Ser vs estar. Der die das. The passé composé. Ask anyone what they think about modern languages and they’ll probably say something about the grammar – most likely the one concept that they could never wrap their head around.
Why is this? If you ask anyone bilingual, they’ll reliably tell you that grammar isn’t something you learn by rote; it’s something you come to know intuitively. No native speaker stops to consider whether ‘is’ or ‘are’ agrees with the subject of the verb – they just know it.
Arguments that learning a language at university is useless have snowballed in the age of AI. Why learn a language now that AI is like Google Translate on steroids? What is the point when ChatGPT can “do it better,” and when we learn every irregular verb but can’t hold a conversation with a native speaker?
These criticisms come at a time when the University of Nottingham has scrapped its modern languages degree programs entirely, and when modern languages make up a substantial portion of the courses cut in the University of Edinburgh’s recent restructuring.
It seems that modern languages are having an identity crisis. Our universities do not value languages in the way they used to. In an age where each subject has to compete in a zero-sum game to avoid being cut, we might just need a marketing rebrand. And maybe the answer is found in what people hate most about languages – grammar.
Grammar exemplifies something many people have forgotten about language learning – you don’t just come out of it with the ability to converse with millions more people; the very process of learning a language opens up a new set of skills. Logical thinking and the ability to apply a formula? You’ve got it in grammar. Ability to communicate, construct an argument, analyse a text? These skills are all hidden behind vocabulary lists about daily routine and holidays.
Take history students. They are under no illusion that knowing the middle names of each of Henry VIII’s wives is what makes it a worthwhile degree to employers. It’s the skills gained: the ability to analyse, make a concise and clear argument, and process large amounts of information.
This is even more true for ancient languages. We know that it’s not the dead language itself that matters to employers (sorry), but the skill of recognising that an indirect command (unless it’s iubeo) triggers the subjunctive; it’s the ability to read Ancient Greek and construct an argument about why Homer put “rage” at the end of the first line of the Iliad.
So, believe it or not, learning ser vs estar, der, die, das, and the passé composé might be worth it after all. Maybe we should be a little kinder to grammar learning and recognise the skills it brings. In fact, marketing languages degrees through the lens of these indirect skills, on top of the ability to speak a language, might save the language from peril in universities around the world – not least our very own Universidad de Edimburgo. Or was it Edinburgo?
Image by Albane Mbow for The Student
