Football and language

World events have got me thinking… What do football and language have in common? The answer is “not enough”. It should have been more.

Pupils learn a new language for several years at school. Yet most of them are not able to do simple small talk in their chosen language when they graduate. At school they have rehearsed grammar and word lists. They have practised reading and writing. But they haven’t done much talking.

Football then? From the first training they play ball. They do not sit in a classroom and study “football grammar”. They do not figure out the best elevation, trajectory, impact, force of a shot and so on, on paper or computer screens. They play ball.

We do not have to explain that football players need technical skills, strength, speed and good reflexes.

Strangely it seems to be necessary to point out that the same things are true for learning to speak with people in another language.

It is about neural pathways, neurons and synapses. Messages travel so fast that we “cannot become aware of it” as the guru of all linguists, Noam Chomsky, once put it.

Same as with playing football.

Let’s play ball!

Karl