Do you have a tongue for languages?

Anyone who’s ever tried to learn a new language can probably admit to having got a bit tongue tied once in a while, but a recent story took the meaning to a whole new level.  An English A level student has had an operation to lengthen her tongue, enabling her to improve her pronunciation of the Korean language, and her ability to speak like a native.  The student, who is 19 and from Nottinghamshire,  had a particularly short tongue which meant she could not make the distinctive L sound that is present in certain Korean words.

This got me thinking; cosmetic surgery has been used now for many years by people in their quest for the beautiful body, but are we now getting so obsessed with perfection that speech impediments will be treated in the same way?

I would like to think that, along with people’s physical features, the way we speak is part of our individuality. I can name many famous people whose defining feature is a speech impediment; Jonathan Ross, Chris Eubank and King George V. These examples only extend to the English speaking world but I am sure there are many other celebrities with the same nuances in most languages and cultures.

I am also aware that different languages sometimes require you to make certain phonetic noises that you are not used to making in your mother tongue, for example at school learning Spanish was a particular issue for me, because I cannot roll my R’s. I’ve tried many times and failed every time, but I’m sure if I had been brought up with Spanish as my primary language it would never have been a problem. However,for arguments sake, if I still couldn’t I’m sure this would not be detrimental to making myself understood.

So in a round about way, this brings me to a common thread that runs throughout my blogs which is, how well do you need to speak a foreign language? I’m often fascinated by the lack of enthusiasm from the British public to learn a language, but this example just takes it too far the other way. In my opinion, just the willingness to try and converse in a foreign language would impress a national of the host country enough without needing to be word or sound perfect.