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THE KUME GAFFE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY YOMIURI
TUES, NOV 12, 1996, pg 8

(click here to see JPEG of original article)

ENVYING BILINGUALISM

I can't believe Hiroshi Kume has gone and dropped another "Archie Bunkerism" like last month's "katakoto no ho ga ii yo ne" comment--especially coming so close on the heels of his inane "henna gaijin" quip (Televiews, Nov 10). He is starting to make Rush Limbaugh look like Mr Rogers. I'd say this decisively clinches his election to the Nakasone Pigheaded Xenophobe Hall of Fame. He's got my vote.

I have been doing written "learner consciousness raising" surveys recently with students at the junior college where I teach English, and among the topics we are covering is student attitudes towards the concept of bilingualism.

One of the questions I came up with to gauge responses was "What is your initial reaction when you meet a foreigner who speaks fluent Japanese?" In one class of 15, 14 of the students answered positively, replying that they felt the speaker to be erai, or worthy of respect. They also said that such an encounter made them want to study English harder so that they could become bilingual, too.

One student, however, responded negatively (and very frankly), saying that she feels hurt and envious because her already faltering confidence in her own English ability is shaken even further. Have we stumbled onto something here?

Dollars to doughnuts, Kume studied English throughout 10 years of schooling and couldn't talk himself out of a paper bag. It's a case of simple envy and the classic, nasty old ware-ware inferiority complex we have to put up with from the drunk salarymen at the train station every Friday night.

I seem to remember that Kume shaved his head a couple of years back after he said something stupid on TV. Hark, methinks I hear the buzz of electric clippers emanating from the makeup room.

Buck Sheftall
Shizuoka

LETTER ENDS

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