(9:00 AM) | Adam Kotsko:

Two Points for Discussion

1. When I tried to teach myself German last summer, it didn't work. I kept forgetting stuff and losing my momentum. Now that I'm taking the French reading class in Hyde Park, however, I am starting to understand my error: yes, of course I can "understand" the German language in an abstract way. The point, however, is to get beyond "understanding" the fine points of grammar, and the only way to do that is through stone cold rote repetition. I actually need to write out all these exercises, for instance. Rather than just writing everything on a big sheet and "looking it over" again and again, I need to memorize stuff, so that I can produce it rather than just convincing myself I'll probably recognize it if I see it. Hopefully once I get done with this French class, I'll pretty much know how to go about learning to read a language and can save myself some money next summer.
   
   That's what I think we've lost in all our focus on innovative and engaging pedagogy: the early stages of learning are boring. If they're not boring, then you're probably not getting the underlying foundation that you need. It's all about rote conditioning. Repetitive exercises are boring. They feel like a punishment. They break the spirit of young people -- and thank God! Have you seen the way these fucking free-spirit, self-expressive, creative kids behave in public? In the doctor's office, for instance? I would say that my parents would have punished me severely for acting like that, but I can't even get to the point of imagining acting like that. Kids today need discipline and structure. They need to do a million pointless exercises that teach them how to use a comma properly. They need to do more rote memorization. They need to be forced to do something cold, impersonal, and pointless that will somehow get it through their skulls that the entire world does not stop when they want to say something or get a drink or whatever.
   
   
2. While we're on the issue of cold impersonality, I think that the second most pressing need in American society, aside from economic justice, is a uniform code of etiquette. People are complete assholes. I know that "back then" people were still assholes underneath, but a code of etiquette at least keeps things moving smoothly. For instance, I don't care if someone is "sincerely" seething with anger at how long he's had to wait to see the doctor -- I don't want him to "sincerely" yell at the receptionist. Hypocritically keeping his cool would be fine with me.
   
   In more general terms, I also wish that people would just acknowledge each other's presence more. I feel like everyone views everyone else as a potential obstacle -- it's most pronounced in big cities, when eye contact is never made. One good thing I picked up from Olivet, aside from holding doors open for people, is the tacit expectation that I would, at the very least, smile at someone as we passed on the sidewalk. I didn't know most of the people I smiled at or for whom I held open the door. I didn't "sincerely" want to brighten their day or some shit. But it's still nice to do. I still think it would be nice if it was more instinctual for people to say hello to others rather than avoid and resent others. (Maybe the phenomenon I'm diagnosing comes from being such a car-centric society, where the main mode of transportation isolates us and encourages us to view everyone else as an obstacle to our attainment of the highest possible speed.)
   

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