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Let's face it, for those of us who are native English speakers, it's easy to get by without learning another language because English has become the language of international business and diplomatic relations. And we're borderline arrogant about it.
I'm one who had a lot of exposure to German and took Spanish in school. But due to lack of use in everyday life, I couldn't carry a conversation in either. But studying those languages did help me understand English better, so I think that angle gets lost on those who are resistent to attempting other languages.
Not to focus on you specifically, but just out of curiosity, do you really think most Swedes or Finns use English in everyday life?
I am not sure why people have to be bi-lingual at the first place, as much as I don't understand why everyone should be interested in different cultures up to a point that a person has to learn foreign language on proficient level ( in my understanding the ability to speak foreign language requires a proficient level.)
Not all people are cut for it ( not everyone is cut for math either for example,) and their area of interest may lie somewhere other than in studying "cultural differences."
I mean being introduced to a concept of foreign language is nice and serves as general development area ( and it's done in schools,) but beyond that?
It requires abilities/interest or involves a necessity the way I see it.
OK, but just be the devil's advocate here, how come in many countries people seem to have the ability to learn profession X (usually not related to language) in addition to more than one language, when in others it is so difficult to do so, because they are supposedly concentrated on other things like being good at profession X?
Is a high school principal in German-speaking Switzerland who speaks three languages a less competent principal than his peer in Omaha, Nebraska who speaks only English because he has apparently focused all his energy on his career as an educational administrator?
I speak English and two other languages... and I don't look down on other people whatsoever. Learning a language is something that takes a lot of time and effort, you can't expect everyone to do that. Anyone who looks down on other people for only speaking one language deserves to get punched in the face.
I don't look down on it in principle, but I feel like those who don't know at least one other language even moderately well seem to be really provincial and prone to be a bit more myopic overall.
I'm ashamed of the public education system in the USA which doesn't just fail to teach a second language, it refuses to teach a second language
In some schools that may be true but in many US schools, taking a foreign language is mandatory. It was in both the schools I attended growing up in the US, the schools my parents attended, the schools every other person I know in the US attended, and in every school my sister in law and cousin, who are teachers, have worked in. Basically, I don't know of any US school that doesn't require a foreign language be taken - usually the bare minimum is 2 years with an optional third. There are typically three options: Spanish, French, or German - most people pick Spanish but my mom did French and one of my best friends took German.
I realize there may be some US schools out there which don't require it (it probably depends on the local area) and I honestly couldn't say what the actual stats are on how many do require it and how many don't. But what I do know is that making sweeping statements which suggest it is the norm for US schools to refuse to teach a second language is ignorant and incorrect.
I am native in one language, fluent in all aspects of two others, intermediate in one more, and can read fluently several others, ancient and modern. I do languages and business for a living.
No, I do not look down on monolingual people, though at the same time, monolingual people should not expect people in other countries to know their language.
Based on my experience, hearing of other people's experiences, and reading studies on the issue, my view is that after a certain age, probably three years old maximum seven, absorbing a second language no longer occurs through "osmosis", it becomes an acquired skill obtained through hard work for which some people are pre-disposed, have a natural talent and desire for and are exposed to, but most people are not.
In my view, the initial key to acquiring a second language is knowing well, including technical grammar, one's native language. I am not convinced that language courses in grade school make any difference to the bulk of students, though it may be a useful beginning for the relatively few who are pre-disposed to learning languages. As mentioned, we are not all doctors or engineers, etc., and we are not all linguists.
No, I do not look down on monolingual people.
I will say, however, if I am allowed to make a political statement, that monolingual people are largely captive to the message and propaganda that their ruling classes want them to hear and they have no way of "cross-checking". For example, most monolingual US people think that their health care system is the greatest in the world or they do not know that US foreign policy and military are basically a faceless, often brutal, machine designed to control or significantly influence the global flow of commodities, especially oil, for the benefit of relatively few multinational corporations.
Or, for example, based on my experience in several countries, in my view, the history taught in school is designed to justify the current political regime: exaggerating a bit, US people think, for example, that the history of the world begins in 1776, Italians in 1861, Portuguese in 1975, etc.
Not to focus on you specifically, but just out of curiosity, do you really think most Swedes or Finns use English in everyday life?
Of course not, but the fact that English is the language of international business and diplomatic relations forces it into curriculum in many non-English-speaking nations.
Of course not, but the fact that English is the language of international business and diplomatic relations forces it into curriculum in many non-English-speaking nations.
Yeah, I know. But I was talking about opportunities to practise. I highly doubt that a pharmacist in Espoo, Finland has many occasions where he speaks English during a given year. But people like that still manage to keep it up.
If you are really in Fishers, Indiana, then I am sitting roughly 800 miles or 1200 km away from you. Where I am I could spend my entire day (or the entire week, or the entire year even) without *having* to speak a word of English, if I wanted to.
I can even go see Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D in French at lunch time just down the street from me if I want to.
As someone who speaks 5 languages, I think anyone who compares Europeans (who live smack dab crammed up against each other and can't help being exposed to each other and different languages) to Americans (who pretty much live isolated amongst other English speakers - for the most part) is completely stupid.
I don't look down on anyone for only speaking one language. There are enough people out there who don't even have command of their primary language (as evidenced by many, many posts on this forum).
The people who irk me are those who insist on living in this country and then refuse to learn the language (while expecting people here to cater to their whims). THAT I look down on with GREAT disdain.
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