Volume15　さまざまな言語 


Learning Languages

Ann Slater: Hello everyone and welcome to this edition of Cultural Crossroads for September. I'm Ann. 

Michael Rhys: And I'm Mike. 

Ann: And we're very glad to be with you again. This month, we are going to be talking about languages, foreign languages, learning them and other points about them. Michael, what about you? What other languages have you learned besides English? 

Michael: (speaking gibberish) 

Ann: Wow. 

Michael: Which actually I just made that up. I don't sp-I don't speak. 

Ann: I don't know that language, ha-ha. 

Michael: I don't speak any other languages to be honest with you, apart from, well English and a smattering of Japanese. I am embarrassed to say that I've never really been able to get to grips with foreign languages. 

Ann: Now, what is the system in England? For example, when you were growing up, were students required to study certain languages? And from what age? 

Michael: Yes they are. To be honest with you I don't remember from what age, but we were required to study French as a second language, but also German and Spanish. 

Ann: Required. 

Michael: Were not required but they were often available as languages for study at, uh, high school. But junior high s-as well, actually, to be honest. Yeah. So I took French, uh, and I also took German for two years. How about you? 

Ann: Well let's see, I remember I did start studying French, like you, and I believe that was in sixth grade. So I would have been, what, around 11, or so? Yeah. 

Michael: I think that's probably about the same age as we started. 

Ann: Yeah, there was a program then, and so I studied all the way through from sixth grade through high school until I graduated from high school. And then I also studied Spanish - that I started in university. 

Michael: We're talking about foreign language here but of course, language doesn't necessarily need to be foreign. In the U.K. for example, we actually have five languages. 

Ann: Oh. What are they? 

Michael: Well English of course is the primary language, although constitutionally English is not the primary language of the U.K. There is no constitutional language. Uh, but we have English, uh, we have Welsh, from Wales, we have Scots Gaelic, from Scotland. And we have Cornish, which is from Cornwall, which is right at the end of that bit of the UK at the bottom that sticks out in the western bit. And we also have Irish and Ulster Scots, from Northern Ireland. So there's a real mix of languages in the U.K., not England. 

Ann: Wow. That's very interesting. Can you give us any examples of any words in any of those other languages? Ha-ha. 

Michael: Ha-ha. Thank you for putting me on the spot there, OK. Um, well, my father was actually Welsh, uh, um, which is, hence my name - Rhys is a Welsh name. And, uh, he didn't really speak Welsh and he'd lost most of his accent, Welsh accent. Although one word he could never say with an English accent was tooth. He always said "tuth." 

Ann: Oh, uh-huh. 

Michael: But every night he would say to me, uh, I think it was nos da, I think which I believe is Welsh for good night. 

Ann: Uh-huh. 

Michael: So that, that's one thing I remember. So if you go to Wales, you'll find that all the street signs are in English and Welsh. They're in both languages. 

Ann: That's very interesting.