Re: yiddish language decline?

[Brian Dichter <dbrian...>]

on 3/21/02 8:00 PM, Mel Korn at mkorn (at) rogers(dot)com wrote:

> How ironic that I take such pride today in my ability to communicate in
> Yiddish, and that my personal musical education began in my 40's as a quest
> to learn to play Klezmer music, which I grew to love. However I rarely find
> contemporaries with whom I can converse in Yiddish, or who share my passion
> for Jewish music. My kids and their contemporaries look at me as if I were
> an alien when I play any kind of Jewish music, be it the music of my parents
> generation, or new Klezmer recordings (we won't even mention the reaction I
> got the one time I played one of John Zorn's recordings). Coltrane or Bird
> yes...Andy Statman or The Flying Bulgurs no. So for me Yiddish is somewhat
> alive...for my kids it will be some cultural relic related to their
> heritage.
> 
I was hoping to convince my fiancee to learn Yiddish with me. But, I'm
already a "freak" due to the endless hours of Klezmer I blast all the time
at home. 8) Liz won't sit still for John Zorn but, fortunately, she likes
Andy Statman AND Coltrane.

I guess taking a course would be helpful as long as it focuses on
conversation too.

brian

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