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Reasons U.S. doesn't speak multiple languages...
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Adalwolf View Drop Down
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Posts: 1230 		  Quote Adalwolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Reasons U.S. doesn't speak multiple languages...
    Posted: 11-Oct-2006 at 13:00
What are the reasons why the U.S. citizens don't speak more than one language?

Here are some reasons why I think most of us here in the states only speak English:

  1. The US is such a large country that there is no need for multiple languages. (many countries in Europe are very small, and need to learn the languages of their neighbors in order to conduct trade)
  2. Historically in many countries there was a language of the nobility and a language for everone else. In the US there is no nobility, and everybody is considered equal (in theory), so, multiple language would be considered somewhat unqual.
  3. It might be that English is totaly pwz0rs all other languages, and  we Americans inherently know this and don't bother learning other languages. LOL (i'm joking on this one)
  4. Perhaps we Americans are somewhat arragant and want everyone else to learn English.
Please comment on your views about the topic!




Edited by Adalwolf - 11-Oct-2006 at 13:03
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Posts: 3387 		  Quote Aelfgifu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Oct-2006 at 13:39
I'd say one is certainly true. Four is certainly true for some individuals (I met them) but it cannot be said for the whole population, that would be very short sighted (I've met Americans who know several languages as well).
 
About two... I dont think so. In former ages the language of the upper classes in the Netherlands was French, but there is not a lot op people who speak it very well today. Also America may not have a nobility but they certainly have an upper class...
 
Three: defenately not... LOL

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Posts: 102 		  Quote jacobtowne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Oct-2006 at 14:26
Good question.

In the Southwest near the Mexican border, some people are bi-lingual (Spanish). In parts of Louisiana and northern Maine, you frequently hear French spoken.

JT
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Posts: 1378 		  Quote Ikki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Oct-2006 at 14:53
Don't worry my american friends, do you think that the rest of the world can talk in more than one language? We try to lear other idioms, but the most of our people in Spain, France... one and thanks, the exception here is that a lot of people of services talk more than one idiom, but, acording with information of friends, England and Japan have a true serious problem with this, because anybody talk anymore than their own idiom in services or not. In these two cases we can choose the option 3 Thumbs Down
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Posts: 928 		  Quote maqsad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 09:21
Europe is thousands of years old and most of the languages are divergent dalects of an original source. America is just hundreds of years old and is an artificially created and colonised country so thats why English was used and promoted as the only language. 
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 09:44
In the U.S. the number of Spanish-English bilinguals is not minor. Moreover, in places like Miami, (center of the Hispanic media, banking and business industry for the U.S., Europe and Latin America) to be billingual is what is expected. Billinguals Spanish-English are not only Hispanics or U.S. people of Spanish descendent, but lots of anglo Americans are also learning that language in the U.S. for doing business
 
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Posts: 581 		  Quote Goban Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 10:25
I agree with you pinquin.
 
Growing up in Southern California you pick up a lot of Spanish because so many speak it. Also, to graduate High School we had to take 2 years of a foreign language; and in college, there's another 2 years required (for my studies).
 
I wouldn't consider myself bilingual but there is plenty of opportunity...
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Posts: 2630 		  Quote flyingzone Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 13:02
Originally posted by jacobtowne

Good question.

In the Southwest near the Mexican border, some people are bi-lingual (Spanish). In parts of Louisiana and northern Maine, you frequently hear French spoken.

JT

 
The number of French-speakers in both Louisiana and northern Maine is negligible. There are probably more French speakers (expats from Europe and Canada and immigrants from Haiti and Francophone Africa) in New York city than in either of the two regions.


Edited by flyingzone - 05-Nov-2006 at 13:04
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Posts: 2888 		  Quote Emperor Barbarossa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 13:29
Originally posted by maqsad

America is just hundreds of years old and is an artificially created and colonised country so thats why English was used and promoted as the only language. 

It really has nothing to do with age(America is older than the countries of Germany and Italy, which are not even 150 years old, while America is over 200 years old). Really, once we spoke English, we saw no point in having to make another official language in our nation(partly, the great resistance to making Spanish our official language is that illegal aliens will be dictating which languages we have to learn). Also, we are not European(by continent), so learning French, German, Italian, or a Slavic language is not very useful here.

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Posts: 928 		  Quote maqsad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 18:15
Originally posted by Emperor Barbarossa

Originally posted by maqsad

America is just hundreds of years old and is an artificially created and colonised country so thats why English was used and promoted as the only language. 

It really has nothing to do with age(America is older than the countries of Germany and Italy, which are not even 150 years old, while America is over 200 years old). Really, once we spoke English, we saw no point in having to make another official language in our nation(partly, the great resistance to making Spanish our official language is that illegal aliens will be dictating which languages we have to learn). Also, we are not European(by continent), so learning French, German, Italian, or a Slavic language is not very useful here.


My point was that 200 years ago the US was started with a fresh slate. Europeans came and had the opportunity to choose one language. English won over German. The country of Germany may be 150 years old but Germans were in that area and in Austria and Switz.  for thousands of years, French were in their areas for thousands. Convincing a quiltworked continent like that to drop 12 major languages and change to one is about 100 times harder than forcing that change upon a brand new colony starting out from scratch.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 20:36

Perhaps the following will help understand why we do not have a tradition of being bilingual.

