{"id":3146,"date":"2015-03-09T08:24:42","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T12:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/?p=3146"},"modified":"2020-10-02T12:57:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T16:57:48","slug":"french-wine-and-quality-language-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/2015\/03\/09\/french-wine-and-quality-language-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"French Wine and Quality Language Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Itchy<\/a><\/p>\n

Everyone knows the French love their wine. When I lived in Lyon back in 2011, I was constantly surprised by the incredible care that even the tiniest corner store took to stock their shelves full to burst with the widest possible wine selection. In some places, I\u2019d be willing to bet my baguette that over 50% of shelf space was singularly devoted to wine. This meant not just that no matter where you found yourself, you would never want for a bottle of C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne<\/em>, but also that if you were lacking in the funds to support your wine habit, as I often was, you could boldly pick from the bottom shelf with the confidence that yes, even the cheapest wine was of a certain quality. Back in the USA, boxed wine has a certain\u2026uncivilized reputation. Not so in France \u2013 only very rarely did spending \u20ac1 on your evening\u2019s drink disappoint.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something to be said for this devotion to quality at all levels, and it\u2019s a lesson worth our attention as language learners.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re reading this, I very much doubt you\u2019ve only learned one language apart from your mother tongue\u2014if you\u2019re anything like me, you\u2019ve got maybe one more or less fluent, another conversational, and a few bottom-shelf selections of half-learned, half-forgotten languages we know we really should brush up on, but\u2026well, you know.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to do something, do it right.<\/p>\n

If you speak to someone else in one of your languages, your goal should be to feel that you\u2019re giving them the best you can give at that level. There\u2019s no need to make a big fuss that your Hungarian isn\u2019t as good as your Spanish. It\u2019s not worth comparing the one to the other. If you\u2019re already up to learning figures of speech in Japanese, you\u2019re not going to start doing that in Hebrew just to feel like you\u2019re making progress, are you? You need to take everything one step at a time. Each language deserves to be treated on its own terms, and with its own dose of attention and love.<\/p>\n

The French corner store proprietor may spend more care stocking his middle and top shelves, but he doesn\u2019t leave the lower ones to gather dust, forgotten. He knows there are those customers that like their wine at \u20ac45 euros a bottle, and those that prefer their wine in a cardboard box.<\/p>\n

So the next time you lament that your German is \u201crusty,\u201d or that you\u2019ve \u201clost\u201d your Russian after so much neglect, spend a half hour going over what you do<\/em> know. Dust it off<\/a>, give it the attention it needs<\/a>, without comparing it to the others.<\/p>\n

Quality at all levels. You don\u2019t need to be fluent in every language you learn. You just need to care about doing a good job.<\/p>\n

What about you? What languages are rotting on your bottom shelf, and what would you need to do to give them some attention? Just saying it publicly might give you the push you need to give them a little amour<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Everyone knows the French love their wine. When I lived in Lyon back in 2011, I was constantly surprised by the incredible care that even the tiniest corner store took to stock their shelves full to burst with the widest possible wine selection. In some places, I\u2019d be willing to bet my baguette that over…<\/p>\n

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