I'm a black Briton who loves German folk music, especially Heino. I sing his songs to myself every day. I might even become a German Schlager/folk singer.
In brazil some people like to say that, and personally i find this bs. We should be PROUD and happy if someone wants to learn something about our language or our culture. Thats my thoughts. Great video steve, you're my inspiration.
Conserv although I am American I spend about 30-40% of my time in Brazil. And from what I can see Brazilians want to copy anything that even resembles the US including wearing clothes covered in English that they can't read and English language schools on every corner. And you know what, I love it and they love watching my Portuguese improve.
Ashkenazi Jew here (former religious Jew and fluent Yiddish speaker). Spoken to many non-Jews who learned Hebrew and Yiddish to various degrees and sometimes felt snubbed. I'm writing this to say that I heartily appreciate it when ANYONE learns Jewish languages of any sort! Also, re: Asian Languages, my Burmese, Lao and interest in languages of Oceania have gotten me absolutely no flack whatsoever concerning "cultural appropriation", least of all its native speakers! Great job!
Great video! I’m learning Spanish and two languages from Burma, and every single time I talk to a native speaker in one of those languages they become excited that I took the time and effort to learn it and want to help me learn more. They also want to know if I picked up other things from their culture. Do I like their food? Do I know how to make their food? Am I celebrating an upcoming holiday? Have I seen this popular TV show? Do I like this singer? It’s clearly something some close minded westerners made up, and it’s silly to think that finding a culture fascinating and wanting to incorporate bits of it into your life is “cultural appropriation” The whole point of language learning is to understand a group of people that see the world differently from you. That’s not encouraging racism, that’s fighting it
A better understanding of a language comes with the learning of the culture(or even cultures) surrounding it. You will see it in Spanish, sharing a language with so many countries it's something so enjoyable for me as a native speaker, I hope that fact become even more enjoyable for you as a learner. Te deseo muchos éxitos en tu aprendizaje.
Well said, Steve. I find that kind of identity politics so toxic and nonsensical... interesting how those who claim to be morally superior are always the most race-bating and the most ignorant about culture and history... Let's all embrace each others cultures, I do certainly enjoy it. Btw, love your son's work too, great stuff!
i can get along with Arabic(several dialects and classical)German and Ruussian..When conversing with native speakers they seemed rather chuffed,not at all offended..I could have spoken to them in English but they hadn't fully appropriated my language yet.I had no idea I was committing a mortal sin.I stand before you cowed and humiliated.I will in future return to my broad Geordie accent as everyone undwerstands that.
Agree with you. It is really offensive when Americans think that Spanish is non European, or even to think that Spanish people are not white, as if they were from another Europe. They did not even ask us if using our culture if offensive for us or not
Je suis complètement d'accord avec vous sur ce sujet Steve! Je trouve justement que l'apprentissage d'une langue ne peut se faire sans le bagage culturel derrière (sauf bien sûr pour les conlangs comme l'espéranto).C'est très bénéfique pour une meilleure compréhension entre les peuples et donc pour la paix.
Come on, learning a language express the desire to know a new culture, here and there you can pick something of that culture that you like, this shouldn't be saw as a bad thing. I think the issue is to use those elements that make that culture unique to start a trend, make money and so on, that is the thing that annoys me the most.
Learning other languages help us develop more of a connectedness with other people and the world around us because we are able to share and communicate with people that speak those languages. As mentioned by several other people in previous discussions, a lot of scientific papers are written in German. This make learning a language such as German useful in expanding one's scientific knowledge.
Cultural appropriation doesn't exist for culture is a way of life and how you decide to live your life is your prerogative, therefore i would venture to say for lack of a better term "cultural adoption" because one can adopt the lifestyle, customs, characteristics, gestures, etc associated with a culture but semantically appropriation would be incorrect because in that sense culture is being perceived as physical property or some sort of commodity and its not because culture is within all of us. Great video steve!
As a left wing person, I find the concept of cultural appropriation ridiculous. The very thing that makes culture culture is that it's a melting pot and people add and take from it. To say you are not allowed to do something because you are not born into the culture is pretty horrendous to me.
5 років тому+1
it sound like isolationism and reversed nationalism... :/ kinda depressing...
People taking from cultures and developing a cultural item has always been happening. Trying to stop it is ridiculous. You think you're progressive but you also end up helping to prop up stereotypes if you're saying only Mexicans can do x and y etc. There are so many examples with things we associate strongly with one country or culture can quite often have origins in another e.g. the croissant doesn't have it's origins in France it's actually Austrian.
I was wrote up at work for using Spanish with a native Spanish speaker. The offense on the disciplinary form was "cultural appropriation". In other words it's offensive for an Anglo-American to use Spanish in tbe presence of Hispanics. I have a bachelors degree in Spanish and my maternal great parents immigrated from Valencia Spain in 1916 to get away from the upheaval of World War 1. To avoid future problems I've decided to forget my Spanish. Maybe a neutral language like Esperanto would be better but hardly useful.
This is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. I was taught French and German at school and learned Spanish for two courses in my degree and with friends, and some Portuguese in my own time. I have friends from all over the world. I travel. I'm a journalist too. How are we supposed to progress if we can't talk to people and experience life from other cultures and countries? I also have no idea how wanting to restrict freedom is somehow liberal/politically left. Makes absolutely no sense.
this cultural appropriation stuff was started by generation z. i hate it, and as a generation z myself this shit is why i HATE my generation. makes me feel akward because i get accused of appropriation for appreciating foreign culture. this is why i avoid z at this point.
I saw a video about this except it pertained to hearing people learning ASL. The poster thought that learning sign language for fun was appropriation. She discouraged hearing people from learning it who aren't involved in the deaf community. I work in customer service, and knowing a small amount has never been met with anything but smiles and appreciation. The same as being able to hold small conversations in Spanish and French (my second national language) makes people so happy, and in some cases, more comfortable.
Wow that's beyond toxic, ASL especially should be learned by more people - I'm sure it must feel so isolating to be in the deaf community and not be able to be understood because people don't learn ASL... besides the fact that learning should be fun, and people learn better and remember things easier if they're fun! I think languages and ASL and other sign languages are especially useful in the service industry.
Segragating cultures will only pull us further away from eachother. Soon we won't be "allowed" to eat different foods than the ones created by our nationality. Culture is created by inspiration and unity and is a flowing thing that thrives on being open to the world around.
I agree that this 'cultural appropriation' thing is problematic. On the one hand, people are screaming 'discrimination' and on the other, people are screaming we should not use elements of another culture because that is 'cultural appropriation'. We just can't win.
