Attempting to learn German

"A personal atonement, however futile, for the pathos-ridden arrogance of my nation"

by Richard Dawkins / November 3, 2016 / Leave a comment

Berlin, Germany’s Capital City ©Thomas Wolf

I like to think of my life as governed by rational decisions, but I have to admit that my attempt to learn German in my quixotic seventies is governed more by emotion—an emotion that might strike some as positively irrational. I don’t specifically need German for my life or my work. No, my motive is almost akin to penance: a personal atonement, however futile, for the pathos-ridden arrogance of my nation. Brexit has made me ashamed to be English. I’m ashamed of the England of Farage and his xenophobic yobs—and of Cameron whose cowardly opportunism gave them their head. I’m ashamed to be English, not British: I’d be proud to be Scottish or Irish today.

Brexit is the obvious recent manifestation of both the arrogance of the English and its ignominious unjustifiability, but it has shown itself for longer in our attitude to the learning of languages. Insofar as we teach languages at school, we treat them like Latin, with no expectation that, having mastered gerunds and the subjunctive, there’s any need to end up actually having a conversation with Johnny Foreigner.

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Comments

Samuel G.
November 3, 2016 at 16:28
If a vote to leave an organisation that is highly unpopular makes Richard "ashamed to be English" the I am puzzled as to how proud he was to be English in the first place. The post referendum nostalgia for the EU is an interesting phenomenon. No positive case was offered for continued membership in the campaign. The Remain campaign simply offered, not that the EU was a great thing to be a memberof, but that it would be too expensive and too difficult to leave. Despite, therefore, the British public being told that voting to leave would cost them a suspiciously precise £4300 per family and be enormously painful with America relegating us to the back of the queue for a trade deal, the public voted to pay the cost and take the pain. An admirable approach to the matter of principle. Why would anyone not be proud of their fellow citizens for not putting their wallet and comfort first but opting instead for the right choice whatever the cost and however difficult?
Reply
Christopher S
November 4, 2016 at 11:12
I am bilingual in English and German, and a dab hand at French, too, even though I stopped learning it over 50 years ago. But languages I have tried to learn after the age of 20, even "easy" ones, just won't stick. The reason, I maintain, is that if you don't need them and don't use them, then it gets very, very difficult to learn them. I used to try to speak Spanish to my downstairs neighbour in Palma. That was reason enough to learn the lingo. But he is a teacher and a few years back all Spaniard teachers were ordered to learn English. So he now practises on me. And guess what the consequences for my Spanish are. So, your Brexit shame is highly justified. But you shouldn't feel bad about not learning too much German in your 70's. Unless, of course, things get so bad in Blighty that you are forced to emigrate.
Reply
JIMJFOX
November 6, 2016 at 14:56
It's extremely disappointing, even distressing to read Richard's arrogant comments on the 'shame' of Brexit. And yes, they ARE arrogant since he dismisses the fundamental worth of DEMOCRACY whilst 'dissing' the will of the majority. As a scientist I can understand his worries about loss of funding from the EU but has it happened yet? WILL it happen? I fear he has let emotion get the better of reason. Brexit is NOT about the self-interest of any group but the small matter of sovereignty; that those you elect to represent and govern in your name are able to do so. The foul corrupt EU imposes its laws over UK law and makes UK elections a charade. The British Isles has never been part of Europe, nor should it surrender itself to the grandiose plans of the United States of Europe.
Reply
José Manuel Sánchez Gómez
November 7, 2016 at 18:24
Courage, Mr. Dawkins! Your undertaking is worth the effort. You shall probably realize how deeply "Germanic" the English language is, in so many respects. Weren't Anglos a German tribe after all? :) From a devoted Spanish reader. José Manuel Sánchez Gómez (Luxembourg)
Reply
Marcus
November 8, 2016 at 09:28
As a passionate supporter of Richards work I am shocked to read this, I am pro European, I think of myself as European, however I voted to leave, democracy is being hijacked, migration to Europe is completely unsustainable. to be accused of racism / xenophobia is unacceptable, and please note, my Kurdish, Indian, Pakistani, Caribbean friends do not see me as such.
Reply
1. Paul
  November 11, 2016 at 02:06
  Hands up if you're as tired as I am of hearing the idiotic "Democracy is being hijacked" argument.
  Reply
  1. FIONA_BACON
    November 16, 2016 at 10:16
    It is not idiotic to say that the EU has no democratic mandate to impose its policies on the peoples of Europe, who by and large have not consented to them. Look at the way the Treaty of Lisbon was imposed after referenda results in countries such as the Netherlands and France rejected the proposed European Constitution. The EU is in a mess precisely because there is no 'demos', yet the powerful decision makers within the EU have behaved as though this were not the case. Their political arrogance is surely a signifcant factor in the Brexit vote, since the English have always historically called time on arrogant leaders; just think about the 17th century regicide of King Charles I, for instance. Charles I was trying to impose a French -style absolutist and divine right of monarchy on the English. The English rejected it then, and the modern British have rejected it now. Plus ca change...
    Reply

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