Sometimes, when I feel disgruntled and out of sorts, I try to pin down quite why this should be so. The terrible thing is, as often as not it's because I can't think what to write about in this blog, or rather, I can't think how to express what I want to say. It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that I should seize upon the expedience of an article written by someone else, or a piece of music performed by somebody else, as a way out of my quandary.
But of course that is not what my readers expect from me. They expect original content, the sort of material they cannot find anywhere else.
When I was at school, and perhaps even today, geography and history were taught as separate subjects, whereas in France they are lumped together. I wonder if that helps to explain why, by and large, the British have a better grasp of the world's geography than the French? Even so, I am appalled by how little I know or how much I have forgotten. For example, I was astonished to learn that Cameroon and Nigeria were neighbours. I had always supposed that Nigeria was much further to the west, in fact to the west of Ghana. I wonder how many of us could point to Mali on the map; how many Americans could locate Afghanistan even after 11 years of military presence in the country?
But of course that is not what my readers expect from me. They expect original content, the sort of material they cannot find anywhere else.
When I was at school, and perhaps even today, geography and history were taught as separate subjects, whereas in France they are lumped together. I wonder if that helps to explain why, by and large, the British have a better grasp of the world's geography than the French? Even so, I am appalled by how little I know or how much I have forgotten. For example, I was astonished to learn that Cameroon and Nigeria were neighbours. I had always supposed that Nigeria was much further to the west, in fact to the west of Ghana. I wonder how many of us could point to Mali on the map; how many Americans could locate Afghanistan even after 11 years of military presence in the country?
OOONOOOOO
ReplyDeleteGeog and Hist. are also taught as one subject here now. And when I was a governor in our local primary school none of the pupils had much grasp of either.
It doesn't help, I think, to learn history/georgraphy out of sequence. No wonder they muddle the Tudors with the Ancient Greeks!