I love your videos. I had to look up this cultural appropriation thing. It sounds extremely stupid. My understanding is that before I started learning Brazilian Portuguese 2 years ago, I should have ran around and asked all 200 million Brazilians if I, as a white, german heritage English speaker if l'm allowed to learn their language. All kidding aside, people that sit around and get offended at everything and make up new straw men to get angry at, can go ahead and keep doing that. I will continue enjoying spending my weekends with my Brazilian friends that I love so much. As an aside, I finally discovered the upload option on LingQ and I'm finally getting to easily read the Portuguese novels that have been sitting on my shelfs. I'm finding the online book version and uploading it to LingQ. Its helping me so much. I'm at 16,000 known words now!
The idea that culture belongs to only one ethnic or racial group, is a core tenant of the racial ideology of Nazism. One that is still proposed by ethnofascists to this day.
The accusation of "cultural appropriation" is taken to bizarre illogical extremes now by some people (usually white people, ironically). Something isn't bad or wrong to do just because it originates from another culture. It's only a problem if you're doing something to insult or harm a person or community, or promote ideas that harm them. Look at the effects and ends, not just an action in isolation based on some extremist theory. Unless someone is insane, hopefully they can see the difference between frat boys pretending to be Natives as a party joke or using blackface VS people eating Chinese food or learning Spanish to communicate with friends and immigrants or visit a foreign country. All cultures intermingle and mix, and often even "export" aspects of their culture (the Japanese have done this very successfully). We shouldn't practice cultural segregation. We shouldn't conflate acculturation with harmful "appropriation". And what about how basically every culture in its current state has taken things from other cultures too? Who counts as "owning" one aspect or another? Also, specifically regarding language learning, learning languages is a means to connect with people from other cultures and learn about them and understand them. It's a wonderful thing. People appreciate it when you speak their language and have admiration for it.
Only a complete idiot or troll would argue that LEARNING a language is "cultural appropriation". It's not even about ideology or politics: the official definition of the term limits the scope of its application to cases of abusing or disparaging a culture perpetrated by means of displaying its language, attire or customs in a mean-spirited or obviously ignorant way. Therefore, by definition of the term "cultural appropriation", LEARNING a language can not, by definition, be cultural appropriation, as learning a language normally implies a comprehensive familiarization with the language itself and its cultural context. And the "but you're white!" counter-argument is invalid by default, not even worth discussing. And yeah, I like Steve's take on it. Culture should be shared. Anyone who's overly jealous about their identity (or, worse yet, someone ELSE's identity) is a sad, sad little person.
Honestly, when I told my friends I was learning Japanese, they said "Oh, so you watch anime a lot..." , and when I said "no" they were like "Why then? Why would you learn Japanese?" You can't even tell someone you're learning Japanese without getting the label of "weeb" but you say you're learning German or Russian and nobody bats an eye.
Andrew I actually remember being called a "Stalin lover" and a "West hater" once for learning Russian. I was also called a "Jew hater" once for learning German and "Retarded" for learning Norwegian. The guys who said that didn't even know where these countries even are haha :)
@@darraghdonnellan6125 wow what a jerk! When I say I'm learning Swedish I get asked "Why? Just why Swedish? It's such a small language" My take is I'm fascinated by languages and I want to learn as many as I can. Swedish is just the first step.
Mr. Kaufmann, Thank you for addressing this issue. After teaching English to Brazilian students for more than 20 years, the idea of considering speaking foreign languages as “cultural appropriation” made me feel completely flabbergasted! Thank you very much for sharing your point of view, which I completely agree with! Renata Moerbeck (Brazil)
being inspired by another culture and enjoying another country is FINE, however it is WRONG to take a part of another culture and make money off of it as if it is your own idea and not give credit to the people and culture that thing comes from, that is very wrong. thats what cultural appropriate is. also much respect for your linguistic abilities.
Mmm just to play devils advocate- cos I mostly agree with most of the comments on here - but cultural appropriation IS a thing. In the example of languages it’s a very positive thing, but there are lines that get crossed negatively at times under the guise of ‘everything belongs to everyone’ . As a Maori person (indigenous New Zealander) we sometimes experience negative appropriation usually when the world of commerce decides it will use the culture to make money with no care for our culture or even sense that they ought to seek permission etc. we have certain things in our culture as most cultures do, that are sacred to us but sometimes people who aren’t part of our culture take it without due respect because “culture belongs to everyone “. Anyway I’m not trying to be negative or accuse anyone of anything just showing a different view!
when it comes to the commercial exploitation of aboriginal cultures around the world, I agree with you. On the other hand A white person learning Japanese for their interest in anime, or a white girl wearing a Chinese dress to a high school dance, and similar individual activities are of no importance.
Kia Ora my bro. It's interesting to review this video and comments four years after it was posted! I agree with you comments. However, I would add one more important detail, and that is the historical context of how Māori were colonised by settlers in New Zealand, particularly via the suppression of the Māori language (i.e. Māori children being hit by teachers for speaking Māori at school). A Māori language learner (or user of the language) should be aware of that. The research says that in order for the Māori language to be revitalised that we're going to need everybody involved - and I support that. I believe that non-Māori can support and contribute to the revitalisation of the language, but they need to let Māori lead it. Heoi anō, koira tāku whakaaro ki tērā kaupapa!
Also, I don't think language has anything to do with cultural appropriation. In my opinion, cultural appropriation is stealing people's culture in order to pretend you are one of them. I am learning Spanish because it is extremely useful in my country. I am learning Romanian because I want to be able to speak a few words or sentences in the language of a friend. Neither is cultural appropriation.
Unfortunately, terms invented to point to real problems are often unjudiciously used where they don't apply by overzealous people are who don't actually understand them. Cultural Appropriation is a standard case. It refers to cases where a culture in power reduces another culture to a stereotype in a condescending way, with an attitude that masquerades as respect or admiration but actually serves to fetishize the other culture. Treating every case of cultural borrowing or appreciation as appropriation harmfully distracts from real cases.
If you're using the term cultural appropriation but you're not mentioning the power dynamics between the groups involved then you're NOT actually talking about cultural appropriation but cultural exchange. Cultural exchange is not a problem. If there's exploitation involved, that's another story. Steve could have done this video MUCH MUCH better if instead of leaving this open to a bunch of politically motivated interpretations he made it clear what are and aren't legitimate concerns different populations have with exploitation. In very few instances is this topic relevant to language. Because in most instances where there's an exploited population their language is under attack, not something others are trying to learn.
Thanks for this great video, Mr. Kaufmann :-) Western society has a history of taking the best of other cultures and making it part of our society, I do not see any bad side to this at all! I agree with you that all cultures are a thing that belongs to all of us. Excluding other people from your culture would be the most racist thing imagineable.
Totally agree with you. The link between language/culture and race is so small and is usually irrelevant. If you look throughout history you'll see that many people adopted or were forced to adopt other languages or cultures. Ethnicity doesn't play a big role, for example, ex- soviet countries like Kazahkstan who are turkic people who speak Russian or the Celtic people who many people falsely consider to be English. They speak languages unrelated to English but because they were dominated by the English Empire, they had no choice but to adopt English as their mother tongue as well as English culture. There are countless examples throughout Africa and Asia as well. Your ethnicity or 'appearance' is irrelevant in my opinion. You may look' chinese' but if you spent your entire life in Germany, are you really chinese? i don't think so.
