Why Americans Should Learn a Second Language
It's All Greek to Them
Even though English is spoken in many countries around the world, native born residents of the United States should not use that as an excuse to avoid studying another language. If anything, there should be more interest than ever on the part of people in the United States in becoming fluent in another language. And fluency means having the ability, for example, (1) to hold a complete conversation in the foreign language, (2) to read a newspaper or book written in that language, (3) to write a coherent letter or article in the language, etc.
Many native born U.S. citizens can say such things as "hello," "thank you," or "please" in a second language. But have them watch a news broadcast in that language and ask them to relate what they've heard and they're incapable of doing so. That type of demonstration clearly indicates that they are by no means fluent in a language other than English.
Currently, many agencies of the U.S. federal government are desperately seeking people who speak Arabic and other languages spoken by people in areas in and around the Middle East. Clearly, the government's attempt to strengthen its intelligence capability, in connection with placing a greater emphasis on homeland security, is driving the search for Arabic linguists.
Fundamentally, of course, studying a foreign language involves (1) learning vocabulary and (2) becoming familiar with grammatical constructions. However, acquiring true fluency in a second language involves much more than rote memorization of words, phrases and grammar rules.
In order to be effective, an interpreter or translator, has to have the ability to convey meaning effectively and accurately. More specifically, the ability the grasp an idea enunciated in one language and then convey it satisfactorily into another is what distinguishes first-rate interpreters and translators. Being able to do that requires familiarity not only with individual words or phrases but also wtih the history, culture and society of the people who speak the language.
That's one reason why, for example, it will take the United States an appreciable period of time before it will possess staffs of linguists able fully to function effectively in the war against terrorists. It takes years to acquire a thorough appreciation for the values, beliefs and customs of another country.
Perhaps local school jurisdictions across the United States should be reconfiguring their curricula to encourage native born students to study a language other than English. This means moving also beyond the traditional offerings in Spanish or French, including more languages which use different alphabets (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Russian, etc.) Not only will such instruction, if properly provided, enable students to develop fluency in a language, it will help them to understand better the world in which they're living.
Globalization removes barriers between people. As the United States seeks to attract more and more people to its way of life (and system of beliefs), it could benefit immensely by having more of its own people capable of communicating effectively with others in their own languages.
Many native born U.S. citizens can say such things as "hello," "thank you," or "please" in a second language. But have them watch a news broadcast in that language and ask them to relate what they've heard and they're incapable of doing so. That type of demonstration clearly indicates that they are by no means fluent in a language other than English.
Currently, many agencies of the U.S. federal government are desperately seeking people who speak Arabic and other languages spoken by people in areas in and around the Middle East. Clearly, the government's attempt to strengthen its intelligence capability, in connection with placing a greater emphasis on homeland security, is driving the search for Arabic linguists.
Fundamentally, of course, studying a foreign language involves (1) learning vocabulary and (2) becoming familiar with grammatical constructions. However, acquiring true fluency in a second language involves much more than rote memorization of words, phrases and grammar rules.
In order to be effective, an interpreter or translator, has to have the ability to convey meaning effectively and accurately. More specifically, the ability the grasp an idea enunciated in one language and then convey it satisfactorily into another is what distinguishes first-rate interpreters and translators. Being able to do that requires familiarity not only with individual words or phrases but also wtih the history, culture and society of the people who speak the language.
That's one reason why, for example, it will take the United States an appreciable period of time before it will possess staffs of linguists able fully to function effectively in the war against terrorists. It takes years to acquire a thorough appreciation for the values, beliefs and customs of another country.
Perhaps local school jurisdictions across the United States should be reconfiguring their curricula to encourage native born students to study a language other than English. This means moving also beyond the traditional offerings in Spanish or French, including more languages which use different alphabets (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Russian, etc.) Not only will such instruction, if properly provided, enable students to develop fluency in a language, it will help them to understand better the world in which they're living.
Globalization removes barriers between people. As the United States seeks to attract more and more people to its way of life (and system of beliefs), it could benefit immensely by having more of its own people capable of communicating effectively with others in their own languages.
Published by Pieracarla Santucci
An avid reader, especially of history, biography and murder mysteries, who holds several graduate degrees and has traveled widely in Europe. View profile
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- How to Learn a Foreign Language
- Self-Study of a Foreign Language
- The Pimsleur Method: Learn a New Language on Your Daily Commute
- Best Audio Resources for Learning a Foreign Language
- English as Global Language, TEFL International
- America's Schools Should Embrace Learning New Languages
- Reading Fluency in the High School Classroom
- Arabic speakers are very much in demand at the beginning of teh 21st century.
- Relatively speaking, very few native born U.S. citizens are fluent in a language other than English.
- Globalization removes barriers around the world.
Arabic, Russian, and Chinese use an alphabet different from the one used in English.
15 Comments
Post a Commentdat is right u have to know more then one language so u can live better in life!!!!
why do we have to learn another langwage
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I am fluent in four differnt languages but I have been using only one which is English. So what was the point of westing my time and energy stdying the other three? More than 10 years of needless sweat and albour for nothing!! The only time I use them is when Itravel or may be once in a blue moon to give direction to a torist who got lost in NY's maze. The point is if you don't need it why learn it.
No one should be forced to do anything they don't wanna. If you say it improves your understanding of the culture, that's what history and geography are for. If it helps ur english, u obviously don't/didn't have a very good english teacher!
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hola, mi llamo es guillermoe. Come estas' tu friholies?
Tu madre y padre con los dos y thres quarto da leche.
sup to the en chill latta's!
I studied two languages in school. I'm fluent in neither. Why? One was Latin. Some will understand why. I also took Spanish. The proper Spanish. I can't understand Hispanics in this country because a lot of it is like the Ebonics of English.
I love the United States of America. I compare it to a "bread basket" of opportunity. But when it comes to foreign relations, it's also an "unbaked bread basket." Why "unbaked," you ask? Think about it - unbaked bread is simply wet, lumpy, squishy dough. If you poke your finger in the middle of a lump of dough, it's gonna sink into the dough. If you were the size of your fingernail - or if the dough were the size of the entire U.S. - and if you stood on that lump of dough, your whole body would sink down in the dough. It would be like standing in the middle of a giant bean bag - you would be able to see a birds' eye view of the sky, and the rising hill of dough, but you wouldn't be able to see OUT and over the lumps of dough. You can forget about seeing other countries on your map - they're out of your window of perspective. You can only rely upon some messenger that comes your way, to tell you about the other countries of the world.
And THAT, my friends, is how I think Ame
If you don't 'have' to learn a foreign language, you cannot. If you must, you cannot escape from learning it. It's not the choice, we make it out to be. Just ask all the thousands of people who bought Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur or another method and tried to learn, even spent years learning....I would say, if its not 100% failure rate, its close to that. Even in Canada, where people learn french from 1st grade to 12th grade...those students are not fluent in French, unless they live in a French area, and have to use French at work, or in their own family.
Not to say Americans aren't wildly ignorant of other cultures, and that part could be solved, with some effort. But learning a 2nd language in America is a lot harder than in Europe, for reasons previous posters have mentioned.