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Part of the problem is that the USA has more than one language. Therefore, it doesn't really make sense to consider the various languages of the USA to be foreign languages. English came here from England and other English speaking countries. England is a foreign country, but we don't consider English to be a foreign language. Spanish comes from various foreign countries to the USA like English came. Ditto for all our languages. None really foreign, because they all came the same way from different countries, just like English did. Maybe we will eventually combine all the languages into one, by using some words from each.
To quote Peter, Paul, and Mary:
Somos el barco
Somos el mar
Yo navego en ti
Tu navegas en mi
I once visitted LA (I'm European) and I was impressed because many parts of the city look like Mexico. I mean, just mexican/central american people, just spanish ads, billboards, shops, predominant language on the street... I managed to get lots of indications speaking Spanish instead of English. I was really surprised.
In The Netherlands all the foreigners manage to learn Dutch, and even immigrants which came recently speak at least a bad form of Dutch, but they try it hard and they learn the basics in some months.
Same here in Spain, in Spain the predominant immigrants come from northern Africa and Eastern Europe, and they all learn Spanish quite quickly.
In Barcelona, there are many Hindi / Urdu speaking immigrants from India, Pakistan living for years in Barcelona. They run shops, restaurants and they barely speak Spanish language. Their Spanish skills are equivalent to what many Mexican immigrants speak English in USA. Every country has immigrants who are not perfect in the native language. What is the fluency of Americans in native languages as they also live, visit or work in different countries? There are Americans who live and work in India without knowing Hindi. By this absurd logic, they should never go to any non English speaking country. It is not a one-way street !!!!
All over the US, that is where I have been, not Asia.
I just don't believe that, how else are they getting money? They too are not bilingual and are more disadvantage because they don't know English. Also, there are many people in the US other than international students that don't speak English.
You and I have a different idea of functioning well. Look at the success of other nations that have implemented this, they don't have a lot of the problems we have.
...That isn't anywhere near close. Once again, lets look at history to better understand the issue, something many people today refuse to do. If we look at civilizations that emphasized the importance of one language, we can see their superiority over other civilizations of mix languages. Rome(mixed ethics) vs. Carthage(mixed ethics, variable languages), barbarians, Guals. Greeks(best) over Persia(good), Persians over Babylon(variable). The Egyptians and Chinese wouldn't of have such a long rule if they didn't have a good, common language system. I could go on with the English Empire and the prosper of its colonies, but I'll stop.
...Two hundred years ago or more, speaking, reading, and writing in a national language was highly valued. People would go through great difficulties to achieve this. I imagine, just like all recent conveniences, many people have grown to take this for granted and no longer place importance on it or a National Language.
...Just like I posted before, someone always likes to bring up the race card, even if it is your own race.
1. Yes, I understand it to be a plus, my argument is that it is almost mandatory. That makes it very silly to have to know a foreign language in your own country to get a job.
2. ?, Yes, I understand that higher paying jobs need to have more skills and credentials. This is why they pay hirer, capitalism. I just find it stupid that a burger flipper or a sheet metal worker needs to know a foreign language.
3. Of course you would need to know a foreign language if you were working abroad. You learned Chinese before you went to China, you didn't just move there only knowing English. This furthers my point.
4. Yes, marketing, sales, customer service, and education would be good places where bilingual skills would be a plus, but not a necessity. I really don't understand why people are treating it as a necessity for English speaking Americans but not for foreigners or other language speaking Americans. Furthermore, I don't know why it would be a plus or necessity for those in a factory to be bilingual, everything should be in English.
Now you can see why I get confused.
I'm going to address the education area since I'm an education consultant. I am talking about the USA.
Your comment about financial aid going to folks who don't speak English, again, is fanciful and spurious. They might not speak it as fluently as one should, but it's not as if they can't speak it. Again, they have to have a certain level of English competency to 1) get admitted to a tertiary institution and 2) to be able to pass their classes. And again, they have to qualify in terms of residence.
As for linguistic skills and job functions - if you are dealing with customers or constituents that speak LOTE (languages other than English) it becomes a bona fide job qualification. It is an advantage to know other languages, period and will increase your employment competitiveness. Now if you want to be stubborn about monolingual when the job market makes being multilingual being a plus, that's your choice.
