Morning Read: Croustade, kwashiorkor and an end to English-only
So here are two stories this morning that sort of fit together in my brain. Last night, the Washington County town of Jackson voted to repeal their English-only law.
The rule passed last year drew criticism from immigrant and civil liberties groups, as well as some local residents. This from the Albany Times Union.
“It sends an unwelcoming message about who we are, both to our community and to the greater community beyond Jackson,” resident Peg Winship said before the board vote.
“It also puts our town at financial risk because it is unlawfully discriminatory and unconstitutionally infringes on free speech and the right to access information about town government.”
Meanwhile, a Potsdam girl, Jane Wang, was bounced this week from the National Spelling Bee for failing to spell “croustade” and “kwashiorkor.” Ouch. This from the Watertown Daily Times.
“I immediately think French,” she said, although she would rather work on words with other origins. “I don’t like French words because they don’t follow the rules.”
As a writer, I’m constantly amazed by the way we humans play with and argue over language. Which words are valid? Which words do we own and which words are suspiciously “foreign”?
And why is language so bound up in our personal and political identity?
The truth, of course, is that English is itself a mutt language, the happy product of so many mergings and minglings that even our resident experts — like Ms. Wang — are baffled by its many twists.
If language is identity, then foreignness and change are permanently wired into our linguistic DNA.
As always, your thoughts welcome.
And why are some words so vile and evil that they can’t be used, even on this blog, while other words that mean exactly the same thing are fine?
I’ll probably be labeled a grouch (or worse) for suggesting this but we’re talking about grade school kids here. Why are they being challenged to spell foreign words and medical terminology? Sitting on a shelf by my computer I have a dictionary (Webster’s New World) that has over 59,000 words in it. Croustade and kwashiorkor aren’t in it. Nor does the spell check on my computer know either one. Throwing words like that at kids in a spelling bee feels kind of sadistic to me.
Jim –
Je t’accuse!
Brian, NCPR
Jim,
It’s, um, because it’s a contest, see, to find out who spells the best. And because it’s a national contest, it’s really difficult. We should salute the kids who studied hard enough to qualify for it, and admire their quest for excellence, especially in an academic pursuit.
I kind of agree with Jim Bullard about the fairness of using words that arent in the common dictionary for a spelling bee. But English – unlike other European languages happily takes words from anywhere, I think the rule is that it has to be used in print three times or something like that. It is a living language that reflects actual usage. Spanish, on the other hand, has a committee somewhere that rules on words. You have to use a pre-existing word if it exists. And you cant use, for example, DNA. You have to use ADN.
I agree: no foreign words in English! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to have a sip of latte to wash down my croissant..
A news story earlier this year suggested that mastering and using a second language may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. My plan is to litter my English speech with bon mots (and yes, I will now use “croustade” where it is a propos), and live a long, annoying life.
France has the French Academy and Quebec has something similar for Quebecois French. Still, francophones often use English words in common speak, especially on technological related matters. Those bodies may decree courrier électronique but you still often see just email in French writing.
quel surprise!
I think the reason they have to resort to such words is that kids these days (and their obsessive, driven parents) are learning tens of thousands of words in preparation for major spelling bees. If they limited the competition to words people use in normal conversation, the competitions would all end in draws.
The national bee’s source is Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. If people who keep asking about this actually care about this.
I have always thought spelling Bee’s are pointless and stupid. I side with Mark Twain who said, “I never had any large respect for good spelling. That is my feeling yet. Before the spelling-book came with its arbitrary forms, men unconsciously revealed shades of their characters and also added enlightening shades of expression to what they wrote by their spelling, and so it is possible that the spelling-book has been a doubtful benevolence to us.”
I also side with knuke on words we are not supposed to say or write. I am offended by people who are offended by these excellent Anglo/Saxon words. These no-no words are often the most effective way to express extreme emotion and are sometimes the only way to precisely state what you are talking about or referring to.
I have sometimes heard people who speak a foreign language say, “English is the best language to swear in.”
Added point. If the point of talking or writing is to communicate, it is counterintuitive to use words hardly anyone knows.
Unless I’m mistaken we’re talking about 6th graders here. When I was in HS I had an English teacher who required us to learn 25 new words every week, correct spelling, pronunciation and the dictionary meaning. We were given the list on Friday at the end of class and had a test the following Friday at the beginning of class. Neither croustade nor kwashiorkor was ever on the list (and my computer spell check still doesn’t recognize them). I left that class at the end of the year with an awesome vocabulary that I soon learned was useless because no one except my classmates knew what the heck I was saying and now I probably don’t ‘know’ more than a fraction of those words. It’s the old use it or lose it principle.
I get that it is a contest but as an educational exercise I’d rather see kids learning things they are going to use enough to retain. But then I don’t get the obsession with competition that pervades our society anyway. We seem to turn everything into a winner/loser contest.
And Walker, Webster’s New World does have tens of thousands of words. 59 thousand to be exact and I’d be willing to bet that not even half of them are used in ordinary conversation.
right on! the kids that do well at these things are all very talented. but devoting those talents to just memorizing unending lists of words is kind of a waste.
My teacher would give us a list of 20 vocabulary words and ask us to use them in a sentence — which was often darn near impossible — but with enough commas, semi-colons, and dashes I could usually write that sentence.
And I used to know a lot of words, some with 3 or 4 syllables, but after being beaten up a few times you learn how to be as inarticulate, oops, I mean, as dumb as the next guy.
“Ghoti gotta swim, birds gotta fly….” Many different colors of feathers in many different caps. Viva la difference!
I can’t believe I’m defending spelling bees, but here goes: Studying spelling is one of the best ways to learn and understand the wonder that is the English language. Without precise use of words, including spelling, clarity of thought declines–and pretty soon you have people here absolutely fictitious talking points about everything from climate change to the meaning of the term “there are no second acts in American life.” (Sorry Brian Mann, couldn’t resist.)
Language is precious, a gift from God to humans. And the crazy-quilt rules from all sorts of languages that make English spelling so difficult are a huge part of our unique linguistic heritage, and, I believe, a major reason this country has been able to absorb so many different cultures and blend them into what we’ve come to love as American ingenuity.
Plus, spelling is really fun. Double-plus, there’s no rule that says somebody who spells well can’t also be a good auto mechanic, or basketball player, or quilter.
Beating up on excellence? What’s wrong with you losers?