A few posts back I made cider and squirrelled it away until it had matured. I can now happily report that it tastes great! Hurray!
Well, I think it tastes nice. But some Swedish friends (and others of non-british origin) were not so keen. But they just reaffirm that I succeeded, since you've got to be a true Brit to like that true, bitter, cloudy cider that doesn't taste like cheap soda.
Monday, 30 November 2015
Monday, 23 November 2015
Day 838: Swedish English Learning
What happens if you think you're better at something than you actually are?
I recently attended a conference for English teachers in Stockholm and by far and away the most interesting piece of information I took away from the event was this: Swedish school students' motivation for learning English is low because they think they are already good at English and they don't need to study it at school.
It's a commonly accepted fact that Swedes are good at English. If you come here on a visit and can't even manage a "Hej" or a "Tack" you won't have too many difficulties getting around and about. Sometimes you'll meet someone who'll explain that they're "terribly sorry for my lack of English" and use a whole host of words you would never use yourself in doing so. You also meet Swedes who take the piss out of other Swedes speaking "terrible" English while you smile on, and nod, thinking about your own, utter lack of Swedish.
But while it's all well and good being able to communicate with people on an everyday level, a sad truth about English is that when it comes to certain situations, be they academic, business related or formal events, the language is a total bitch to master. More than this, if you're not a native speaker (and let's face it, sometimes even if you are a native speaker) there are times when you won't use a subjunctive, or a whom, or a pronoun, or some other finicky piece of shit word, and your fabulous idea suddenly won't pack the punch that it's supposed to.
This is in fact true of all languages, of course, but the particular problem with having English as your second language is that you're up against a globalised world full of millions, perhaps billions, of other people using English to reach out to the English speaking world in the best way possible. If you end up in a job which requires you to write formal, or academic, or business, or sales, or any of the other myriad forms of English then you'll either be glad that you had the chance to learn these things or spend a lot of frustrated time trying to do it as an adult. And I'm all for the adaptation of language over time, and the natural changes that come through regular use, but I don't think there's any escaping the need to use the language "correctly" according to the currently accepted model. If you write an academic paper with no apostrophes whatsoever, your reader is going to ask you where they are, instead of thanking you for pioneering a new form of apostrophe-less English.
Where am I going with this? Well, in the study which I was shown at this conference, the presenter (a very interesting academic called Alastair Henry, whose research can be found here) explained that motivation in class comes from a variety of sources. One of these sources is the perceived gap between how good the learner thinks they are at the current moment, and how good they think they will be in the future. If this gap is big, then students accept that they have some work to do and feel motivated to do it. If the gap is small, then the students feel no pressure to work hard, since they think they don't have too far to go. What does this have to do with Sweden? As part of the study, the results from Swedish students were compared with several other countries:
The numbers in the first red circle, under the r, show the mean size of the gap between how good students ranked themselves currently and how good they think they want to be in the future. Sweden's average was .34, which is almost half as small as the next smallest gap in Iran at .62. This basically means, as I already said, that Swedish teenagers think they're nearly the fucking DON at English and that they don't have to do anything because they're only .34 away from being the actual fucking DON at English.
Why do they think this? They think this because:
a) On average they spend >20 hours a week interacting with English on the internet or in games or on TV etc
b) They are actually quite good. I work in a lot of schools and when kids find out I'm English they follow me around and talk to me because they want to show off.
c) Sometimes they can express themselves better in English than in Swedish. Some kids asked a colleague of mine "how do you say 'coincidence' in Swedish?" in English in the middle of a Swedish speaking exam.
Why is it dangerous to think this?
a) Because you're never the fucking DON of a language. There is always more to learn and more to write and more to read. Unless you're J.R.R. Tolkien, then I'm happy to call you the fucking DON of English (although I'm sure he'd agree with what I just said, being an academic)
b) Because the kids I teach might be able to talk fluently and express some complex ideas but they sound like Jessie Pinkman from Breaking Bad all the while
c) Because as much as I like and use them, there are more adjectives, modifiers, verbs and just general vocabulary than just "shit" "bullshit" "motherfucking" "fucking" "poop" "fuck" "dick" and "ass".
The advice of Alastair Henry at this conference was something which all teachers should know and do all the time, but which in any case bears repeating, essentially it is the job of the teacher to show the student a different future self, one which is a bit further away from that which the student has created for him or herself. This future self can achieve more and be even better that the one which the student imagined and can inspire motivation.
No motherfucking pressure then. Poop.
I recently attended a conference for English teachers in Stockholm and by far and away the most interesting piece of information I took away from the event was this: Swedish school students' motivation for learning English is low because they think they are already good at English and they don't need to study it at school.
It's a commonly accepted fact that Swedes are good at English. If you come here on a visit and can't even manage a "Hej" or a "Tack" you won't have too many difficulties getting around and about. Sometimes you'll meet someone who'll explain that they're "terribly sorry for my lack of English" and use a whole host of words you would never use yourself in doing so. You also meet Swedes who take the piss out of other Swedes speaking "terrible" English while you smile on, and nod, thinking about your own, utter lack of Swedish.
