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Philip Yaffe's Articles in Language

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How to Make Language Teaching in the U.S. Dramatically More Effective Americans are notoriously poor at learning to speak other languages. Because it is country as big as a continent with only one dominant language, learning other languages in the United States is a genuine challenge. Unfortunately, language instruction in the U.S. seems oblivious to this obvious fact, rendering an already difficult task virtually impossible. What can be done? The Road to a Perfect International Language As the world becomes increasingly smaller, the need for a common international language that everyone would speak becomes increasingly evident. Several languages de facto already hold the position, notable English, French, Spanish, and Chinese. For political reasons, an official common language would probably have to be an artificial one specifically created to make learning it as easy as possible for all the world's varied populations. What would such a language look like? Seven ways French is easier than English French, like many other languages, is fundamentally much more complex than English, which creates a severe psychological problem for native English speakers trying to learn it. However, in many respect French has English beat hands down. By rejoicing in French’s simplicities rather than focusing on its complexities, learning the language can be made more rapid and more enjoyable than you might have expected. Rising to The Linguistic Challenge Americans and other native English speakers seldom learn other languages, because they seldom have the opportunity to use them outside the classroom. Most language courses seem to ignore this very obvious fact. To improve learning, language courses for native English speakers need to be fundamentally rethought and reoriented to deal with the very real impediment. This article offers one possible approach. Is a Worldwide Common Language Just over the Horizon? An official common language for the world - one that would be spoken by virtually everyone virtually ever where on the planet – would appear to be a utopian dream. However, the first significant step towards realizing the dream seems about to be taken. This article discusses when and where this is likely to happen and the probable path to an official worldwide language once the process has been set in motion Should English Be Designated the World’s Official Common Language? As the world continues to get smaller, there is increasing awareness of the need for a worldwide common language. This would be a language you could learn and be certain you could use virtually everywhere you go. For historical reasons, English already more or less fulfils this role, but it is still far from universal. Should English be more intensively promoted or should it be replaced by something better suited to the purpose?