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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don’t think it matters much.  And it will matter even less as time goes on and things like Google Translate make it even easier to communicate with others in a different language.

Also, there are tons of bilingual/multilingual kids in this country and around the world.  [/quote]

Technologies like Google Translate are wonderful for enabling extremely basic, practical communication.  They don’t help much, for example, with getting the host’s joke at a party with 50 people talking and loud music playing.  Or with being able to form relationships with people you meet while traveling.  Or with being able to socialize generally with non-English speakers.

I’m always surprised at people for whom the value of not sticking out as the monolingual foreigner is not obvious.  It’s like the idea that it might be worthwhile to fit in socially in a non-English environment doesn’t even occur to them.  This is not just about language - it’s about behavioral norms and being respectful.   I’ve been in situations where my language skills were primitive, but I accomplished much more than other Americans just by listening, watching how people behaved, and working hard to not be rude. Google translate will never help with this stuff. [/quote]

This is likely an unconscious elitist view.  If you are White, doesn't matter where you go, people treat you well, try to talk to you in your language, assume you are rich, etc.  If you are Brown or Black, doesn't matter how many languages you know (unless maybe if it's your home country) or how much money you have,  you are a second-class tourist.

Also, you can't really be fluent in the languages of all the countries you plan on traveling to, unless of course, you will only travel to Spanish (or the language you are fluent in) speaking countries..  No way it's going to help you in France or China or Japan.[/quote]

What an odd statement.  It seems to reflect the colossal ignorance of the monolingual cloaked with a dash of “check your privilege” virtue signaling.

I’m white, speak 5 languages and have lived all over the world.  People ABSOLUTELY bring a huge number of - largely correct - biases to interactions with me because I am a wealthy, white, foreigner.  They are right to do so.    But, they are also willing and able to socialize with me, invite me to their parties, ask me to babysit their kids, ask me to translate for them in their interactions with US government agencies, etc. because I speak their language.  None of this happens when I travel in places where I don’t speak the language.  Having to get by on English and German in Hungary, for example, sucks — precisely because I don’t have those kinds of deeper interactions.  That’s the entire point I’m making.

On a different level —- being able to speak Arabic in East Jerusalem helps me interact with Palestinians there, even if they don’t like, trust or particularly want me there. Of course, I am very privileged in things like my interactions with Israeli police by virtue of being a foreigner who speaks Hebrew.  Of course I’m treated differently than a Palestinian would be - it would be idiotic to deny that privilege.  But speaking Arabic does let me interact with people in ways that I never could before I learned it, even when I lived full time a mile away in West Jerusalem.  [/quote]

Typical response.. those "monolinguals"  :lol:  :lol:   Do you have a job, or just travel and sit around foreign countries because you have too much money?
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