Bilingualism in the United States

 如果你看不懂这一点，也许你应该学会如何

    si vous ne pouvez pas lire, peut-être vous devriez apprendre

    wenn Sie nicht lesen können, sollten Sie vielleicht erfahren, wie

    אם אינך יכול לקרוא את זה, אולי אתה צריך ללמוד איך

    se non riesci a leggere questo, forse si dovrebbe imparare

    これを読み取ることができない場合は、多分あなたは学ばなければならないか

si no puede leer esto, tal vez debería aprender

    당신이 이것을 읽을 수 없다면, 아마도 당신이 배우는 방법을

    Si hoc non legere, fortasse discant

    Se você não pode ler isso, talvez você deve aprender

    Если вы не можете прочитать это, возможно, вы должны научиться

    Om du inte kan läsa detta, kanske du ska lära dig hur

    ถ้าคุณไม่สามารถอ่านนี้บางทีคุณควรจะเรียนรู้วิธีการ

   

If you couldn’t read the title, then maybe you have some work to do. Regardless of which language you choose learning another language is beneficial in so many ways both socially and academically. America’s nicknames “the melting pot” and “the nation of immigrants” are both to this day completely accurate, almost all Americans come from somewhere else. Some of us came here hundreds of years ago, but there are still some of us coming today and it’s important to realise that and acknowledge it. English is America’s national language, there’s no doubt about that but America is a small part of  huge world that people seem to forget sometimes. If we only know English how are we going to connect with the rest of the world and keep “the nation of immigrants” alive. In addition to communicating with our world and even others in our own country, although it might sound weird, foreign languages make you smarter too! There’s no such thing as too much learning, the more you use your brain the more your brain is able to do, kind of like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets. So basically learning a new language is beneficial to our society and ourselves as well, therefore it should be required for Americans to learn another language.  

The need for people to learn another language is only growing due to the rapidly increasing number of people immigrating  to this country. The March 2010 data show that 13.1 million immigrants (legal and illegal) have arrived in the United States since January 2000. (Camarota) According to Census 2000, of the 30.7 million foreign born over the age of five, 25.5 million, or 83 percent, spoke a language other than English at home. (Migration Information Source). Even though out of that 83 percent people do speak another language other than the one they speak at home there are a percent that do not speak English at all. This could be for any reason, maybe they are just lazy and don’t want to take the time to learn English. Based on my personal experiences, most believe they are too lazy, but that’s not the only reason; maybe they need to work for their families and have no time to study English,  or maybe they are disabled and there are not programs that offer to teach English to the disabled. There are thousands of reasons a person has for not being able to speak English, therefore it is unfair to assume that everyone who cannot is simply to lazy to try and learn.

It would be hard for someone living in America to NOT be faced with the opportunity to speak another language. At least seventy-five countries around the world require its people to learn English (Dieu) and yet most the people learning English will never be faced with a situation in which they will have to use it. It seems ridiculous that people in other countries will start learning another language as young as 5th grade when they might not ever use it, while people in America don’t even bother when 30% of our population speaks another language other than English proficiently. (U.S. English Foundation) Foreign language study should be taken more seriously and be a serious requirement in the school system in America. 1 in 6 people who say they took a foreign language in high school say they do not consider themselves proficient anymore (Hortick). “I took Spanish because i had to, but i forgot everything” says one of the people surveyed. The country is moving in the right direction by starting to require some foreign language to graduate, but as seen in the survey this is not enough. American students should be learning another language starting way before high school. Studies also show that learning a language when you are younger helps you more effectively learn the language and helps kids in future academics (Bunnell).

If learning another language to be able to communicate with people living in your country is not a good enough reason to learn one (don’t know why that would be the case), then do it for yourself. Learning another language, especially at a young age can increase scores on standardized tests and in school in general. Research has shown that math and verbal SAT scores climb higher with each additional year of foreign language study, which means that the longer you study a foreign language, the stronger your skills become to succeed in school. (Knowing other languages) Studies also show that learning another language enhances the academic skills of students by increasing their abilities in reading, writing, and mathematics. (Why study a FL?) Children in foreign language programs have tended to demonstrate greater cognitive development, creativity, and divergent thinking than monolingual children. (Why Sutudy a FL?)  In the article, “Foreign Language: An Essential Core Experience” the author also touches on a few or the reasons why foreign language study in the US has been looked down upon; “Americans used to have some patently ignorant and pseudo-scientific (snake-oil) views concerning foreign and second languages. There was talk of a second language taking up the memory capacity needed for the real functions of the brain, such as general intelligence. Just as ignorant was the notion that a second language was only for those were mentally gifted.” As a senior about to apply to college i know exactly what makes you look “smart” to college; GPA, tests scores, and maybe an essay if you have to write one, that’s really it. So if learning a second language is PROVEN to increase academic performance, enhance standardized test scores and strengthen writing ability then studding a foreign language seems to me like a no brainer, doesn’t it?

