Why are Americans so against speaking multiple languages?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have traveled to many countries and have always been impressed that the citizens in these countries could speak multiple languages fluently. The US is the only place I have ever been that the people are so stupid and think being fluent in multiple languages is a bad thing.

It isn't a bad thing but people get annoyed when they have to 'press 1' for English. Just curious in your country do you have press 1 for English?

I have immigrant parents, grew up bilingual (English and my family’s Indian language), studied three different languages in high school and college (minored in one) and as an adult still listen to podcasts in French daily and take every opportunity I get to use it. I think learning languages is a great thing and I absolutely agree that all American children should study a foreign language in school.

That said, I agree that English should be the default and official language of the US. I get somewhat annoyed when I have to push 1 for English too.

I spend a lot of time in France and am generally with them on this - you come to another country, it’s on you to make an effort in that country’s language. There shouldn't have to be official efforts to accommodate you (outside of obvious places like airports, etc.). And honestly, I think our society has gotten more fractured over the years in part because of all these efforts to pander to various linguistic, racial, and other identity-based groups. I’m okay with establishing an official language.

I am ESL and I agree. I don't see how having English as the sole official language has anything to do with discouraging multilingualism at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Why do Americans…” makes it sound like a majority of Americans think this. I don’t believe that to be the case.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:English is the language of business so other countries learn it.

Beyond that, there are many cultures in close proximity so of course people will learn more languages. Someone in Belgium or Switzerland will learn French and German. Someone near Montreal will learn French and English, bit maybe not someone in Vancouver.

Everyone in Canada learns and is exposed to French. Literally everything is written in both languages. Staring at the cereal box while eating breakfast? We learn French. Using your skincare products? We learn French. Maybe not enough to become fluent but the entire massive country is exposed to French all day every day.

[Anonymous]

Generally I'm in favor of speaking more than one language, but the majority of native English speaking Americans cannot read English or write in English beyond an elementary school level. Maybe fixing that should be the priority.

[Anonymous]

I learned French in high school from a French Canadian nun and miraculously passed a language test when I joined the Navy after high school. I was somehow given a ranking of bi-lingual and the Navy sent me to college to learn Arabic. I picked up Urdu and some Farsi from postings and some German. I knew Arabic would be important and switched between it and English with my kids. They are bilingual now. I think it will be an asset to them as adults

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have traveled to many countries and have always been impressed that the citizens in these countries could speak multiple languages fluently. The US is the only place I have ever been that the people are so stupid and think being fluent in multiple languages is a bad thing.

It isn't a bad thing but people get annoyed when they have to 'press 1' for English. Just curious in your country do you have press 1 for English?

I have immigrant parents, grew up bilingual (English and my family’s Indian language), studied three different languages in high school and college (minored in one) and as an adult still listen to podcasts in French daily and take every opportunity I get to use it. I think learning languages is a great thing and I absolutely agree that all American children should study a foreign language in school.

That said, I agree that English should be the default and official language of the US. I get somewhat annoyed when I have to push 1 for English too.

I spend a lot of time in France and am generally with them on this - you come to another country, it’s on you to make an effort in that country’s language. There shouldn't have to be official efforts to accommodate you (outside of obvious places like airports, etc.). And honestly, I think our society has gotten more fractured over the years in part because of all these efforts to pander to various linguistic, racial, and other identity-based groups. I’m okay with establishing an official language.

You poor thing.

Evidently there are a lot of us poor things out there. I didn’t vote for him, but it’s one of the reasons why Trump is in office.

That's not the flex you think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's funny, I was just saying at work yesterday that seeing as how Trump has renamed the Gulf Of Mexico to the Gulf Of America, it won't be long before he renames our English Language to American Language. That way we'll all be speaking American instead of English.

It would get too confusing. Which Native American language? Navajo, Nahuatl, Quechua? English is a European language.

It's ironic that the Germans couldn't crack Navajo when we Americans used Navajo as code talkers.

American English has diverged quite a bit from English, especially Old English. British English sounds almost like a romantic language to me. I think Americans picked up some language from the long gone Eastern tribes in the early days, especially clipped and truncated words. American is much more analytic very little variation in structure less emphasis on conjugation.

This is what chatGPT had to say:Yes, several Native American tribes on the East Coast used language structures that involved truncating or shortening words, but this practice was not universal and varied depending on the specific language group. Many Native American languages, including those spoken by tribes on the East Coast, are polysynthetic, meaning they often create complex words by combining multiple smaller morphemes (the smallest units of meaning). These combinations could involve truncation or abbreviation for grammatical purposes, though it would be somewhat different from how truncation works in English grammar.

For example:

Iroquoian Languages (such as those spoken by the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy, including the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes): These languages are highly synthetic, meaning that a single word could carry the meaning of an entire sentence in English. In these languages, parts of words might be shortened or omitted in certain grammatical contexts to fit the structure of the language. However, these are often more about efficiency in the use of roots and affixes rather than truncation for its own sake.

Algonquian Languages (such as those spoken by the Wampanoag, Narragansett, and Powhatan tribes): These languages also employ a structure where many affixes (prefixes, suffixes, etc.) are added to roots, and while some forms of truncation may occur for ease of communication, they are part of the larger morphological system. Certain words or parts of words can be dropped or shortened in conversational or colloquial usage, depending on context.

Siouan and Muskogean Languages: Although not directly on the East Coast, neighboring tribes from these language families, like the Cherokee (which is a Iroquoian language), also exhibited polysynthetic structures where words could be shortened or modified in different grammatical contexts.

So, while it wasn't necessarily "truncated words" in the way we might think of abbreviations or slang in English, many East Coast Native American languages did have ways of shortening or modifying words for grammatical efficiency, often in the form of affixation, contraction, or elision of sounds.

Each language's approach to this would be different, rooted in the specific grammatical rules of that language.

[Anonymous]

We’re not against it, we just haven’t needed to. Our country is huge and we don’t need to know another language when we drive 6 hours away. And since our public school system doesn’t value language, we learn them too late in life to really master them.

My kids were in immersion schools young and picked it up fast.

[Anonymous]

Americans are mostly just against education in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Why do Americans…” makes it sound like a majority of Americans think this. I don’t believe that to be the case.

Tweeter head op loves to stir the pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Americans are mostly just against education in general.

No, that would be you evil Democrats trying to dumb down the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have traveled to many countries and have always been impressed that the citizens in these countries could speak multiple languages fluently. The US is the only place I have ever been that the people are so stupid and think being fluent in multiple languages is a bad thing.

The part you wrote in bold is misinformation.

The fact is: every American child is required to attend school through the 12th grade (or equivalent), and that included a minimum of TWO YEARS (2 years) of foreign language instruction.

If that’s not enough proof of our national commitment to multilingual education, the requirement today is now THREE YEARS.

Meh. 3 years is peanuts.

[Anonymous]

I've never met an American who was against speaking multiple languages?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Why do Americans…” makes it sound like a majority of Americans think this. I don’t believe that to be the case.

Tweeter head op loves to stir the pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have traveled to many countries and have always been impressed that the citizens in these countries could speak multiple languages fluently. The US is the only place I have ever been that the people are so stupid and think being fluent in multiple languages is a bad thing.

America is a huge country. Texas is larger than all European countries except Russia. If I am French and 2 hours away in three different countries, everyone speaks German, Italian, or Spanish then it behooves me to speak these languages.

Whereas 3,000 miles away in California they speak the same language I speak in NY, I have zero need to speak anything other than English.