It’s got more of a guttural sound than Arabic；
Hebrew； Russian； and Farsi。 If you want a concert in Dutch guttural； ask the next person
who speaks Dutch to say； “Misschien is Uw scheermesje niet scherp genoeg。” It means
“Perhaps your razor blade is not sharp enough；” but that’s irrelevant。 That short sentence
explodes with five gutturals that cause the speaker to sound like the exhaust pipe of a
Greyhound bus through a full set of gear changes！
When you learn Dutch； you can cash in on at least forty percent credit when you
decide to take up German。
Russian
Russian is the world’s fourth language in number of speakers after Chinese； English； and
Hindustani。 It is extremely difficult to learn to speak Russian correctly； but the Russians
have learned to be patient with foreigners who speak incorrect Russian。 Journalists and
others fascinated by discussing recent history with Soviet citizens suddenly free to talk to
foreigners get a lot of joy out of knowing Russian。 The much touted commercial
advantages of learning Russian； however； have so far fallen far short of expectation。
The jobs with gargantuan salaries promised to Russian speakers as a fruit of the
resurgence of free enterprise in the Soviet Union are few and shaky as the early
enthusiasm of foreign investors gives way to wait and see attitudes。 Long range； Russian
remains a good bet for those willing to learn a language for career advantage。 And in the
meantime you can enjoy reading Chekhov and Dostoyevski in the original。
The Russian alphabet may look formidable； but it’s a false alarm。 It can be learned
in twenty minutes； but then you’ve got to face the real obstacles； such as three genders；
six noun cases with wave upon wave of noun groups that decline differently； a past tense
that behaves like an adjective； and verbs that have not just person； number； and tense； but
also something called “aspect” – perfective or imperfective。
Knowing Russian yields a lot of satisfaction。 You want to pinch yourself as you
find yourself gliding through a printed page of a language you may have grown up
suspecting and fearing。 Russian； like German； crackles with good； gutsy sounds that
please you as they leap from your tongue。 Russian is a high gratitude language。 The new
immigrants from the Soviet Union； though they speak one of the major languages of the
world； don’t expect Americans to know it。 They’ll be overjoyed to hear their language
from you。
One advantage of choosing Russian is the head start it offers in almost a dozen
other Slavic languages； should you suddenly want or need one。
Chinese
Chinese is actually more of a life involvement than a language you choose to study。
When you’re in your easy chair studying； Chinese has more power to make you forget
it’s dinner time than any other language。 It has more power to draw you out of bed earlier
than necessary to sneak in a few more moments of study。 There’s simply more there。
More people speak Chinese than any other language on earth。 There’s hardly a
community in the world that doesn’t have someone who speaks Chinese as a native。 Even
in the 1940’s； when I first began studying Chinese； there was a Chinese restaurant and a
Chinese laundry even in our small town of Greensboro； North Carolina。 You can count
on conversation practice in Chinese from the Chinese laundries of Costa Rica to the
Chinese restaurants of Israel。
The Chinese Communists on the mainland and the Chinese Nationalists in Taiwan
agree that the national language of Chinese is the northern Chinese dialect of Mandarin。
Accept no substitute。 Be sure you know what you’re doing if you set out to learn any
Chinese dialect other than Mandarin！ It was almost impossible to find a Chinese person
in a Chinese restaurant in America who spoke Mandarin forty years ago。 They all spoke a
subdialect of Cantonese； being descendants of the Chinese labourers who came to build
America’s transcontinental railroad in the 1800’s。 Today it’s almost impossible to find a
Chinese restaurant in America where the waiters don’t speak Mandarin。
Don’t let yourself be drawn into Cantonese merely because your Chinese friends
happen to be of Cantonese descent or because your new employees are from Cantonese
speaking Hong Kong。 Even the Cantonese themselves are now trying to learn Mandarin！
Spoken Chinese is enthrallingly easy。 There’s nothing we could call “grammar” in
Chinese。 Verbs； nouns； and adjectives never change endings for any reason。 I once
caught a showoff student of Chinese trying to intimidate new students by warning them
that Chinese had a different word for “yes” and “no” for each question！ That’s largely
true； but not the slightest bit difficult。
The closest thing Chinese has to what we think of as grammar is what we’ll call
“interesting ways。” When you pose a question in Chinese you present both alternatives。
Thus； “Are you going？” becomes “You go not go？” or “Are you going or not？” If you
are going； the word for “yes” to that question is “go。” If you’re not going； you say “Not
go。” Likewise； “Are you going to play？” becomes； literally translated； “You play not
play？” To answer “yes；” you say “Play。” “No” is “Not play。”
You’ve already learned some of the “middle language” essential to the mastery of
Chinese。 Don’t fear that； because there’s a middle language； you’re being called upon to
learn two languages to acquire just one！ It’s a shortcut。 The middle language is English –
the way a Chinese person would say it if all he could do were to come up with the
English words literally and nothing more。 Thus； “Do you have my pencil？” in middle
language is ‘You have I…belong pencil； no have？” “The man who lives in the white
house” becomes “Live in white house…belong man。”
I find it helpful to look for the middle language no matter what language I’m
studying。 In Russian； “The vase is on the table” becomes “Vase on table。” “Do you have
a pen？” becomes “Is by you pen？” “I like the cake” in Spanish is “To me is pleasing the
cake。” “Where have you studied German？” in German is “Where have you German
studied？” “Do you want me to help？” in Yiddish is “Do you want I should help？” – a
construction that should come as no surprise to anyone with immigrant Jewish
grandparents。
The middle language helps you get the hang of things。 Once you see the structure as
revealed by the middle language； it’s easier for you to climb inside the targt language。
Learning the “interesting ways” through middle language is especially important in
Chinese。
Chinese has no alphabet。 Each ideogram or character is complete unto itself and
each must be learned。 There are said to be as many as eighty thousand Chinese
characters。 Fear not。 You can carry on fairly sophisticated conversations with knowledge
of a few hundred characters and you can carry on like a Ming orator once you compile a
couple of thousand。 You can read a Chinese newspaper with fewer than six thousand。
Though lacking an alphabet； Chinese nonetheless has 214 radicals； the elements that
make up the building blocks for almost every Chinese character。 The fact that there are
clusters of Chinese characters that