Re: Why Americans feel no compulsion to learn foreign languages

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 9:05 PM 3/27/96, Rich Graves wrote:

>Undeniably true. I think Tim's point was more, "Who cares?  Everyone *I*
>want to talk to speaks English."
>
>One may quibble with the wisdom or morality of such a statement, but if
>the second statement is true in your case, then there is no reason you
>should have to learn another language. Most upper-income Americans have no
>need for esoteric languages. Almost all upper-income Americans have a need
>for English.

Yes, this is mostly my point. And it is not just me I'm talking about--I
don't see a compelling need for 95% of Americans to learn a second
language...in fact, I'd rather they learned to speak and read English
properly.

(All of the America-bashers who were chiming in earlier today with their
anti-American jokes...well, here's one for you: "What do you call someone
who knows how to speak and write English properly? A European.")

I don't deny that Alan Bostick needs to take a class in Yoruba so he can
communicate with his neighbor, nor do I deny Michael Helm's point that by
not studying Talegu we are denying ourselves access to the world's culture.
In my next 25 lifetimes, with the advent of Nanocryonic Revitalization, I
certainly will try to learn several of these obscure languages.

Father Guido Sarducci has a nice routine in which he describes what happens
to our high school Spanish in the several years after taking it. After the
fourth or fifth year, all we remember is "Como esta?" (I took German, not
Spanish, so my spelling is phonetic, from his dialog.) The point being that
very few Americans have any _continuing_ way to use the languages we learn.
Which is a major reason they are being dropped by many schools.

Even in areas with lots of Mexicans and other Latinos, few opportunities.
(Your mileage may vary, but I think this is generally so.) My sister lives
near Miami and finds no need to brush up on her Spanish. The educated
Cubans and ohter Latinos all speak English fluently, and the uneducated
Mexicans and the like she has no need to communicate with.

(No doubt some of the politically correct will once again denounce me as a
racist. This is not racism, just reality. And to some, the truth hurts.)

There is an "information theory" interpretation of learning foreign
languages. Where I live, the issue is not that there are not native
speakers of foreign languages...the issue is that no single foreign
language stands out as being desirable to learn, except for one's personal
edification or circumstances. So what languages should schools offer?
French and German are not common in California, or the U.S. in general, and
the languages of the immigrant communities (Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog,
Laotian, Korean, etc.) have little use except in communicating with these
communities. And they are all busy learning English....

--Tim May


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