You know ... just upstairs from my favorite Starbucks, where I sip and write for a few hours each day, a college extension ESL program is given to about 80-90 learners, mostly from Korea and Japan. Rather than concentrate on the degree of their language proficiency, I have decided to spend more time observing student attitudes as more accurately revealed when they are out of class and with their buddies.

Now, I won't be so presumptuous as to critique one's right to communicate in whichever tongue he/she opts when class is not in session, but it has always served as The Eighth Wonder to my mind as to why practically all foreigners who come to this country (often at great expense) constantly refuse to take full advantage of a golden opportunity to conduct all their business in the lingua of the land in which they are situated. Moreover, I've been espying students -- even those who have reached an advanced level with many skills at their fingertips -- regularly congregating in their own societal groups, merrily chattering away in their native tongues.

That's OK, B-U-T, in view of the obviously relieved expressions on their faces, one would think they had just been paroled from a penitentiary where they were the recipients of savage beatings at least twice per day! My question: Why the hell study a language if you don't use it ... particularly while residing in the land where it is spoken??? Once again, I don't wish to condone any teacher's authority to sit in judgment of the motives of others, but, at this late date, I consider it extremely odd to see such a thing occurring in so many ESL schools throughout the land.

On the other hand, while ESL instructors in a foreign land, the task of getting everyone to voluntarily speak English after class is more difficult than ever to achieve. And, ironically enough, it is we, the teachers, who must likewise face the challenge of learning second-language communication! Until we are fairly familiar with the tongue of whichever land in which we are teaching, it is, in most cases, WE who desperately seek after-class verbal exchange in English!

When looking back in early U.S. history, it is plain to see that the English (or French) language always served as THE great link between immigrants from all corners of the world -- even with the Native American Indian. In the beginning, people simply HAD to learn at least enough English (or French) to conduct their business on a day-to-day basis. Albeit my parents were born in the USA, their parents, coming from Austria and Germany, were, in those days, obliged to learn their English strictly through conversation, and, for survival's sake, as quickly as was possible. While the level of English language "proficiency" that such immigrants spoke left almost everything to be desired, people could and did manage to build this land to the level of greatness it enjoys today. But how does this all affect us as instructors either here or somewhere abroad, or in our secondary rôle as cultural ambassadors? Moreover, how is it possible to instill within our students that ardent desire to use the English language for a longer period than the 3-4 hours officially prescribed each day? In other words, how can we help fight off the phenomenon which I call The Stick to Your Own Kind Except During School Hours Syndrome?

If you have also thought about this problem, I would appreciate your contributing your insight and constructive suggestions. In any event, I believe this one to be "a toughie" to solve. Thank you for your time.

À bientôt ... and ... love to all,

The Arrogant One