And I have been hired for jobs IN THE USA because of my linguistic skills.
F-1 Visa is given to International Students who come to USA on Student Visa for studying various courses in American Universities. At Graduate Level, they need to have acceptable level of scores in GRE and TOEFL. For Undergrad, they need to clear SAT and TOEFL. Without knowing English language, they cannot clear GRE and TOEFL.
F-1 Visa is given only after student furnish proof of clearing GRE, TOEFL with scores.
In Barcelona, there are many Hindi / Urdu speaking immigrants from India, Pakistan living for years in Barcelona. They run shops, restaurants and they barely speak Spanish language. Their Spanish skills are equivalent to what many Mexican immigrants speak English in USA.
Every country has immigrants who are not perfect in the native language. What is the fluency of Americans in native languages as they also live, visit or work in different countries? There are Americans who live and work in India without knowing Hindi. By this absurd logic, they should never go to any non English speaking country. It is not a one-way street !!!!
If by Americans you mean US citizens, then their choice of India kind of makes sense. India's official languages are listed (NY Times Almanac) as Hindi, English & 14 other languages. Hindi is spoken by 30% of the population, English is the most important for national, political & commercial communication, & in higher education. & so India is an English speaking country,in some segments. So - as long as English-speakers stay in the cities, & around government & commerce, they should do fine in India. If they go out into the very rural areas - then they'll likely need Hindi or one of the native languages.
Apparently English language in India is a political football there. Glancing through coverage, about 30% of the population has some familiarity with English, although only 10% can read/write with fluency. The charge is that the elites are pushing English fluency, as a way to ensure their own ascendancy in government & commerce. Maybe we should move on to some other model?
70% of the population's first language is not English.
In Hialeah, a city of about 250,000 no one speaks English. Not city government offices, not the mayor, no one. It is the largest Spanish city outside of a Spanish country.
I think Los Angeles is the largest Spanish city outside a Spanish country. Even though LA's population does not have as high a proportion of Hispanics, the absolute number of Hispanics in LA is many, many times greater.
F-1 Visa is given to International Students who come to USA on Student Visa for studying various courses in American Universities. At Graduate Level, they need to have acceptable level of scores in GRE and TOEFL. For Undergrad, they need to clear SAT and TOEFL. Without knowing English language, they cannot clear GRE and TOEFL.
F-1 Visa is given only after student furnish proof of clearing GRE, TOEFL with scores.
Stony Brook University is in my backyard. It's a huge school with international students comprising 13% of the student body. SBU's website spells out what is required of international students, and it supports what you've written. Stony Brook University, New York | Undergraduate Admissions
Primarily Chinese with a strong showing from India and the Middle East, along with some from eastern European nations, most of the Asian students speak their native language off campus. Local restaurants cater to this portion of the student population. One noodle house we frequent always has Chinese television programs featured on the big screen in their dining area.
One thing which is very cool is that the native Chinese speakers have organized a university recognized group and offer free Mandarin classes to the community. They also sponsor cultural events throughout the year. It has helped us all to better understand one another.
It can be frustrating and rewarding. We came to the aid of a young Asian student whose bicycle slid on wet leaves. He was bumped up and had lacerations. Strangers to him, he trusted us as I guided him up and into my husband's truck where he sat next to my children. I spoke to him gently as we drove to the campus ambulance center where they were able to address his injuries. Before I left he gave me a sincere, "Thank you the mother." Someday he will be home and I hope will return the kindness to a foreign stranger.
It doesn't happen overnight. It takes a generation.
^^^^Agreed. However, here is the problem with that.
Between 1924 and 1965, we had very small numbers of legal immigrants coming to this country. The advantage of that was it gave time for those who came earlier to fully assimilate into our society.
Starting in 1965, we've been steadily allowing 1 million legal immigrants into this country per year---and untold numbers of illegals. All in all, since 1965, we have allowed in 59 million people.
When there is no moratorium (of sorts) on immigration, newcomers become a steady stream. Thus with a constant influx, for many, there is no incentive to learn English. At least, with a moratorium, those already here pick up quickly the need to learn the language, as there won't be a constant influx of immigrants from their native countries to further insulate them from the greater society.
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Vishnu were here
