1月26日BBC聽力：融會不單單象征著說話的進修
The last country I visited where I couldn’t speak thelanguage was Poland. Yes, most people spoke inEnglish and communication was hardly a strugglebut it still made me realise how dependent I was onothers to translate occasionally, and the way thislimited my enjoyment of another society. Knowing alanguage isn’t simply about communicating words, it’s about entering another world, a worldwhich remains partially closed if you can’t express yourself.
In this sense the government’s proposed 20 million pound language fund to help help end whatthe prime-minister called the "passive tolerance" of separate communities, is welcome. Whilemany of the big statistics focus on Muslim women, money will be spent on all women who are inthe greatest danger of isolation, whether it’s voluntary or imposed. English language thereforeis a means to building the Prime-minister’s goal of an `integrated, cohesive one nationcountry.’
But knowing English doesn’t necessarily lead to integration and certainly can’t guarantee oneof the ultimate aims of this investment, which is curbing the tide of extremism andradicalisation within certain sections of the Muslim community. After all most young peoplewho have been drawn to violent jihadism speak fluent English. In such societies, parents arethe repositories of tradition and culture, but if they’re struggling to communicate with theirchildren, it’s not necessarily because of their inability to speak English.
Language skills may help some women gain access to education, become empowered andmobile, all necessary for a more just and equal society. But if integration is to mean anything,it must harbour a sense of emotional belonging and shared citizenship despite culturaldifferences. Culture is more than holding onto food, dress and ritual. Cultural awareness andfeelings of belonging demand a mindset, an ability to have vision for your life wherever you live,to be aware of your heritage but not be held back by traditions that encourage onlyimaginary rather than real bonds. This has to come from the individual and the state for all itsgood intentions, and its vast reach, is limited in what it can do to foster this.
Many people may share a neighbourhood but they share little in terms of thoughts or activities.Often there’s no resentment, no hostility but only apathy to how other people live and malefemale relations. The Qur’anic verse ‘Men are the protectors and maintainers of women’ hasbeen subject to decades of interpretation but also decades of abuse, in which communitieshave denied women their rights. I think all women should have freedoms and opportunities. Butthe truth is that there are many women who don’t wish to enter another world because theworld they’re in is enough for them. And it seems to me that no amount of English languagelessons will be able to change that.
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