How Many Languages Do You Speak?

I live in Canada. We have two official languages, English and French. All government documents must be written in both languages, including parking tickets. (In 1976, Manitoban Georges Forest challenged a parking ticket because it was written only in English. He won the case.)

It would make sense for Canadian public schools to make language study a priority, so that all students can at least carry on a simple conversation in both English and French. Presently this is not the case. Outside of Quebec, most Francophones are also fluent in English, but the majority of Anglophones are not fluent in French, even if they studied it as a second language in school. I think that this situation could be improved by introducing the study of French as a second language earlier, perhaps from the first grade, or even Kindergarten, which most children enter at age 5.

Research shows that the younger a student is when a second language is introduced, the more easily the language is acquired. Language study stimulates neurons to form more and more connections. There is a critical "window of opportunity" from birth to about age 12 when learning a language is almost effortless.

A study by the Institute of Neurology at University College London has concluded that the earlier a second language is learnt by a child, the denser or more developed the grey matter is. The increase in grey matter density was greatest for those that learnt a second language in the earliest years, showing that the greatest benefit to the brain comes with the early acquisition of a second language.

Research confirms that knowledge of a second language strengthens first-language skills and that the ability to speak two or more languages generally enhances reasoning and problem solving skills, as well as creative-thinking skills. Learning a second language not only strengthens students' ability to communicate, but also develops their capacity to understand and respect other cultures. In this way, second-language learning prepares students to participate more effectively in the workplace and in the global economy, and provides them with a distinct advantage in a number of careers.
( http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dem-epcg/pd/oce-drf/part-partie-17-eng.asp)

Given the fact that children in the first years of school are at an age when learning a second language will have the most impact on their brain development, and that fluency in both French and English will open doors of opportunity later, it would make sense that bilingualism would be strongly encouraged in the public school curriculum. So is this the case?

School curriculum in Canada is developed and implemented independently by each province, and the reality is that the study of French as a second language in public schools is a hit and miss opportunity. The requirements change from one school year to the next. When I was a grade school student in the 1970's, each school division was required to teach a second language to students from grade 4 to 8, but they could choose to offer languages other than French. I studied German, since my hometown had a large German-speaking population. After those five years of study, I was still unable to carry on a conversation with my grandmother. For the first few years that I taught school in the late 1980's, French was a required course for grades 4 - 8, but is now an option again.

Schools in the United States do not fare much better than Canadian schools. Most schools offer Spanish or French as a second language study, but most citizens of the US speak only English.

Schools in Europe, Africa, and South America take language acquisition much more seriously. Most countries have more than one official language. Switzerland for example has four official languages. But even countries like Germany with only one official language require students to be proficient in at least two languages other than German.

I sponsor a Kenyan girl through Compassion. I have been sponsoring her for about seven years, and her letters to me twice yearly have amazed me with her increasingly fluent English. Most Kenyans speak at least three or four languages. They have sixty-nine living languages, most of them tribal languages which are still spoken in villages.

Granted, people in Europe and Africa are exposed to more languages everyday than most Canadians and Americans. It seems to be the norm that immigrants coming to North America lose their heritage language within three generations here. This was true in my own family. My grandmother was born in Canada, and she spoke only German. My father and his siblings spoke German at home, but had to learn English for school. My sister and I can both understand a bit of German, but are only fluent in English.

So - where are you from, and how many languages do you speak?