同じ歌い手、加藤登紀子さんによる「琵琶湖周航の歌」も良いですよ^_^ The song “Biwako-shuko-no-uta” sung by same singer Tokiko Kato is also great! Check it out! ua-cam.com/video/tPxP9W2M2eY/v-deo.html
I think cultural appropriation is actually a problem when it actually happens (ex., someone intentionally and wittingly claims to be from a cultural background that is not actually theirs), but some folks like using it as a sledgehammer and/or apply it even when it's not there, which leads to dismissal of the entire issue. Learning a language, using it, isn't taking anything from the native speakers; claiming to be a native speaker when you aren't one, though? No.
It doesn't happen. There is no sin if I dress in Arab clothing when I don't speak Arabic. When my wife and I were in Jordan the shopkeepers were delighted to see us Arab head scarves and show us how to tie them. All good. Cultural appropriation is pure nonsense.
But that's just it-the examples you're giving *aren't cultural appropriation*. They get mislabeled that by some, but no appropriation is involved; you're not claiming to be representative of that culture at all. ETA: "Cultural appropriation" ultimately is lying about culture, whether as a con artist claiming to be of a culture you're not, or as a designer claiming something's *of* that culture when it's only *inspired by* that culture (or a probably-false stereotype of the culture). The knee-jerk reaction some folks have, the overzealousness in applying the label, is a side effect of damage caused by those sorts of lies-and a side effect of the damage being ignored and erased. That sort of recoil and teeter-totter is outright normal, when a cultural element has been on one side of an extreme. Edit 2: If your "it doesn't happen" was meant as "folks don't lie about their cultural backgrounds", you're wrong. Rachel Dolezal?
basically what's happening is that there is a movement to separate people into different categories, like race/gender/culture and to make these categories sacred so that anyone from an opposite race/gender/culture has no right to any opinions of the other or to participate deeply with the other, in wearing their clothes or learning their language. basically under the guise of celebrating different cultures you have this separatist ideology akin to racism. The core tenant is that you are white so you are one way with a certain history that identifies you at a deep level, and that black person is qualitatively different in a significant and exclusive way. Instead of judging people first and foremost as individuals, they are identifying them as groups of people. It is completely ridiculous and dangerous... also as a final note I have issues with the way we are categorised anyway. I am not white, I am pale pink, a black person is not black they are a shade of brown, language matters.
we are working on it. Depends when we get the content. Would have to be in traditional characters and there are some specifically Cantonese words and characters so it is not just a matter of reading the Mandarin text in Cantonese.
Spanish is a "white" language, it was created in a white country. However, Spanish became "multiracial" since the 15th century, so everyone is allowed to learn and speak it XD. Latin America comes from a supposed connection to Roman culture and heritage, guess where Rome is :) Also, as a Spaniard, I ADORE when people with a different mother language bother to speak Spanish, even if it is just a few words. And I think all people apprecite other people learning their language and culture. I'm studing japanese, and being SPanish it is fearly easy to pronounce, but the kanjis are terrible to learn XD
As a Mexican, I say: If you want to learn a language like Spanish. All you non-hispanic people have all my support. I allow you to learn it and if someone says that is "Cultural Appropriation" send it to me.
Weaboo basically means someone who is overly obsessed with Japanese culture. Before I talk about what some people are upset about, I will say that I do think people often times blow it way out of proportion. I think what the tweet was trying to get at if it was serious wasn't the people who are serious about learning Japanese or learning about Japanese culture. It was about the people who try to use Japanese phrases in their English without really understanding what it means, people who intentionally try to look like they're Japanese when they are not, people who are attracted to Japanese men or women because of what they see in J-dramas or J-pop, etc. There is a similar term in Korean, and since I am more familiar with Korean, I'll give an example of what they mean with the language. A girl might use the word oppa in an English conversation to a guy who only speaks English because they know that you can use the word for an older male friend, but the person does not think about the respect behind the word or that there is no reason to use it in English to someone who isn't even trying to learn Korean. So, I can see why something like that could technically be called cultural appropriation because of how significant the age hierarchy is in Korea, but the person is probably using it because she likes how it sounds although I don't really have a problem with it even though I know some people do. Basically, I know some Koreans who have problems with all of this because they're sometimes putting Koreans on a pedestal and such or just trying to take parts of Korean culture that they like.
Have to admit that it doesn’t persuade me one little bit. no more offensive than the silly English words Japanese people sometimes put on their T-shirts. people should be free to learn whatever they want, however well they learn it, use a language however they want,without this kind of silly sociolinguistic carping.
I would go further. I have heard Japanese and Chinese people express resentment when foreigners speak their language to well, as if we are invading the essence of their culture. This is racist. Similarly Koreans upset over the inappropriate use of Korean words or terms is probably a little racist. This strange use of Korean words is no different than the many loanwords from English in Korean and Japanese like the word “fighting” in Korean for example. Much ado about nothing.
I agree that everyone does it basically, and we tend to do this with a lot of things where we focus on one group saying how could they possibly do that when everyone else does it in different ways. So, I do agree that people should use a language however they want even though I can kind of understand where people are coming from. Yeah, I have a friend who speaks Chinese well, and some people will not understand him because they refuse to think he speaks that well.
You know, I personally didn't go to kindergarten, but I've heard that sharing is one of the aspects of life that was supposed to be taught there... but for some reason it seems to be lacking in the spirit of those who shout 'cultural appropriation'. Sharing isn't just something you do because you're supposed to or because it's 'nice'. Some things are good when done alone, but other things , many things are better when you share it with others. This is why you go to the movies or dinner or out hiking or dancing for a 'date'. You could do almost all those things alone... but why? Life is meant to be experienced, yes sometimes alone, but often with others! Conversation, and by extension, language itself is something that needs more than one person. Furthermore, since languages differ in some ways and have different ways of thinking about things and viewing the world, what better way to understand one another' views and peep into their soul in camaraderie than to learn each other's language? If anything is going to fight racism and bigotry it's certainly not being enlightened by the defintions of words on a page twisted for the purpose of olympic levels of victimhood, but to understand each other truly, to understand real suffering, and also real joy, truly sharing culture with one another is the path to empathy.
Cultural Appropriation is separate from cultural appreciation. The appropriation only occurs when there is disrespect of the culture in question, misuse of aspects of the culture or in its wrongful contexts, trying to pass off aspects of someone's culture as your own (a non-indigenous person) without acknowledgement of the indigenous culture from which it originates (or trying to be its spokesperson), and being racist towards a culture's people while seemingly loving their culture. I believe that once the above is not taking place one can properly appreciate and partake in someone else's indigenous culture without appropriating it.
