Mike Shatzkin posted an article this morning about the new trend of US and UK publishers muscling into a greater presence in foreign territories simply because publishers in other native languages haven't yet gone digital. Paired with this week's Economist article about disappearing South African languages, and you start to see a pattern of creeping decay for everything but English.
Ironically, the digital revolution has brought me un peu plus de francais. Before setting off for Malta, I downloaded the Merrill-Webster French-English Dictionary to my Kindle and, after a little research on Amazon, learned how to switch my default dictionary. Now I'm zipping through The Comte de Monte Cristo in its original language, buffeted along by the ease in which I can look up unfamiliar words. (Unfortunately, as my French hasn't been stretched since sophomore year of university, there are many.) Reading a novel in French seemed a giant task when I started. Now I've put down the Evelyn Waugh book I'd thought to balance out the project and am reading solely the Dumas until its completion.
My guess is no one will put this in the marketing materials, but it's a personal godsend. With luck my April trip to Morocco to visit the sis will find me jabbering along with Casablanca locals beyond cab fare and groceries. Maybe English is the lingua franca, but since that's the one I already know, j'en ai beaucoup plus à apprendre.
Ironically, the digital revolution has brought me un peu plus de francais. Before setting off for Malta, I downloaded the Merrill-Webster French-English Dictionary to my Kindle and, after a little research on Amazon, learned how to switch my default dictionary. Now I'm zipping through The Comte de Monte Cristo in its original language, buffeted along by the ease in which I can look up unfamiliar words. (Unfortunately, as my French hasn't been stretched since sophomore year of university, there are many.) Reading a novel in French seemed a giant task when I started. Now I've put down the Evelyn Waugh book I'd thought to balance out the project and am reading solely the Dumas until its completion.
My guess is no one will put this in the marketing materials, but it's a personal godsend. With luck my April trip to Morocco to visit the sis will find me jabbering along with Casablanca locals beyond cab fare and groceries. Maybe English is the lingua franca, but since that's the one I already know, j'en ai beaucoup plus à apprendre.
No comments:
Post a Comment