Culture and Language

This week our theme deals with travel to foreign places. Many people love to travel and, certainly, it is easier to travel now than it was in the past. Yet, when we travel can we really say we learned about a place. Can a brief stay in a country and a tour of its high spots really enlighten us as to how the people and the culture are? If I travel to 7 countries in 7 days what have I really learned?

Quite often when people are goiing on a long trip they study the language and/or carry a phrase book so they can communicate with the "natives." While this is a step in the right durection, is it enough? How important is language to culture and how important is culture to language?

That leads us to this question:

Title: Fluent Fools

Think First
Think about the following quotation. What do you think it means? Do you agree with it? Why or why not? You can ask your friends for ideas also.

“To study a language without learning its culture is a great way to make a fluent fool of yourself.” (Milton Bennett, cross-cultural researcher)

Then Write
Put the quote on the top of the page for the title. Explain what the quote means. Agree or disagree with the statement. Give reasons and examples to support your point of view.