Say you got into a great college (woooo!! good for you!) and you’re working your butt off there (your foreign language helping you succeed the whole way) and then you graduate (woooo! congratulations!) Now what? Get a job? Go to more school? Travel? Marry a rich guy? Whatever you choose to do next your language skills are going to keep helping you! Lets pretend you decide job (good choice). Oh no! The economy is not doing so hot, the amount of qualified people outnumbers the amount of positions available, what is going to make you stand out? Ding ding ding!!! That’s right! Your foreign language! With the technologies today and the number of people immigrating all over the world more businesses are starting to expand past the borders of their countries and utilize the power of an international business (Knowing other Languages). Not only will a foreign language help you get a job, but it will help you keep one too. According to the New York Department of Labor in January 2007 the number of unemployed persons in New York was 475.3 thousand people. In January 2010 that number jumped to 899.2 thousand people, Yikes! That’s almost twice the number unemployed in only a 3 year time period. When evaluating employees for downsizing, companies are going to see that you can speak another language and they know that is only going to be more and more helpful throughout the years.

    Travel. In what ways is another language NOT helpful when you travel? Although in most countries it is easy to skip out on the language part and stay at a fancy resort where everyone speaks English, but that’s not really traveling. If you travel out of the country only to stay in a big resort which has been un-culture-fied to be more comfortable to its guests, that’s not really traveling. Traveling is experiencing another culture and stepping out of your comfort zone, and to truly experience another culture you have to speak the language, or at least try. Its unrealistic to assume that people in the United States are going to become completely fluent in a language and be able to speak it perfectly in another country. On the other other hand it is not unrealistic to ask people to try. I learned more Spanish in the month i spent in Nicaragua then i did in the 5 years i had taken it in school, putting yourself out there and trying to learn another language is so much more beneficial and even way more fun than expecting people to fluently speak your language. I had some Spanish under my belt before i left for Nicaragua, but that might not always be the case. You can go into a country knowing how  to say hi and count to three and come out with more than you expected. After spending a year and a half in Italy a surveyor says he learned to speak Italian much more proficiently than he could Spanish which he had studied for 3 years in school. All in all you don’t have to speak a language perfectly to communicate in another country, if you put yourself out there and learn to laugh at yourself you will be surprised at how easy it is to pick up.

    There is no reason why language shouldn’t be required in the American curriculum, there are too many benefits in contrast to the little effort it would take to make this happen. Just do it. Language is one of the most powerful tools you can use, it is beneficial both to American society and to individual development. It doesn’t mater which language you choose to learn, pick one that interests you, that you think you will like, that connects you to your heritage, that you want to learn. So just do it! Language is one of the most powerful tools you can use, it is beneficial both to American society and to individual development, and it would be a shame not to utilize it.

   

Works Cited

Bunnell, Dave. "Why Is It Easier for Young Children to Learn a New Language?" Eldr.     21 Aug. 2007. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.                                              <http://www.eldr.com/article/brain-power/why-it-easier-young-children-learn-new-

language>.

Camarota, Steven A. "Immigration and Economic Stagnation: An Examination of Trends     2000 to 2010." Center for Immigration Studies. Nov. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.     <http://cis.org/highest-decade>.

Dieu, Barbara. "Some Facts and Figures about the English Language." The English     Department. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. <http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/esc.html>.

Hortick, Hannah. “Language Background.” Survey. 02 December 2010

"Knowing Other Languages Brings Opportunities." Association of Departments of         Foreign Langauges. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. <http://www.adfl.org/resources/lang_brochure.pdf>.

Migration Information Source. Dec. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.                     <http://migrationinformation.org/USFocus/display.cfm?ID=84)>.

U.S. English Foundation. "Americans and Language." Http://www.usefoundation.org. Web. 2 Dec.     2010.                                     <http://www.usefoundation.org/userdata/file/Publications/amlangpart3.pdf>.

"Why Study a FL." UTM.edu - The University of Tennessee at Martin. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.     <http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/flsat.html>.