What is wrong with being monolingual?

[LOVEthroughINTELLECT]

I know that we live in increasingly globalizing political and economic worlds and that one's employment prospects may depend on being fluent in more than just his/her native language. But I sense that multilingualism is hailed for more than its practical utility. It's like we are supposed to believe that monolingual people are somehow backwards, inadequately educated, unrefined, culturally deficient, etc.

I don't get it.

Maybe a lot of people think that by learning several languages as kids people grow up to excel more in school and, consequently, it has become a fad that public thinkers have fallen for.

I would argue, on the contrary, that by taking one small part of the many past and present human cultures, language, and putting it on a pedestal people are undermining true knowledge and appreciation of cultural diversity. That is nice that you can fluently speak and write so many languages, but what can you tell me about the diet of the people of Easter Island or the family structure of pre-Industrial people in the contemporary world? In most cases, probably nothing.

 

[Blackguard_]

It's like we are supposed to believe that monolingual people are somehow backwards, inadequately educated, unrefined, culturally deficient, etc.

I don't get it.

It comes from Europeans, and Europhiles, where to be be monolingual is to be provincial. They forget that Germany, for example, is roughly the size of Arizona and New Mexico combined, and we don;t have many languages crammed together in a small area. We have a huge area with one dominant language. We don't need to know 4 languages to talk to the locals in their native tongue in an area only the size of the Dakotas like a European might.

Europeans often forget just how big the US is.

 

[Nooj]

It's like we are supposed to believe that monolingual people are somehow backwards, inadequately educated, unrefined, culturally deficient, etc.

By who? I've met many multilingual people, usually they come from Europe or Asia. I'm bilingual myself, knowing Korean and English. I can also read/write Latin and Ancient Greek. I don't consider myself to be smarter or more educated or more refined than monolinguals, and none of the people I've met consider themselves superior either.

I would argue, on the contrary, that by taking one small part of the many past and present human cultures, language, and putting it on a pedestal people are undermining true knowledge and appreciation of cultural diversity. That is nice that you can fluently speak and write so many languages, but what can you tell me about the diet of the people of Easter Island or the family structure of pre-Industrial people in the contemporary world? In most cases, probably nothing.

Language is not just one small part of human culture, it's actually one of the biggest part of human culture. If you could speak Rapa Nui or Spanish, I guarantee you that you would understand more about the diet of people living in Eastern Island more than if you only understood Chinese for example.

I think being multilingual simply gives you more experiences. I would have never met the people I have if I hadn't been able to speak Korean, I would have never been to the places I've been if I could only speak English. It just allows you to do more.

It comes from Europeans, and Europhiles, where to be be monolingual is to be provincial. They forget that Germany, for example, is roughly the size of Arizona and New Mexico combined, and we don;t have many languages crammed together in a small area. We have a huge area with one dominant language. We don't need to know 4 languages to talk to the locals in their native tongue in an area only the size of the Dakotas, etc.

Well, you used to have to. Before the Europeans colonised America, and even for a while after that, there were hundreds of American Indian languages (the true native tongues). There still are actually. American Indians had to be multilingual.

 

[shinkou]

I think sometimes people thinks the person that can only speak one language is kind of selfish. I do not know about America well, so I am sure there's situation is different than here. Here if someone is living here for a very long time, then many people think it is rude or selfish if they cannot speak Japanese very much. I met one guy that lived in Japan for 17 years but he can only speak English except very few words. That was a big surprise to me. In that case I think if he plans to live here he should try to learn Japanese. But I think most people think if you plan to live in your country and do not live in another country, than you can speak as you want. If you just visit short time, only English is ok.

 

[toastface_grillah]

True that. It irritates me like nobody's business every time I see a job application for something relatively low-level, like customer service, that requires proficiency in Spanish, for instance. Not to get all political, but if you're planning to live and put down roots in a place that where the language is different from your own, it's selfish to refuse to learn the local language and expect everyone in your new location to speak to you in your own tongue.

 

[Thunder Peel]

True that. It irritates me like nobody's business every time I see a job application for something relatively low-level, like customer service, that requires proficiency in Spanish, for instance. Not to get all political, but if you're planning to live and put down roots in a place that where the language is different from your own, it's selfish to refuse to learn the local language and expect everyone in your new location to speak to you in your own tongue.

