I’m a citizen of the United States.
I speak 4, besides American English, at various levels of proficiency, but I’m an American-born son of immigrants who splits time between the US and EU (my wife is Dutch). I also enjoy linguistics and etymology.
Even though this is anecdotal, every daughter and son of an immigrant diaspora that I personally know, like me in the US, speaks multiple or at least 2 languages.
I argue this meme refers to an issue largely for Americans of European descent. Since a very young age, I noticed “white” people in America seem to be scared of “new” or “foreign” things. One of them is learning a language, trying to speak it in public with a native-speaker, and getting corrected for mistakes which will happen, including self-styled “leftists” and “liberals” (the American definition).
I categorize this specific phenomenon, this fear of embarrassment, as another facet or aspect of what some of my black colleagues back in the States refer to as “white fragility”.
Those people who look down on “Americans” should talk to more of us who aren’t of European descent. Perhaps, that may give some depth to your perception of us, or of what our capacity for a global perspective and living as part of a global community is.
I think it’s less about being afraid of speaking a different language, and more about not wanting to put in the effort to learn it.
Dude, I think it’s pretty common everywhere for immigrants and their families to speak multiple languages.
Yes, I’m well aware.
I still think the meme should have “White” in front of “Americans” in its caption.
I mean I don’t think most black Americans know a foreign language either, because most of them aren’t part of an immigrant diaspora. And IIRC, this phenomenon happens to some extent in most predominantly English speaking countries. Most foreign language learning is a matter of practicality more than a desire to expand knowledge or something, and most non-immigrant Americans don’t have any particular reason to learn one.
Congratulations on erasing the 15% of black Americans, clearly a group that’s too privileged to even be mentioned
Black Americans clearly speak two languages:
Harsh but well deserved hahaha
I’m currently trying to learn Spanish and my goodness gracious. It would have been easier as a child!
It really helps to have a community too. I found one for Welsh that has weekly chats geared towards learners. Experienced learners have been helping people learn no matter how simple the question. They’ve even started developing games and learning tools in Welsh to help more.
There’s similar communities for most languages I’d wager.
Trust the power of repetition, check the Anki app if you haven’t.
Anki app
Oh this looks interesting! Thanks for the recommendation!
Lean
Oh, the irony.
Bit oblivious, more like.
What value does a foreign language have for Bob, who lives in the middle of the country?
I learned two languages in school, have never used either one with a native speaker of that language.
If we had a different language in each state there would be a lot more Americans who spoke several.
America has 300 different answers for “what language do you speak at home with family”.
Three hundred.
You could have 6 different languages per state, with no overlap, just by shuffling people around.
True, but that’s out of a nation of 350 million people.
Yeah and there are people that speak Basque in Spain. However, you won’t find many that are not Basque speaking that language. The Basque speakers all mostly speak Spanish.
Same thing in the US. Sure there are people that speak 300 languages, but the majority speak English. They are also spread out.
Only major exception would be Spanish
And even in the US there are a pretty good amount of native English speakers who have learned Spanish for this reason.
You have at least one Native American language in most states.
You have a different language in each house. If you want to learn or practice a new language, you’ll find speakers in any community.
I already don’t talk to the people who speak my language.
You could not talk to them in so many more languages! I hear Finnish is particularly good for not talking to people.
Sense of wonder from discovering how different people from different places think similarly or differently of the same experiences, or different experiences you never thought about.
Otherwise, maybe trying to interact with the immigrants probably covering the essential jobs in his small town that nobody else wants to do.immigrants probably covering the essential jobs in his small town that nobody else wants to do.
I heard from others say “they’re not your tutor” and they just switch back to English with me 😭
It will depend on the people and how you approach them, some will be happy to learn your interest, some will expect that it goes both ways and some will not want to be bothered. That’s just normal human things.
Sense of wonder from discovering how different people from different places think similarly or differently of the same experiences, or different experiences you never thought about.
I mean, I’m sure some percentage of people who learn a language do so for that reason. But the vast, vast majority of time someone learns a another language it’s going to be because they expect to use it, I imagine.
Yeah, I was giving another idea in case there is no expected use.
What value does a foreign language have for Bob, who lives in the middle of the country?
I learned two languages in school, have never used either one with a native speaker of that language.
We have a huge population of spanish speaking people here.
There’s roughly the same amount of people in the US that speak Spanish that do in Spain.
I don’t understand this post or why you said “Lean”. Can someone explain? :(
You might notice the word “lean” somewhere up there. That’s a typo that OOP unintentionally & ironically made while mocking people for their perceived linguistics shortcomings.
The post says “lean” instead of “learn”.
In our defense, most of us can’t even speak English.
It’s a shame there isn’t more language education in the US. We had one class on a foreign language starting in sixth grade, which is pretty late.
Most things here are mono lingual. I visited Montreal and I feel like if I was there for a few months, my rudimentary French would really develop. Unfortunately, the one time I tried to speak to someone there who didn’t speak English, it didn’t go super well. She was patient, but we weren’t really understanding each other. All my French is reading and writing, so I have an incredibly bad accent.
I mean learning Spanish for the southwest would be super valueable, I took 2 years Spanish but they suck at teaching. I learned nothing tbh. I learned a little while working retail mostly
Sixth grade is late??
I didn’t get language options until high school
If we are throwing shade at American education, I like to start with statistics and basic logical fallacies.
If Americans were taught logical fallacies, their society would fall apart
I don’t know why you’re saying “if.” They are taught logical fallacies, and…
gesticulates wildly at nation
If American students were taught to identify and avoid committing logical fallacies, then they’d be in a better place.
I meant if they were taught what logical fallacies are (and how to recognize them). What they are actually taught relies on logical fallacies and would crumble if they understood it for what it is. Pretty sure we’re saying the same thing.
Yes, I agree. I was making a joke about how backward, and often times completely incorrect, US education is, i.e., they are teaching the children logical fallacies.
And here is where I remind everyone of the Fallacy Fallacy.
Yeah, I met americans on the internet too.
I’ve never had use for one.
But I did spend some time learning German and was able to hold conversations to an extent. Was interesting and fun and made some friends (they wanted me to stop trying so hard and just speak English lol).
They should encourage you to speak Germany. It can suck being a native speaker of the lingua Franca.
I travel a fair bit and one of the most embarrassing things is that I’m monolingual. Something like 4-5 BILLION people are 2+ languages. And then there’s me from a rich nation with a solid education, trying my best to speak the local language, just to have the other person step in with perfect English out of pure sympathy.
But, hey, people love that you make the effort. It’s like the joy of seeing a 3 year-old count to 10…except you’re an adult trying to say, “Could I have two, please?”
“Oh! That was very good!”
3 year-old grin on my adult face
T R I G G E R E D
I grew up in California, and moved to New Mexico. I should have taken Spanish in high school, instead of French.
Most people who speak more than one language also speak English, so I don’t really NEED to learn another language. Also, I don’t talk to people much.
That meme: “You speak English because it’s the only language you know. I speak English because it’s the only language you know. We are not the same.”
Well, okay, thanks.
Given that this completely ignores that there are thousands of people who can speak English and their native tribal language I’d say it’s both harsh and ignorant, putting aside that a foreign language was a required class in my high school school.
Not really.
Yes really. I watched Arrival three times, each time making it worse. That’s the whole plot, unfortunately.
Oh the irony…
Part of being powerful is a reduction in cognitive load. You don’t have to worry about what those strange foreign language speakers think or want because you have the guns and money. They have to worry about what you want. Being asked to learn another land’s language places them equal or higher in the hierarchy.
You just can’t allow that kind of thinking. I mean, what next, calling foreigners human? /s