But while it's all well and good being able to communicate with people on an everyday level, a sad truth about English is that when it comes to certain situations, be they academic, business related or formal events, the language is a total bitch to master. More than this, if you're not a native speaker (and let's face it, sometimes even if you are a native speaker) there are times when you won't use a subjunctive, or a whom, or a pronoun, or some other finicky piece of shit word, and your fabulous idea suddenly won't pack the punch that it's supposed to.
This is in fact true of all languages, of course, but the particular problem with having English as your second language is that you're up against a globalised world full of millions, perhaps billions, of other people using English to reach out to the English speaking world in the best way possible. If you end up in a job which requires you to write formal, or academic, or business, or sales, or any of the other myriad forms of English then you'll either be glad that you had the chance to learn these things or spend a lot of frustrated time trying to do it as an adult. And I'm all for the adaptation of language over time, and the natural changes that come through regular use, but I don't think there's any escaping the need to use the language "correctly" according to the currently accepted model. If you write an academic paper with no apostrophes whatsoever, your reader is going to ask you where they are, instead of thanking you for pioneering a new form of apostrophe-less English.
Where am I going with this? Well, in the study which I was shown at this conference, the presenter (a very interesting academic called Alastair Henry, whose research can be found here) explained that motivation in class comes from a variety of sources. One of these sources is the perceived gap between how good the learner thinks they are at the current moment, and how good they think they will be in the future. If this gap is big, then students accept that they have some work to do and feel motivated to do it. If the gap is small, then the students feel no pressure to work hard, since they think they don't have too far to go. What does this have to do with Sweden? As part of the study, the results from Swedish students were compared with several other countries:
The numbers in the first red circle, under the r, show the mean size of the gap between how good students ranked themselves currently and how good they think they want to be in the future. Sweden's average was .34, which is almost half as small as the next smallest gap in Iran at .62. This basically means, as I already said, that Swedish teenagers think they're nearly the fucking DON at English and that they don't have to do anything because they're only .34 away from being the actual fucking DON at English.
Why do they think this? They think this because:
a) On average they spend >20 hours a week interacting with English on the internet or in games or on TV etc
b) They are actually quite good. I work in a lot of schools and when kids find out I'm English they follow me around and talk to me because they want to show off.
c) Sometimes they can express themselves better in English than in Swedish. Some kids asked a colleague of mine "how do you say 'coincidence' in Swedish?" in English in the middle of a Swedish speaking exam.
Why is it dangerous to think this?
a) Because you're never the fucking DON of a language. There is always more to learn and more to write and more to read. Unless you're J.R.R. Tolkien, then I'm happy to call you the fucking DON of English (although I'm sure he'd agree with what I just said, being an academic)
b) Because the kids I teach might be able to talk fluently and express some complex ideas but they sound like Jessie Pinkman from Breaking Bad all the while
c) Because as much as I like and use them, there are more adjectives, modifiers, verbs and just general vocabulary than just "shit" "bullshit" "motherfucking" "fucking" "poop" "fuck" "dick" and "ass".
The advice of Alastair Henry at this conference was something which all teachers should know and do all the time, but which in any case bears repeating, essentially it is the job of the teacher to show the student a different future self, one which is a bit further away from that which the student has created for him or herself. This future self can achieve more and be even better that the one which the student imagined and can inspire motivation.
No motherfucking pressure then. Poop.
Monday, 9 November 2015
Day 824: You will be assimilated, resistance is futile.
On taking a trip to England to see friends and family I realise I've gone beyond just looking the wrong way on the road and getting in the wrong side of the car. Now I've started to do subtly Swedish things while back in the home land...
1. Forgetting my Oyster card when leaving the tube station and expecting the barrier to open for me like it does in Stockholm. Standing there like a lemon.
2. Wincing when sitting in the passenger seat and watching the car make a turn.
3. Closing the entire lid of the toilet seat when flushing and wondering why it's not closed in public places.
4. Having to use a skanky scourer that's been sat in the sink for a week or two, instead of one of these:
5. Going to get a drink from the bathroom tap but remembering that's not a thing in England and having to go all the way to the kitchen.
6. Apologising to my friends for being late and texting them afterwards to say thanks for having me.
7. Taking up two seats on the train.
8. Getting knocked down by the STENCH of too much laundry detergent on everybody's clothes
9. Using Swedish words for things around the house when I need them urgently.
10. Wishing there were toilet brushes in public bathrooms.
1. Forgetting my Oyster card when leaving the tube station and expecting the barrier to open for me like it does in Stockholm. Standing there like a lemon.
2. Wincing when sitting in the passenger seat and watching the car make a turn.
3. Closing the entire lid of the toilet seat when flushing and wondering why it's not closed in public places.
4. Having to use a skanky scourer that's been sat in the sink for a week or two, instead of one of these:
5. Going to get a drink from the bathroom tap but remembering that's not a thing in England and having to go all the way to the kitchen.
6. Apologising to my friends for being late and texting them afterwards to say thanks for having me.
7. Taking up two seats on the train.
8. Getting knocked down by the STENCH of too much laundry detergent on everybody's clothes
9. Using Swedish words for things around the house when I need them urgently.
10. Wishing there were toilet brushes in public bathrooms.
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