Cultural appropriation is using an aspect of someone's culture without respecting the culture itself. Kind of like when stoners who use the Didgeridoo to smoke marijuana, which is quite disrespectful I think most will disagree. And some people can theoretically choose to learn a language just to look cool and because it's "exotic" without any real appreciation for the culture behind the language. But in reality, when it comes to language, it is impossible to learn it without an underlying respect because it's just too difficult to do if all your motivation is "I want to sound cool and show off." That's why people give up learning a language after two months on Rosetta Stone.
@@Thelinguist it's impossible to do without an underlying respect for the language and culture. If you get to learn ecclesiastical Latin just so you can take a video of yourself asking a Swiss guard directions to the bathroom, you are kind of a douchebag and you also won't successfully learn the language.
it's a silly left wing? Or a leftwing something? Anyway, your statement is just bs, sorry. Most people doing these things will not have a political motivation.
Roman it's OBVIOUSLY meant to say "thought" and Will is 100% correct. If you know jackshit and think it's constructive to be an obnoxious dimwit, then please stay in your basement!
Actually I live first floor ;-) Okay I am confronted with the typical yt discussion style here. I won't answer likewise as I have done too much already with "bs";-) Yes I saw it was supposed to mean "thought" but sometimes I can't resist being unconstructive, sorry. Steven, William's statement is not correct. Maybe it is inside the US, but Steve is Canadian, his audience is a worldwide one, so a US-centered understanding of a term coined by people who have nothing to do with leftism might not be what Steve is talking about.
If your idea of leftism is purely the realm of American identity politics (even if it has metasticized to other countires) then you actually need to stop listening to Jordan Peterson's political views (his self help stuff is legitimately great though) or Paul Joseph Watson at worst. SJWs are kids with zero social skills who took a single Sociology class and think they can condescend the bigotry out of people by truth bombing them with topics that only function properly when discussed by adults in an academic setting. Watch some criticism SJW recieve from lefties like Slavoj Zizek for example.
I totally get why people would have a problem with someone taking any aspect of a culture and treating it as if it never was part of that culture, but I feel like the idea of culture appropriation has strayed so far from that that it has become about people not being able to even interact with other cultures without being made to look bad.
True but then the vast majority of privileged white don't learn languages, whereas I would imagine a large percentage, if not the majority of multilingual people in the world are not white, whatever white means.
I was criticised the other day for a) not acknowledging my (white) privilege in being able to travel and learn langs, and b) being deeply offensive to the whole planet by not acknowledging that much of the (less-privileged) world is naturally multilingual... As if these were caveats that had to be issued before any commentary was allowed on anything language-related. I thought it was supposed to be a good thing for white people to learn about other cultures. Apparently not. What happened to common humanity?
You are privileged and so am I, by our education, standard of living, health, family and so on. I don't think being 'white" has much to do with it. Since our wives are not white, does that mean that they lack the same privilege, and our children as well? People operate within the confines of their environment. You and I learn languages out of interest via modern tools. A villager in Ethiopia, or in the Amazon, learns languages to get by in life. He/she has her own experience, skills, family, concerns. We are all human. I totally reject this cultural appropriation nonsense, unless it refers to a group of folk dancers in say Hawaii, or South West China pretending to represent a local culture when they really are part of some other cultural group. That is misrepresentation. However, enjoying or imitating any aspect of another culture for our own enjoyment is good, and not limited. It need not be consensual, not subject to permission, nor an exchange nor any of the other gibberish I hear from proponents of this modern invention for people with nothing better to get worked up about. There are real issues, including racial discrimination, police violence etc. which affect certain groups most unfairly. Cultural appropriation, however, is not a real issue.
Cultural appropriation has nothing to do with language, and I vehemently disagree with the idea that learning a language is ca. It's about degrading a group for their cultural expression at the same time as praising white people as "cool" or "edgy" for copying the exact same thing. It's stuff like telling Rastafarians to cut their dreads (that I believe they wear for religious reasons?) because it's "gross" but not batting an eye when a white girl dreads her hair. Or yelling at an Indian woman in a sari to "go home" but when a white girl puts one on it's "trendy" or something.
I sometimes wish you wouldn't make videos about topics that you have no knowledge of. No offense but this is like your linguistics videos. If you're going to make these vids please some baseline research.
I am culturally appropriating the English language right now.
So do I in that case 😂😂😂
“It’s not cultural appropriation if you’re punching up against systemic whiteness.”
-someone who must’ve thought this sounds sane
I'm a black Briton who loves German folk music, especially Heino. I sing his songs to myself every day. I might even become a German Schlager/folk singer.
Danke!
I thought you were a white British puritan.
What a great mix! Hope you pull it off. White Brit (part Irish ... Cromwell?! ah.) My love of Chinese brought me here. :-)
I'm German & I'm extremely flattered.
Go for it and never give up!
This man is my favorite person on UA-cam
In brazil some people like to say that, and personally i find this bs. We should be PROUD and happy if someone wants to learn something about our language or our culture. Thats my thoughts. Great video steve, you're my inspiration.
Conserv although I am American I spend about 30-40% of my time in Brazil. And from what I can see Brazilians want to copy anything that even resembles the US including wearing clothes covered in English that they can't read and English language schools on every corner. And you know what, I love it and they love watching my Portuguese improve.
Strange considering it is a language from another country to start with!
jazzyeric21 Legal xD
Ashkenazi Jew here (former religious Jew and fluent Yiddish speaker). Spoken to many non-Jews who learned Hebrew and Yiddish to various degrees and sometimes felt snubbed. I'm writing this to say that I heartily appreciate it when ANYONE learns Jewish languages of any sort! Also, re: Asian Languages, my Burmese, Lao and interest in languages of Oceania have gotten me absolutely no flack whatsoever concerning "cultural appropriation", least of all its native speakers! Great job!
Great video! I’m learning Spanish and two languages from Burma, and every single time I talk to a native speaker in one of those languages they become excited that I took the time and effort to learn it and want to help me learn more. They also want to know if I picked up other things from their culture. Do I like their food? Do I know how to make their food? Am I celebrating an upcoming holiday? Have I seen this popular TV show? Do I like this singer?
It’s clearly something some close minded westerners made up, and it’s silly to think that finding a culture fascinating and wanting to incorporate bits of it into your life is “cultural appropriation”
The whole point of language learning is to understand a group of people that see the world differently from you. That’s not encouraging racism, that’s fighting it
A better understanding of a language comes with the learning of the culture(or even cultures) surrounding it. You will see it in Spanish, sharing a language with so many countries it's something so enjoyable for me as a native speaker, I hope that fact become even more enjoyable for you as a learner.
Te deseo muchos éxitos en tu aprendizaje.
Well said, Steve. I find that kind of identity politics so toxic and nonsensical... interesting how those who claim to be morally superior are always the most race-bating and the most ignorant about culture and history...
Let's all embrace each others cultures, I do certainly enjoy it.
Btw, love your son's work too, great stuff!
