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Language as a door key to culture
Many people start learning a language because they are interested in that specific culture which belongs to the people who speak that language. Unless you are into a specific subject on Arts or Politics/Sociology context, you do not usually get down to 'studying' a culture. You do not say, for example: "I have bought a textbook on Chinese culture and now I am learning intermediate Chinese architecture, next lesson is about regional Chinese operas". Therefore, studying a language has been reputed as the most effective and entertaining way of having access to a specific culture from a broader point of view and then getting down to details on one's own choice.
Once we acknowledge that the study of a language brings up substantial knowledge about that culture it relates to, two questions may arise: how does that happen, and to what extent? I will try to answer both of them by comparing what I know about two close countries: Norway and Sweden. The main variable to be taken into account is the fact that I have been studying Norwegian actively on a daily basis since August 2012, while I have never studied Swedish actively. I may be able to read some Swedish based on my knowledge of Norwegian, but this is not the subject here: we are trying to understand how much of the Norwegian culture I managed to learn about thanks to my studies through multiple resources such as textbooks for English-speakers, textbooks for immigrants, podcasts, novels and TV series.
When it comes to music, I might actually be able to mention more Swedish artists who sing in Swedish than Norwegian artists who sing in Norwegian, but this is related to the fact that I used to research music on my own, and was particularly interested in the Swedish scene. As for arts in general, I can surely mention Eduard Munch but I cannot think of a Swedish painter; I know about the Frognerparken in Oslo with its sculptures, but I cannot mention a Swedish one. I am considering only spontaneous recall, so, for example, I forgot the name of the author of the sculptures at Frognerparken which I saw in two textbooks, and had to look it up: it is Gustav Vigeland who did them.
I can mention Henrik Ibsen as a classical Norwegian writer, and I am sure to have read about several others, but I cannot think of a Swedish one. As for contemporary ones, Jostein Gaarder from Norway and Stieg Larsson from Sweden are indeed very popular on my country, and I would know about them even if I were not into languages.
Now let us move a bit into Geography: I can mention three Swedish cities with their original names: Göteborg, Malmö (thanks to its curved high-rise building) and Stockholm. In Norway: Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø, Trondheim, Lillehammer, Lillestrøm, Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger. I know that Norway is divided in large regions such as Nord-Norge, Vestlandet, Sørlandet, Østlandet. I have no idea how Sweden is divided.
Tourist spots: the twin towers of Postgirobygget, the aforementioned Frogneparken, Bryggen, in Bergen, the ancient railroad that connects Bergen and Oslo. I remember reading about a glass design center in the region of Oslo, a sky center and several fjords, of course. I cannot mention a tourist spot in Sweden.
It is noticeable that my memory is not serving me that well when it comes to remembering actual names, but, to summarize, I would like to mention the topics I read something about during my Norwegian studies: Norway's healthcare and social security systems; public holidays; festivals, medieval, modern and contemporary history; the main artists for each field, such as classical music, sculpture, painting, literature. I know nothing about these topics regarding Sweden. Therefore, I believe one gets to learn a lot about the culture of the place where the language they study is spoken, to some extent that this place becomes less and less "foreign". When I traveled to places that spoke languages I had studied, I had the feeling that I could go on and explore a lot by myself based not only on my linguistical knowledge, but also on the important insights I got about the daily life there. This was true for France, Spain but even for smaller places like Aruba and Curaçao, where they spoke Papiamento.
Once we acknowledge that the study of a language brings up substantial knowledge about that culture it relates to, two questions may arise: how does that happen, and to what extent? I will try to answer both of them by comparing what I know about two close countries: Norway and Sweden. The main variable to be taken into account is the fact that I have been studying Norwegian actively on a daily basis since August 2012, while I have never studied Swedish actively. I may be able to read some Swedish based on my knowledge of Norwegian, but this is not the subject here: we are trying to understand how much of the Norwegian culture I managed to learn about thanks to my studies through multiple resources such as textbooks for English-speakers, textbooks for immigrants, podcasts, novels and TV series.
When it comes to music, I might actually be able to mention more Swedish artists who sing in Swedish than Norwegian artists who sing in Norwegian, but this is related to the fact that I used to research music on my own, and was particularly interested in the Swedish scene. As for arts in general, I can surely mention Eduard Munch but I cannot think of a Swedish painter; I know about the Frognerparken in Oslo with its sculptures, but I cannot mention a Swedish one. I am considering only spontaneous recall, so, for example, I forgot the name of the author of the sculptures at Frognerparken which I saw in two textbooks, and had to look it up: it is Gustav Vigeland who did them.
I can mention Henrik Ibsen as a classical Norwegian writer, and I am sure to have read about several others, but I cannot think of a Swedish one. As for contemporary ones, Jostein Gaarder from Norway and Stieg Larsson from Sweden are indeed very popular on my country, and I would know about them even if I were not into languages.
Now let us move a bit into Geography: I can mention three Swedish cities with their original names: Göteborg, Malmö (thanks to its curved high-rise building) and Stockholm. In Norway: Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø, Trondheim, Lillehammer, Lillestrøm, Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger. I know that Norway is divided in large regions such as Nord-Norge, Vestlandet, Sørlandet, Østlandet. I have no idea how Sweden is divided.
Tourist spots: the twin towers of Postgirobygget, the aforementioned Frogneparken, Bryggen, in Bergen, the ancient railroad that connects Bergen and Oslo. I remember reading about a glass design center in the region of Oslo, a sky center and several fjords, of course. I cannot mention a tourist spot in Sweden.
It is noticeable that my memory is not serving me that well when it comes to remembering actual names, but, to summarize, I would like to mention the topics I read something about during my Norwegian studies: Norway's healthcare and social security systems; public holidays; festivals, medieval, modern and contemporary history; the main artists for each field, such as classical music, sculpture, painting, literature. I know nothing about these topics regarding Sweden. Therefore, I believe one gets to learn a lot about the culture of the place where the language they study is spoken, to some extent that this place becomes less and less "foreign". When I traveled to places that spoke languages I had studied, I had the feeling that I could go on and explore a lot by myself based not only on my linguistical knowledge, but also on the important insights I got about the daily life there. This was true for France, Spain but even for smaller places like Aruba and Curaçao, where they spoke Papiamento.
