LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

Myths abound. People like and believe myths. Myths are comfortable but dangerous and false. Myths lure people into traps. Spanish-language learners hear the mermaid voices of myths that tell them that: 1. Spanish is easy to learn. Not true. Spanish verbs are a tough bone to chew, for instance.  2. Spanish is easy to pronounce. Spanish pronunciation is deceptive, difficult to master, and very different from English. 3. The 22 countries with Spanish as the official language speak the same. Not by a long shot. This may be so for educated Spanish, but street language differs considerably from country to country, even within a country. 4. Any native Spanish speaker will do as an instructor. Monolingual native speakers are usually the worst teachers. 5. Learning Spanish (or any other language, for that matter) is a breeze, and can be mastered in a few months.  6. The best Spanish is spoken in... Not true. The best Spanish is the easiest to understand. Clear, educated Spanish is alwa...

Listening to a chat delivered by Dr. Oliver Sacks to a Swedish audience in Börssalen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7_r9lF8smY&t=116s , I was struck by the Q&A period that followed. Members of the audience, mostly Swedish doctors, were given the opportunity to ask Dr. Sacks questions about his chat. What I found of interest is that the knowledge of English of  the members of the audience, educated Swedish people, was utterly unacceptable. The questions were so poorly put that someone near Dr. Sacks had to rephrase them and fix the syntax and wording. Swedes have a high reputation as linguists, especially in Spain, and are supposed to handle English fluently and flawlessly. Linguistic myths abound and are taken for granted. The brain of a Swede is no different that the brain of a Mexican or Italian. If you do not believe me, listen to the Question and Answer period in Sacks' lecture and you will hear how proficient they are in expressing themselves in English. So ...