Look, unless you're a central Asian nomad, you just can't wear trousers, that's cultural appropriation!
oh my god, is somebody really saying that?
not even in your worst nightmares could you come up with what regressives actually propagate!
It’s easy, whenever you think of something that would be annoying a leftist would jerk off to that idea
I fully agree. Culture belongs to everybody. In my opinion, the idea of "cultural appropriation" is extremely dumb and essentially racist.
i can get along with Arabic(several dialects and classical)German and Ruussian..When conversing with native speakers they seemed rather chuffed,not at all offended..I could have spoken to them in English but they hadn't fully appropriated my language yet.I had no idea I was committing a mortal sin.I stand before you cowed and humiliated.I will in future return to my broad Geordie accent as everyone undwerstands that.
Agree with you. It is really offensive when Americans think that Spanish is non European, or even to think that Spanish people are not white, as if they were from another Europe. They did not even ask us if using our culture if offensive for us or not
Steve. Estoy de acuerdo contigo 100%. Cultura pertenece de todos que quieran participar.
@PleaseClap. Qué idioma es eso?
Je suis complètement d'accord avec vous sur ce sujet Steve! Je trouve justement que l'apprentissage d'une langue ne peut se faire sans le bagage culturel derrière (sauf bien sûr pour les conlangs comme l'espéranto).C'est très bénéfique pour une meilleure compréhension entre les peuples et donc pour la paix.
Come on, learning a language express the desire to know a new culture, here and there you can pick something of that culture that you like, this shouldn't be saw as a bad thing. I think the issue is to use those elements that make that culture unique to start a trend, make money and so on, that is the thing that annoys me the most.
Learning other languages help us develop more of a connectedness with other people and the world around us because we are able to share and communicate with people that speak those languages. As mentioned by several other people in previous discussions, a lot of scientific papers are written in German. This make learning a language such as German useful in expanding one's scientific knowledge.
Cultural appropriation doesn't exist for culture is a way of life and how you decide to live your life is your prerogative, therefore i would venture to say for lack of a better term "cultural adoption" because one can adopt the lifestyle, customs, characteristics, gestures, etc associated with a culture but semantically appropriation would be incorrect because in that sense culture is being perceived as physical property or some sort of commodity and its not because culture is within all of us. Great video steve!
As a left wing person, I find the concept of cultural appropriation ridiculous. The very thing that makes culture culture is that it's a melting pot and people add and take from it. To say you are not allowed to do something because you are not born into the culture is pretty horrendous to me.
it sound like isolationism and reversed nationalism... :/ kinda depressing...
@ Yep, that's what it is.
People taking from cultures and developing a cultural item has always been happening. Trying to stop it is ridiculous. You think you're progressive but you also end up helping to prop up stereotypes if you're saying only Mexicans can do x and y etc. There are so many examples with things we associate strongly with one country or culture can quite often have origins in another e.g. the croissant doesn't have it's origins in France it's actually Austrian.
I was wrote up at work for using Spanish with a native Spanish speaker. The offense on the disciplinary form was "cultural appropriation". In other words it's offensive for an Anglo-American to use Spanish in tbe presence of Hispanics. I have a bachelors degree in Spanish and my maternal great parents immigrated from Valencia Spain in 1916 to get away from the upheaval of World War 1. To avoid future problems I've decided to forget my Spanish. Maybe a neutral language like Esperanto would be better but hardly useful.
This is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. I was taught French and German at school and learned Spanish for two courses in my degree and with friends, and some Portuguese in my own time. I have friends from all over the world. I travel. I'm a journalist too. How are we supposed to progress if we can't talk to people and experience life from other cultures and countries?
I also have no idea how wanting to restrict freedom is somehow liberal/politically left. Makes absolutely no sense.
this cultural appropriation stuff was started by generation z. i hate it, and as a generation z myself this shit is why i HATE my generation. makes me feel akward because i get accused of appropriation for appreciating foreign culture. this is why i avoid z at this point.
I saw a video about this except it pertained to hearing people learning ASL. The poster thought that learning sign language for fun was appropriation. She discouraged hearing people from learning it who aren't involved in the deaf community. I work in customer service, and knowing a small amount has never been met with anything but smiles and appreciation. The same as being able to hold small conversations in Spanish and French (my second national language) makes people so happy, and in some cases, more comfortable.
Wow that's beyond toxic, ASL especially should be learned by more people - I'm sure it must feel so isolating to be in the deaf community and not be able to be understood because people don't learn ASL... besides the fact that learning should be fun, and people learn better and remember things easier if they're fun! I think languages and ASL and other sign languages are especially useful in the service industry.
Segragating cultures will only pull us further away from eachother. Soon we won't be "allowed" to eat different foods than the ones created by our nationality. Culture is created by inspiration and unity and is a flowing thing that thrives on being open to the world around.
How Steve after this video wasn't labeled as a racist, I've no idea
I agree that this 'cultural appropriation' thing is problematic. On the one hand, people are screaming 'discrimination' and on the other, people are screaming we should not use elements of another culture because that is 'cultural appropriation'. We just can't win.
as a white person interested in japanese and is learning it, i gotta say this to someone who believes it's cultural appropriation.
おしりを食べる
Wow, this is ridiculous. If anything, language learning shows respect for other cultures (i.e. not expecting everyone to speak English with you).
I love your videos. I had to look up this cultural appropriation thing. It sounds extremely stupid. My understanding is that before I started learning Brazilian Portuguese 2 years ago, I should have ran around and asked all 200 million Brazilians if I, as a white, german heritage English speaker if l'm allowed to learn their language. All kidding aside, people that sit around and get offended at everything and make up new straw men to get angry at, can go ahead and keep doing that. I will continue enjoying spending my weekends with my Brazilian friends that I love so much.
As an aside, I finally discovered the upload option on LingQ and I'm finally getting to easily read the Portuguese novels that have been sitting on my shelfs. I'm finding the online book version and uploading it to LingQ. Its helping me so much. I'm at 16,000 known words now!
This comment is ironic because Brazil has a large amount of german speakers.
The idea that culture belongs to only one ethnic or racial group, is a core tenant of the racial ideology of Nazism. One that is still proposed by ethnofascists to this day.
Sadly this tweet was probably not an joke, yes, people are that stupid.
The accusation of "cultural appropriation" is taken to bizarre illogical extremes now by some people (usually white people, ironically).
Something isn't bad or wrong to do just because it originates from another culture. It's only a problem if you're doing something to insult or harm a person or community, or promote ideas that harm them. Look at the effects and ends, not just an action in isolation based on some extremist theory. Unless someone is insane, hopefully they can see the difference between frat boys pretending to be Natives as a party joke or using blackface VS people eating Chinese food or learning Spanish to communicate with friends and immigrants or visit a foreign country.
All cultures intermingle and mix, and often even "export" aspects of their culture (the Japanese have done this very successfully). We shouldn't practice cultural segregation. We shouldn't conflate acculturation with harmful "appropriation".
