I'm an American

[resqgeek]

My language meme entry reminded me of a joke I heard a couple of weeks ago:

If someone who speaks two languages is bilingual,
and someone who speaks three languages is trilingual,
and someone who speaks more than three language is multi-lingual,
then what do yo call someone who only speaks one language?


They would be called "Americans." (Ouch! The truth hurts sometimes...)

Comments

[elhamisabel.livejournal.com]

At least it comes from an American. ;-)
Anyway, I don't think it's *all* Americans who can't speak at least another language. Think of all those immigants. ;-P

OK, I'm off hiding now.
;-))

[resqgeek]

Actually, you are correct. There are lots of multilingual Americans. However, most of them are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. Among the children of non-immigrants the number of people who speak more than a few words of anything but English is pretty small.

When I originally heard this joke, the punchline had a different nationality, but I changed it, so as to poke fun at myself instead of others. What was the original nationality, you ask? Hint...I heard the joke on the BBC...

[elhamisabel.livejournal.com]

English? ;-))

No, honestly, I think some people (and the freakingschool system!) really don't get it.
You see, I havea cousin who is American, living in California. I don't know about other states or schools but she was only made to study Spanish for two years. Afterwards she was free to drop it. Now she was living in San Diego. I wonder if you can get any closer to a Spanish speaking country without actually living there and South California is full of Spanish speaking people! But, as she one day said to me: "Why would I need to leearn any other language? English is spoken all over the world and others adjust anyway, so why should English speakers bother?"
I think a lot of non-immediately.immigrant Americans think that way. Not all, but a lot.
As to the English, I've no illusion that the majority is any better. I remember a few years ago there was the discussion to drop down the foreign language requirements in some schools/uni (I don't remember it well anymore) and one of the reasons the responsible!! people gave was that non-native English speakers were required to learn English anyway in their countries so why bother learning a foreign language.

I grew up bilingual and I'm very glad I did. And I'm always happy to learn speaking different languages.

[resqgeek]

I'm afraid your analysis of the US attitude about language is pretty much spot on. I only took two years of French (of which I've retained almost nothing). There is no foreign language requirement until high school, and then its only a bare minimum, often poorly taught, and seldom retained.

My wife wants our girls to learn a language now, while they are in elementary school, when they're better able to learn new language skills. Unfortunately, the school is less than cooperative in helping her set up an optional program for langauge instruction. She's even considering having an immigrant friend work with our younger daughter to teach her Spanish. I wish I'd had better opportunities to learn other languages earlier in life.

[elhamisabel.livejournal.com]

I've been far better off though I still regret some things I wasn't able to do.
You see, when I was in school, every student had to start a language in 5th grade. Usually it was English. But I know of a few schools who also offered Latin and/or french atthat age. You weren't allowed to drop that language until at least the end of grade 11. So at least 7 years of it. In 7th grade a second language was added. Usually French (or in some cases Latin, Spanish, Italian, Greek or Russian, depending on the school and the teachers they had who were able to teach it). If you had chosen any other language than English in 5th grade, then you were supposed to chose English in 7th grade. In grade 9 you can chose between some different subjects. This doesn't have to be a language. It ca nalso be an extra class of biology or whatever but the school I was in offered mostly languages. This you have to keep for at least two years.
If you want to have an high schol diploma, you had to keep at least one language until the end, i.e. grade 13.
Nowadays, and I wish they had done it earlier!, they start with teaching children in 3rd, sometimes even 2nd grade English. And it is mandatory to do English as an exam for the diploma.

si German students usually leave school with at least basic knowledge in at least two langues.

[skyring.livejournal.com]

I wish I was better at languages. Sure, English may be a univrsal second language (and what an awful language to have to learn!), but it's just manners to at least make an attempt when visiting. I could feel my French getting better every time I spoke with a fair dinkum French person. But maybe that was my high school stuff coming back. Certainly my blog entries were becoming more and more Frenchified.

And standing on a strasse corner learning German from a delightful junge fraulein, well, that was a highlight.

[elhamisabel.livejournal.com]

hehe. Only problem is that the word Fräulein doesn't really exist anymore. Not officially and not with people below the age of 60. ;-)

[thebiblioholic.livejournal.com]

You're in America now, speak Spanish. --Paul Rodriguez

[illinoisowl.livejournal.com]

And some of us just barely know one language!

I hate not being able to watch Telemundo. I can't even understand the commercials. This drastically cuts down on my available TV viewing.

[resqgeek]

LOL!

¡Sí, convengo!

[antof9.livejournal.com]

That was one of my dad's favorite jokes. When he died, he could speak . . .many! Do a search on BC under my name and "polyglot" some time. That, and the Descartes jokes really tickled him :)