0:04 Hello everybody. This week I'd like to
0:06 share with you some thoughts that I've
0:08 been having recently about
0:10 the relationship between uh languages
0:12 that is foreign languages language
0:14 learning and and literature the reading
0:17 of literature. Literature being uh not
0:19 just text not just reading anything but
0:21 uh reading things that have been
0:23 consciously and deliberately well
0:26 written uh with intent to express
0:29 something edited and appreciated by uh
0:31 people for for that quality of of of
0:34 writing. Um
0:36 I have come to the conclusion that many
0:39 people uh on both sides I know people
0:40 I've always known people who who love
0:43 literature who love reading um and who
0:44 sort of have the idea it would be nice
0:46 to read this in the original uh but uh
0:48 that's that seems like a terribly far
0:50 away hard goal and in the meantime they
0:52 want to enjoy the meaning of something
0:55 uh and on the other hand I know uh many
0:58 people who are really aimed and focused
1:00 uh have this passion for for learning
1:02 foreign languages want to learn a not
1:04 want to learn them well, want to learn a
1:07 variety of them. Um, and have the idea
1:08 somewhere in the back of their heads
1:10 maybe that um, yeah, I know that uh,
1:12 reading is important for expanding my
1:16 vocabulary. Um, there are approaches to
1:18 uh, you know, that that integrate that
1:21 sort of take reading or texts and uh,
1:23 sort of call them stories, learn through
1:24 stories. You know, we learn well through
1:26 stories, connected themes, narratives, a
1:28 textbook that has a narrative thread is
1:30 is much better than one that doesn't. uh
1:32 you know reading making graded readers
1:35 and easy stories to grab your interest
1:36 helps you read naturally. That's all
1:39 true. Um
1:41 reducing literature or text to sort of
1:43 comprehensible input, making sure
1:44 they're at the right level that you can
1:45 read them so they're not uh too
1:47 frustrating. That that makes sense, too.
1:52 But uh that said, I really do when I
1:53 think about it have a feeling that the
1:55 majority of people that that that I've
1:58 known uh sort of separate the two and
2:01 think well okay uh yeah I really want to
2:02 learn this language and uh and
2:04 literature might be a nice frosting on a
2:06 cake. I enjoy a good book at times but
2:08 maybe reading really isn't my thing and
2:10 you know I'm more into conversing or
2:12 watching movies or other forms of media
2:14 to to get my interaction with the
2:16 language and those are your your
2:17 interests. That's fine. That's that's
2:20 that's that's good too. But I'm talking
2:23 to people who uh about people who who
2:25 who do appreciate both or who do like
2:29 both. And uh maybe who if uh because
2:31 again uh in in my channel here in my
2:33 academy that I run I you know maybe it's
2:35 the kind of person that I talk to comes
2:37 to me with their sort of issues and and
2:39 and problems or frustrations. How do I
2:42 overcome this? How do I uh how do I uh
2:44 get better at this? So I'm facing
2:46 difficulties in the aspect aspect of
2:48 learning. Come to me. I've got a lot of
2:49 experience. What should I do about that?
2:52 I'm happy to help. But I think that um
2:55 when I look at a sort of a deep root
2:58 cause of of I think of a reason why a
2:59 lot of people who uh have high
3:01 aspirations for learning a variety of
3:03 languages and and you know have a base
3:06 in them are yet always feel somewhat
3:07 frustrated that uh you know about their
3:09 progress and where they're going to go
3:11 and what they're doing is um maybe
3:12 because they don't really have a I had
3:15 to say proper relationship or or or or
3:17 concept of the relationship between
3:19 language and and literature in their
3:21 mind. Uh again, they're sort of seeing
3:23 the the learning and the studying of the
3:25 nuts and bolts, the vocabulary, the
3:27 grammar, the getting the conversational
3:30 ability as as as one thing. And then uh
3:31 maybe reading uh reading a good book
3:34 from time to time as as uh sort of
3:35 another thing, an optional uh thing that
3:39 they can do with them. And uh I'm just
3:42 not sure that it all can work that way.
3:45 A uh a language is something that um
3:47 well sometimes we're you know given in
3:49 bilingual circumstances but mostly a
3:52 language is something that we are chance
3:53 into and and grow up with and we have
3:55 that as our base language our mother
3:57 language and then some of us out here we
3:59 get we get curious about other languages
4:02 and we are intrigued uh fascinated
4:04 captivated by the idea of learning
4:05 foreign languages and we'd like to do it
4:08 well and um that's uh that's a goal that
4:11 people set off on and then uh to to
4:13 think of literature sort of being oh a
4:16 nice reward at the end or uh something
4:17 that's that's one way people think about
4:19 it and then as I said I know that there
4:20 are lots of other people who you know
4:22 love literature first and foremost and
4:25 um might want to to go at a foreign
4:27 language to say okay I really appreciate
4:29 this author so I'd like to see how how
4:30 he wrote in the original I think that's
4:32 an admirable goal but again to sort of
4:34 separate that out and say okay now I'm
4:35 going to learn the language and not have
4:38 the literature be here
4:41 to me the literature of a language is is
4:44 like the the soul of the language. It's
4:46 you know what's been expressed well in
4:48 this language is the language itself.