I grew up during the first half of the 20th century. During that time we suffered from severe xenophobia. We were very anti Semitic, and generally foreigners were viewed as undesirable aliens. We had laws limiting and restricting immigration from certain countries and favoring immigration from other places. When I started in public school I spoke very little English and was discriminated against by my teachers who were mainly New England WASPs. In truth, they showed more compassion for the African-Americans than they felt for European and Oriental newcomers. 

How all this came about is another subject but suffice to say that these policies and attitudes degraded the value of foreign languages in the USA. Everyone wanted to be a red blooded American born on the fourth of Julywhich meant that we all spoke only English or pigeon English with Irish, Italian, Yiddish brogues and we all sang Yankee Doodle !

Thats how it was !Cry

 
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05-Nov-2006 at 20:47
Curiosly enough, one can cross the Americas knowing four European languages. By numbers of speakers: Spanish, English, Portuguese (Brazil) and French (Haiti, Quebec, French Guyana). In comparisson, in Europe, Africa or Asia you'd need to know lots of languages to speak with locals in every corner of those continents.
 
In the Americas there are more languages spoken than those, but knowing the first three I mention is enough.
 
Pnguin
 
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Posts: 490 		  Quote Dan Carkner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Nov-2006 at 11:21
This is an interesting thread.. we mustn't forget that, before the colonization of the Americas, the number and variety of languages was comparable to that of Europe.

Also, France is a good example because it is a large country and only has "one" language, but it used to be made up of many smaller regions with their own dialects, most of which weren't necessarly "French".  Only after the French revolution was a strong effort made to expand the French language as we know it today, to the detriment of the regional languages.
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Posts: 568 		  Quote Gundamor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Nov-2006 at 12:10
You could semi blame 2 of the last dominant empires, The British and the current American one. They've spread english unto the world and made it the language of trade,tech and business somewhat. These two in history have always been big trading partners as well so there wasnt the need to speak more then english for the most. I think number one is kind of right too. The U.S. recently hit 300 million people there could be 40-50 million bilingual people as well but is overshadowed by one language english speakers. I think there is alot more bilingual speakers then you think.
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind"
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Nov-2006 at 13:32
Originally posted by Dan Carkner

This is an interesting thread.. we mustn't forget that, before the colonization of the Americas, the number and variety of languages was comparable to that of Europe.
 
Most of the languages of the Americas are still alive and well. However, most people that speak a Native language is billingual already in one of the three main European languages spoken on the hemisphere.
 
Not long ago, seeing pottery and textiles in a handicraft markets a lady that was selling Peruvian textiles pick her cell phone and started to speak in Quechua. You can also buy versions of Windows in Mapudungun (Araucanians' language). Besides, there is lots of billingual poetry, music and information for people that get interested.
 
So native languages are alive and well, and people is concient they have to be preserved because they keep the spirit of the ancient peoples and civilizations of the Americas.
 
Pinguin
 


Edited by pinguin - 07-Nov-2006 at 13:34
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Posts: 490 		  Quote Dan Carkner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Nov-2006 at 14:50
Yup, I didn't mean to say that many of them didn't still exist.  Although their numbers are greatly reduced and have disappeared in some cases.

Perhaps a better thread title would be:  "Why are Americans convinced people only speak one language?" ;)
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Nov-2006 at 14:53

That's funny. Have you seen those low budget Sci Fi movies where an American finds a martian and they start to communicate immediately..... in English? LOL

Perhaps the answer is in there. Cool
 
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Posts: 157 		  Quote The_Jackal_God Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Dec-2006 at 10:58
echoing xomalley's point, expediency: knowing a second language here in the US doesn't help one economically or professionally outside of a margin of fields, so it's an unnecessary hassle.

secondly, immigrant family's often place more emphasis on teaching their children English than their own native tongue, so that their children have better opportunities for themselves in educations and careers. The pressures that drove immigrant parents to do this have relaxed, but not very long ago, as Xomalley says, it was a huge impact.

besides, certain things that influence others to learn english or other languages do not impact us. songs, movies, books, and other sorts of media - most of the most popular are in English, and produced here in the US. we don't have the situation of, say, the Netherlands, where we are watching everything w/ subtitles.
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Posts: 0 		  Quote Etherman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Dec-2006 at 00:20
I think that part of the reason is that second language classes don't exist much until high school. By then it's very difficult to learn a second language. Too bad because knowing a second language would make it easier to pick up hot Latinas
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Posts: 1366 		  Quote King John Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Dec-2006 at 19:00
COuldn't agree more Etherman, especially about the hot Latinas part. For me I used to be one of those you're in the US speak English types but now I'm no where near that person. Where I grew up in the USA (New Jersey) there is a very large hispanic population so learning spainish is to your advantage. I however never took my secondary school language classes seriously much to the chagrin of my parents and when looking back to that oportunity, myself. When I decided to go to grad school I realized "hey I need a second, third, and fourth language. Oh no what am I to do." Unfortunately I can barely speak the second and third languages that I learned. We - US citizens - need to become more global and start our children down the path to being bilingual. I think we are starting to this this shift, more and more businesses are looking for multi-lingual applicants.   
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