And what about how basically every culture in its current state has taken things from other cultures too? Who counts as "owning" one aspect or another?
Also, specifically regarding language learning, learning languages is a means to connect with people from other cultures and learn about them and understand them. It's a wonderful thing. People appreciate it when you speak their language and have admiration for it.
Only a complete idiot or troll would argue that LEARNING a language is "cultural appropriation". It's not even about ideology or politics: the official definition of the term limits the scope of its application to cases of abusing or disparaging a culture perpetrated by means of displaying its language, attire or customs in a mean-spirited or obviously ignorant way. Therefore, by definition of the term "cultural appropriation", LEARNING a language can not, by definition, be cultural appropriation, as learning a language normally implies a comprehensive familiarization with the language itself and its cultural context.
And the "but you're white!" counter-argument is invalid by default, not even worth discussing.
And yeah, I like Steve's take on it. Culture should be shared. Anyone who's overly jealous about their identity (or, worse yet, someone ELSE's identity) is a sad, sad little person.
Didn't expect you to make a video like this, much respect.
Honestly, when I told my friends I was learning Japanese, they said "Oh, so you watch anime a lot..." , and when I said "no" they were like "Why then? Why would you learn Japanese?"
You can't even tell someone you're learning Japanese without getting the label of "weeb" but you say you're learning German or Russian and nobody bats an eye.
Andrew Can relate. I'm learning Korean and DARE to admit I enjoy Korean dramas and K-pop. Ergo, I'm instantly labeled a Koreaboo.
Andrew
I actually remember being called a "Stalin lover" and a "West hater" once for learning Russian. I was also called a "Jew hater" once for learning German and "Retarded" for learning Norwegian. The guys who said that didn't even know where these countries even are haha :)
@@darraghdonnellan6125 wow what a jerk! When I say I'm learning Swedish I get asked "Why? Just why Swedish? It's such a small language"
My take is I'm fascinated by languages and I want to learn as many as I can. Swedish is just the first step.
@@darraghdonnellan6125 Oh my God, yeah I've been told I'm a n*zi for learning German, though only on the internet. ;u;
Mr. Kaufmann,
Thank you for addressing this issue. After teaching English to Brazilian students for more than 20 years, the idea of considering speaking foreign languages as “cultural appropriation” made me feel completely flabbergasted!
Thank you very much for sharing your point of view, which I completely agree with!
Renata Moerbeck (Brazil)
Life's too short and the world's too big to always conform to the norms of your ethnicity, stay in one place and speak one language.
being inspired by another culture and enjoying another country is FINE, however it is WRONG to take a part of another culture and make money off of it as if it is your own idea and not give credit to the people and culture that thing comes from, that is very wrong. thats what cultural appropriate is. also much respect for your linguistic abilities.
Yes! I love hearing your opinion, Steve!
Mmm just to play devils advocate- cos I mostly agree with most of the comments on here - but cultural appropriation IS a thing. In the example of languages it’s a very positive thing, but there are lines that get crossed negatively at times under the guise of ‘everything belongs to everyone’ . As a Maori person (indigenous New Zealander) we sometimes experience negative appropriation usually when the world of commerce decides it will use the culture to make money with no care for our culture or even sense that they ought to seek permission etc. we have certain things in our culture as most cultures do, that are sacred to us but sometimes people who aren’t part of our culture take it without due respect because “culture belongs to everyone “. Anyway I’m not trying to be negative or accuse anyone of anything just showing a different view!
when it comes to the commercial exploitation of aboriginal cultures around the world, I agree with you. On the other hand A white person learning Japanese for their interest in anime, or a white girl wearing a Chinese dress to a high school dance, and similar individual activities are of no importance.
Kia Ora my bro. It's interesting to review this video and comments four years after it was posted! I agree with you comments. However, I would add one more important detail, and that is the historical context of how Māori were colonised by settlers in New Zealand, particularly via the suppression of the Māori language (i.e. Māori children being hit by teachers for speaking Māori at school). A Māori language learner (or user of the language) should be aware of that.
The research says that in order for the Māori language to be revitalised that we're going to need everybody involved - and I support that. I believe that non-Māori can support and contribute to the revitalisation of the language, but they need to let Māori lead it. Heoi anō, koira tāku whakaaro ki tērā kaupapa!
Great video! Language learning is cultural appreciation, not cultural appropriation.
Thank you for the words of reason and wisdom!
Great video, Steve! I couldn't agree more with what you said.
Also, I don't think language has anything to do with cultural appropriation. In my opinion, cultural appropriation is stealing people's culture in order to pretend you are one of them. I am learning Spanish because it is extremely useful in my country. I am learning Romanian because I want to be able to speak a few words or sentences in the language of a friend. Neither is cultural appropriation.
Unfortunately, terms invented to point to real problems are often unjudiciously used where they don't apply by overzealous people are who don't actually understand them. Cultural Appropriation is a standard case. It refers to cases where a culture in power reduces another culture to a stereotype in a condescending way, with an attitude that masquerades as respect or admiration but actually serves to fetishize the other culture. Treating every case of cultural borrowing or appreciation as appropriation harmfully distracts from real cases.
Thank you Mr. Kaufmann! Totally agree with everything that you said.
Thank you for your singing 知床旅情‼🎵
We have a local beauty pageant for Polish girls. One year, a half Black & half Polish girl won & as a Polish woman, I was incredibly flattered.
Learning a language can only benefit both parties. Don't let the SJWs stop you! Peace from California
If you're using the term cultural appropriation but you're not mentioning the power dynamics between the groups involved then you're NOT actually talking about cultural appropriation but cultural exchange. Cultural exchange is not a problem. If there's exploitation involved, that's another story. Steve could have done this video MUCH MUCH better if instead of leaving this open to a bunch of politically motivated interpretations he made it clear what are and aren't legitimate concerns different populations have with exploitation. In very few instances is this topic relevant to language. Because in most instances where there's an exploited population their language is under attack, not something others are trying to learn.
Second half of this video was tough without captions. The english autocaptions were funny though lol.
Thanks for this great video, Mr. Kaufmann :-)
Western society has a history of taking the best of other cultures and making it part of our society, I do not see any bad side to this at all!
I agree with you that all cultures are a thing that belongs to all of us. Excluding other people from your culture would be the most racist thing imagineable.
I couldn't agree with you more Steve!
Thanks from Egypt
คุณจะเรียนภาษาไทยเมื่อไหร่, ຫຼືພາສາລາວ? Kailan kayo magaaral nang Tagalog? Dan atau bahasa Indonesia?
I got a language learning ad before this lol
Totally agree with you. The link between language/culture and race is so small and is usually irrelevant. If you look throughout history you'll see that many people adopted or were forced to adopt other languages or cultures. Ethnicity doesn't play a big role, for example, ex- soviet countries like Kazahkstan who are turkic people who speak Russian or the Celtic people who many people falsely consider to be English. They speak languages unrelated to English but because they were dominated by the English Empire, they had no choice but to adopt English as their mother tongue as well as English culture. There are countless examples throughout Africa and Asia as well. Your ethnicity or 'appearance' is irrelevant in my opinion. You may look' chinese' but if you spent your entire life in Germany, are you really chinese? i don't think so.