4:50 That's why language exists so that we
4:54 can think and express things. And so to
4:57 um sort of
5:00 not have that as as an integral aspect
5:04 or or part of the language learning
5:07 process I think does result in in sort
5:09 of stunted growth of the language and
5:12 and and feeling that uh you know I know
5:14 a lot of people are aware that uh in
5:17 language learning uh per se we we come
5:18 to plateaus we come to sort of an
5:20 intermediate plateau and you know at
5:23 different layers we make a lot advance
5:24 of advances and you know a lot of
5:26 progress and then we come to a flat area
5:28 and we get frustrated there and it seems
5:30 like we're we're not uh making any
5:33 progress and people turn to all sorts of
5:35 other methods and things that they're
5:37 doing and and wonder what's going on and
5:41 get frustrated and I think if they would
5:44 take more time to
5:47 pick up good books because they're good
5:50 books and at a certain point almost
5:53 forget that it's in that foreign
5:54 language because it shouldn't be foreign
5:55 to you anymore if you're at the point
5:56 when you can hook up pick up a book and
6:00 that's what we're aiming for. But um to
6:04 to have that relationship with sort of
6:08 letting your mind get into the ability
6:09 to have that other operating system to
6:11 function with other words and other
6:13 grammatical rules is is the first and
6:15 foremost. You need to have some basic
6:17 ability to do that. And when you start
6:19 reading a foreign language, yes, the
6:20 first couple of books that you read in
6:21 it are going to be, you know, slowgoing,
6:23 frustrating, hardgoing. But uh there are
6:26 many ways to to to go with that. And
6:30 ultimately to get to the point when you
6:32 are actually reading literature is when
6:35 I think the language comes alive in you
6:37 and when you really start to think it
6:39 and really appreciate it. And if those
6:42 are your goals, I think that u you need
6:45 to read more. And uh I don't when I look
6:48 around uh or talk to people or or think
6:52 about uh conversations that I have um
6:55 the the the the reading of good books in
6:58 foreign languages.
7:00 I don't know why that seems like it's a
7:04 relatively rare thing. Um I don't think
7:05 it ought to be. If I could sort of
7:07 redesign the world, that might be one
7:09 thing I would do. to wave a magic wand
7:12 and say, you know, it it shouldn't be
7:15 such a strange thing for a human being
7:18 to pick up a well-ritten book, a
7:20 meaningful book, a good book in another
7:23 language, the not his native language,
7:25 his maternal language, a language that
7:28 this person learned of his own
7:30 intellectual curiosity, maybe for the
7:33 sake of of reading good books like that.
7:36 Um, it's maybe a strange ideal, but it's
7:38 it's it's one that I I like that. I like
7:41 the idea of a world where um people
7:42 could could do that where, you know,
7:44 that was just sort of if you're an erite
7:46 person, if you're learned, if you you
7:47 know, you're a scholar, if you if you
7:49 have artistic inclinations, if you
7:52 appreciate beauty, that that ought to be
7:54 something that uh ought not to be a
7:56 strange ability, a facility. You're a
7:58 native speaker of this language. Um,
8:01 you've never lived here. you you you
8:02 know you don't have a particular reason
8:03 for knowing this language but you were
8:04 curious about it, you liked it, you
8:06 learned it and now you can take it to
8:09 the ultimate degree of of not just
8:11 conversing in it but uh you know that
8:13 higher vocabulary level of appreciating
8:15 the culture that's been expressed
8:17 through it. I think that ought to be
8:21 sort of a a common uh common ability of
8:24 of of people who learn languages and I
8:25 know lots of people who learn languages
8:28 and like languages uh and and do that
8:32 and yet uh don't uh sort of take enough
8:35 care or concern to to go on or into that
8:38 that sort of literary level. uh you
8:40 might be able to pass some sort of exam
8:42 certified exam saying that you're at
8:44 very high what's it C1 C2 the highest
8:48 level you can be but uh
8:50 that is based on some cultural knowledge
8:52 I think most of of of of those kinds of
8:55 tests that that I've seen but um yeah
8:57 there's so much far that you can go beyond
8:58 beyond
9:00 anything even like that and that is when
9:02 you really plunge into the you know the
9:04 literary tradition the living literary
9:06 tradition of of a culture of a language
9:09 and see the connection and see how the
9:11 language is used to to express that that
9:16 kind of ideas. So, um yeah, if uh you
9:17 are somebody out there who enjoys my
9:18 videos, likes this and the kind of
9:20 things I talk about, uh you're probably
9:21 very interested in in learning
9:24 languages. Um, do you give yourself a
9:25 check, a reality check and say, you
9:29 know, what to what degree do I hold the
9:32 reading of literature sort of um as my
9:35 goal or my my reward or something at the
9:38 end of of my studies that will uh make
9:40 it all tie together because I think the
9:42 relationship between languages and
9:45 literature is uh extremely important and
9:46 I'm going to make this whole video
9:49 because as I look around me I I don't
9:51 resonate with the fact that uh enough
9:53 people sort of concur with that. I think
9:55 uh too many people separate the two and
9:57 and and here focus on just language
9:59 learning is learning or maybe over there
10:01 on on literature and trying to read it
10:04 and appreciate it and analyze it. But uh
10:05 to really get the two together and
10:07 appreciate the the literature through
10:08 the language and use the language to
10:12 learn literature. Think of that as as as
10:15 sort of an ideal to uh recalibrate in
10:18 your mind and and think about uh how you
10:19 think about the relationship between
10:21 languages and literatures. if if you
10:22 appreciate the kind of thing that I talk
10:24 about. So, thank you for listening to me
