Vitalik Buterin
@vitalik.eth
I notice among people I talk to more enthusiasm toward learning French than Spanish. This confuses me; my feeling is that Spanish unlocks far more countries and speakers than French does and so is a more natural first choice. What do people think motivates this choice?
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justin.ahn.eth
@ahn.eth
when i was in grade school in the US (back in the 90s), the foreign language classes were French and Spanish. i recall a pretty clear socio-economic divide between those in French (tended to be white, upper-middle class) and those in Spanish (middle class, more ethnically diverse, didn't care to learn the language).
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justin.ahn.eth
@ahn.eth
i feel like this represents how many people approach learning a new language in general: Enthusiast, someone who has the means to and is passionate enough to learn even if seemingly impractical; vs Pragmatist, someone who's forced to learn in order to increase survival odds, which is also the case with English today
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Dan | Icebreaker
@web3pm
Also had this experience growing up. In NYC schools today you still see it, particularly in the context of dual language English + French programs which affluent families flock to vs the English + Spanish which are far less popular even though WAY more use of knowing Spanish in NYC.
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Dan | Icebreaker
@web3pm
I think it’s charitable classifying the French learners as “Enthusiasts” though. Would chalk it up more to parents subconsciously (or not) status signaling. In the case of NYC dual language, negative relative utility is a hack to place your kid w more affluent classmates in the public school system
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justin.ahn.eth
@ahn.eth
ha, agreed on "charitable." I'm sure it's a learned affectation to tend to elevate French more despite having more proximity to and utility for Spanish. fwiw, i was a "Spanish" kid myself, but ironically now find myself living in France 😆
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