同じ歌い手、加藤登紀子さんによる「琵琶湖周航の歌」も良いですよ^_^
The song “Biwako-shuko-no-uta” sung by same singer Tokiko Kato is also great! Check it out!
ua-cam.com/video/tPxP9W2M2eY/v-deo.html
I am reminded of Macron’s speech of how cultural appropriation makes one appreciate one’s own culture.
I found that your method is very effective to learn langauge
I think cultural appropriation is actually a problem when it actually happens (ex., someone intentionally and wittingly claims to be from a cultural background that is not actually theirs), but some folks like using it as a sledgehammer and/or apply it even when it's not there, which leads to dismissal of the entire issue. Learning a language, using it, isn't taking anything from the native speakers; claiming to be a native speaker when you aren't one, though? No.
It doesn't happen. There is no sin if I dress in Arab clothing when I don't speak Arabic. When my wife and I were in Jordan the shopkeepers were delighted to see us Arab head scarves and show us how to tie them. All good. Cultural appropriation is pure nonsense.
But that's just it-the examples you're giving *aren't cultural appropriation*. They get mislabeled that by some, but no appropriation is involved; you're not claiming to be representative of that culture at all.
ETA: "Cultural appropriation" ultimately is lying about culture, whether as a con artist claiming to be of a culture you're not, or as a designer claiming something's *of* that culture when it's only *inspired by* that culture (or a probably-false stereotype of the culture). The knee-jerk reaction some folks have, the overzealousness in applying the label, is a side effect of damage caused by those sorts of lies-and a side effect of the damage being ignored and erased. That sort of recoil and teeter-totter is outright normal, when a cultural element has been on one side of an extreme.
Edit 2: If your "it doesn't happen" was meant as "folks don't lie about their cultural backgrounds", you're wrong. Rachel Dolezal?
聽一半突然出現中文 哈哈哈 太厲害了 ：） 還有廣東話 阿哈哈哈
You rock!
basically what's happening is that there is a movement to separate people into different categories, like race/gender/culture and to make these categories sacred so that anyone from an opposite race/gender/culture has no right to any opinions of the other or to participate deeply with the other, in wearing their clothes or learning their language. basically under the guise of celebrating different cultures you have this separatist ideology akin to racism. The core tenant is that you are white so you are one way with a certain history that identifies you at a deep level, and that black person is qualitatively different in a significant and exclusive way.
Instead of judging people first and foremost as individuals, they are identifying them as groups of people. It is completely ridiculous and dangerous... also as a final note I have issues with the way we are categorised anyway. I am not white, I am pale pink, a black person is not black they are a shade of brown, language matters.
Holy shit, 你的中文好极了! I agree with you too.
Steve, could you let us know which language you are speaking when you speak more than one foreign language? It would be helpful. Thanks.
Great video! :)
Great vid!
Extreme far regressive left lunatics... learning additional languages is one of the best things you can do in life.
When is cantonese being added to lingq? Could add cantonese recordings onto the mandarin lessons no?
we are working on it. Depends when we get the content. Would have to be in traditional characters and there are some specifically Cantonese words and characters so it is not just a matter of reading the Mandarin text in Cantonese.
Spanish is a "white" language, it was created in a white country. However, Spanish became "multiracial" since the 15th century, so everyone is allowed to learn and speak it XD. Latin America comes from a supposed connection to Roman culture and heritage, guess where Rome is :) Also, as a Spaniard, I ADORE when people with a different mother language bother to speak Spanish, even if it is just a few words. And I think all people apprecite other people learning their language and culture. I'm studing japanese, and being SPanish it is fearly easy to pronounce, but the kanjis are terrible to learn XD
Cultural Appreciation
As a Mexican, I say: If you want to learn a language like Spanish. All you non-hispanic people have all my support. I allow you to learn it and if someone says that is "Cultural Appropriation" send it to me.
Fuck ok from now on I׳ll stick to baby talk unless I learned that too,,, is suicide cultural appropriation too?
Weaboo basically means someone who is overly obsessed with Japanese culture. Before I talk about what some people are upset about, I will say that I do think people often times blow it way out of proportion. I think what the tweet was trying to get at if it was serious wasn't the people who are serious about learning Japanese or learning about Japanese culture. It was about the people who try to use Japanese phrases in their English without really understanding what it means, people who intentionally try to look like they're Japanese when they are not, people who are attracted to Japanese men or women because of what they see in J-dramas or J-pop, etc. There is a similar term in Korean, and since I am more familiar with Korean, I'll give an example of what they mean with the language. A girl might use the word oppa in an English conversation to a guy who only speaks English because they know that you can use the word for an older male friend, but the person does not think about the respect behind the word or that there is no reason to use it in English to someone who isn't even trying to learn Korean. So, I can see why something like that could technically be called cultural appropriation because of how significant the age hierarchy is in Korea, but the person is probably using it because she likes how it sounds although I don't really have a problem with it even though I know some people do. Basically, I know some Koreans who have problems with all of this because they're sometimes putting Koreans on a pedestal and such or just trying to take parts of Korean culture that they like.
Have to admit that it doesn’t persuade me one little bit. no more offensive than the silly English words Japanese people sometimes put on their T-shirts. people should be free to learn whatever they want, however well they learn it, use a language however they want,without this kind of silly sociolinguistic carping.
I would go further. I have heard Japanese and Chinese people express resentment when foreigners speak their language to well, as if we are invading the essence of their culture. This is racist. Similarly Koreans upset over the inappropriate use of Korean words or terms is probably a little racist. This strange use of Korean words is no different than the many loanwords from English in Korean and Japanese like the word “fighting” in Korean for example. Much ado about nothing.
I agree that everyone does it basically, and we tend to do this with a lot of things where we focus on one group saying how could they possibly do that when everyone else does it in different ways. So, I do agree that people should use a language however they want even though I can kind of understand where people are coming from. Yeah, I have a friend who speaks Chinese well, and some people will not understand him because they refuse to think he speaks that well.
You know, I personally didn't go to kindergarten, but I've heard that sharing is one of the aspects of life that was supposed to be taught there... but for some reason it seems to be lacking in the spirit of those who shout 'cultural appropriation'. Sharing isn't just something you do because you're supposed to or because it's 'nice'. Some things are good when done alone, but other things , many things are better when you share it with others. This is why you go to the movies or dinner or out hiking or dancing for a 'date'. You could do almost all those things alone... but why? Life is meant to be experienced, yes sometimes alone, but often with others! Conversation, and by extension, language itself is something that needs more than one person. Furthermore, since languages differ in some ways and have different ways of thinking about things and viewing the world, what better way to understand one another' views and peep into their soul in camaraderie than to learn each other's language? If anything is going to fight racism and bigotry it's certainly not being enlightened by the defintions of words on a page twisted for the purpose of olympic levels of victimhood, but to understand each other truly, to understand real suffering, and also real joy, truly sharing culture with one another is the path to empathy.
The sad thing is, that tweet probably was the person’s real thoughts on the matter 😔
Cultural Appropriation is separate from cultural appreciation. The appropriation only occurs when there is disrespect of the culture in question, misuse of aspects of the culture or in its wrongful contexts, trying to pass off aspects of someone's culture as your own (a non-indigenous person) without acknowledgement of the indigenous culture from which it originates (or trying to be its spokesperson), and being racist towards a culture's people while seemingly loving their culture.
I believe that once the above is not taking place one can properly appreciate and partake in someone else's indigenous culture without appropriating it.
Sorry, you do't persuade me. Who gets to decide all of this? No thanks.
Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve Is it that you don't think these things happen, or is it because it has not happened to you or your culture?
Cultural appropriation is using an aspect of someone's culture without respecting the culture itself. Kind of like when stoners who use the Didgeridoo to smoke marijuana, which is quite disrespectful I think most will disagree. And some people can theoretically choose to learn a language just to look cool and because it's "exotic" without any real appreciation for the culture behind the language. But in reality, when it comes to language, it is impossible to learn it without an underlying respect because it's just too difficult to do if all your motivation is "I want to sound cool and show off." That's why people give up learning a language after two months on Rosetta Stone.
Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to learn a language because you think it's cool, in my view.
@@Thelinguist it's impossible to do without an underlying respect for the language and culture. If you get to learn ecclesiastical Latin just so you can take a video of yourself asking a Swiss guard directions to the bathroom, you are kind of a douchebag and you also won't successfully learn the language.
Cultural appropriation its a silly leftwing though.
it's a silly left wing? Or a leftwing something? Anyway, your statement is just bs, sorry. Most people doing these things will not have a political motivation.
Yes buddy, I agree with you.
Roman it's OBVIOUSLY meant to say "thought" and Will is 100% correct. If you know jackshit and think it's constructive to be an obnoxious dimwit, then please stay in your basement!
Actually I live first floor ;-)
Okay I am confronted with the typical yt discussion style here. I won't answer likewise as I have done too much already with "bs";-) Yes I saw it was supposed to mean "thought" but sometimes I can't resist being unconstructive, sorry.
Steven, William's statement is not correct. Maybe it is inside the US, but Steve is Canadian, his audience is a worldwide one, so a US-centered understanding of a term coined by people who have nothing to do with leftism might not be what Steve is talking about.
If your idea of leftism is purely the realm of American identity politics (even if it has metasticized to other countires) then you actually need to stop listening to Jordan Peterson's political views (his self help stuff is legitimately great though) or Paul Joseph Watson at worst. SJWs are kids with zero social skills who took a single Sociology class and think they can condescend the bigotry out of people by truth bombing them with topics that only function properly when discussed by adults in an academic setting. Watch some criticism SJW recieve from lefties like Slavoj Zizek for example.
"Spanish is not a white language" Spanish originated in Spain, which is white. Plus, it's pretty essential seeing as it's spoken quite a lot.
Forgive them or risk being them
我爱你 my friend keep going.
I totally get why people would have a problem with someone taking any aspect of a culture and treating it as if it never was part of that culture, but I feel like the idea of culture appropriation has strayed so far from that that it has become about people not being able to even interact with other cultures without being made to look bad.
Monsundo I feel like it's people on both sides just misrepresenting/misinterpreting the whole thing. Only racists are against cultural mixing.
Jesus. You just had to learn the bejing accent huh lol
CULTURAL APROPRIATION IS NOT A THING
Who is asking this
Filthy Frank wrote a nice song for people who complain about cultural appropriation
Culture appropriation does exist in certain situations, but it's usually used in the wrong ways and makes some people sound dumb
Japanese people angry when someone learns their language? Japanese are basically the nicest people on earth..
Is Steve Kaufmann /our guy/??
How many languages does your wife speak?
Wir sind die Welt
Steve I’m surprised you don’t acknowledge it’s your white privileged that allowed you to have time to learn all those languages in the first place! ;)
True but then the vast majority of privileged white don't learn languages, whereas I would imagine a large percentage, if not the majority of multilingual people in the world are not white, whatever white means.
Steve Kaufmann - lingosteve hopefully it’s clear my comment was in jest.
I was criticised the other day for a) not acknowledging my (white) privilege in being able to travel and learn langs, and b) being deeply offensive to the whole planet by not acknowledging that much of the (less-privileged) world is naturally multilingual... As if these were caveats that had to be issued before any commentary was allowed on anything language-related. I thought it was supposed to be a good thing for white people to learn about other cultures. Apparently not. What happened to common humanity?
Of course, but I just want to make those few points.
You are privileged and so am I, by our education, standard of living, health, family and so on. I don't think being 'white" has much to do with it. Since our wives are not white, does that mean that they lack the same privilege, and our children as well? People operate within the confines of their environment. You and I learn languages out of interest via modern tools. A villager in Ethiopia, or in the Amazon, learns languages to get by in life. He/she has her own experience, skills, family, concerns. We are all human. I totally reject this cultural appropriation nonsense, unless it refers to a group of folk dancers in say Hawaii, or South West China pretending to represent a local culture when they really are part of some other cultural group. That is misrepresentation. However, enjoying or imitating any aspect of another culture for our own enjoyment is good, and not limited. It need not be consensual, not subject to permission, nor an exchange nor any of the other gibberish I hear from proponents of this modern invention for people with nothing better to get worked up about. There are real issues, including racial discrimination, police violence etc. which affect certain groups most unfairly. Cultural appropriation, however, is not a real issue.
我不懂你用中文說什麼
我也还不能听和明白多普通话。放心，一天我们会懂！；-）
Yes, all foreign diplomats are cultural appropriationists. Steve, please stop entertaining these ridiculous hypotheses
Cultural appropriation has nothing to do with language, and I vehemently disagree with the idea that learning a language is ca.
It's about degrading a group for their cultural expression at the same time as praising white people as "cool" or "edgy" for copying the exact same thing.
It's stuff like telling Rastafarians to cut their dreads (that I believe they wear for religious reasons?) because it's "gross" but not batting an eye when a white girl dreads her hair. Or yelling at an Indian woman in a sari to "go home" but when a white girl puts one on it's "trendy" or something.
Wtf ? I can't understand anything what he said in japonese.
Turn on the subtitles when he begins speaking Chinese. Hilarity ensues.
知床旅情 私も大好きです
I sometimes wish you wouldn't make videos about topics that you have no knowledge of. No offense but this is like your linguistics videos. If you're going to make these vids please some baseline research.
Please enlighten me.
Still awaiting an answer.