This is how I feel too. I think it's great to learn other languages and know about other cultures. Regardless, you should be able to speak the language of the country you're living in. It wouldn't make sense to live in Germany and not be able to speak German. There's a big difference between knowing a bit of the language when visiting and not knowing enough when you actually settle down there.

I love the diversity and culture we have here in America. However, I think anyone living here should be able to speak enough English to function in society instead of the other way around. I know from living in the South for 25 years that Spanish is the dominant language in some areas and you can go into some regions and hear five different languages, none of which are English. It gets pretty confusing.

 

[Nooj]

I'm sure there will come a point when Spanish becomes a language as American as English is. And then there won't be a need for all this hand wrangling.

 

[kevlite2020]

We live in a country where we expect immigrants to learn our language, which a majority of our own residents have not mastered. We offer little to no help in teaching our language to immigrants and in the cases where we have to offer help (ie: schools) we do it in the least efficient and least effective ways, because they are cheaper.

For all that politicians and rednecks whine and complain about people not speaking English, none of them are doing even a portion of the work it would take to provide the services necessary to get immigrants the education required to learn English, which is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being monolingual, I am too for the most part. I just think it's messed up when we say that other people need to speak our language when we don't provide them the opportunity to do so.

 

[Gwendolyn]

Being monolingual is very limiting, regardless of whether or not your mother language is widely spoken throughout your area.

My country has two official languages: English and French. While I have been studying French since I was 5 years old, I am not fluent yet. It is my goal to become bilingual. Once I do, I am eligible to earn roughly $20k more per year simply by being able to conduct business in English and French. I will be eligible for a broad range of government positions which will pay me well and offer me a pension. Plus, if I travel abroad, French is widely spoken in Europe as well, which would benefit me. Not to mention the fact that if you pursue higher education, you need at least a second language.

I love languages.

 

[kevlite2020]

Here's a site on bilingual education:

NABE - B_Ed_why

From what I've read in research so far, children who are taught bilingually from birth tend to have higher academic success later on. Also, a person's ability to learn another language drops significantly in the teens, so starting young is really important for creating the receptors in the brain that facilitate language learning.

 

[Blank123]

We live in a country where we expect immigrants to learn our language, which a majority of our own residents have not mastered. We offer little to no help in teaching our language to immigrants and in the cases where we have to offer help (ie: schools) we do it in the least efficient and least effective ways, because they are cheaper.

For all that politicians and rednecks whine and complain about people not speaking English, none of them are doing even a portion of the work it would take to provide the services necessary to get immigrants the education required to learn English, which is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being monolingual, I am too for the most part. I just think it's messed up when we say that other people need to speak our language when we don't provide them the opportunity to do so.

thank you. I'm glad someone can understand from the immigrants point of view.

besides that... not everyone has a proficiency for language and English is a very hard language to learn, especially as the student gets older. English speakers, specifically Christian ones, need to have more grace.

 

[shinkou]

I think it is a big difference if someone is trying to learn the language where they live, and if they do not even try. I hope most people can understand someone that is doing their best to learn. But if someone does not try to learn at all, then I think it is wrong.

 

[PassionFruit]

I don't think there's anything wrong with being monolingual, after all for some people it's quite difficult to learn another language. It certainly doesn't make one backward or uneducated just because they only speak one language.

We live in a country where we expect immigrants to learn our language, which a majority of our own residents have not mastered. We offer little to no help in teaching our language to immigrants and in the cases where we have to offer help (ie: schools) we do it in the least efficient and least effective ways, because they are cheaper.

Then there's the issue when immigrants come to America and they don't speak English fluently it's assumed they're not trying to learn it. Which couldn't be further from the truth. From I've been hearing (at least for the universities and community colleges in my area) it's difficult to get into ESL classes because oftentimes they're full or there's a wait list. So even when there are situations where classes are available it becomes a matter of whether they're accessible or not.

 

[Nooj]

And a lot of immigrants are too busy working to devote all their time to learning English.

 

[kevlite2020]

I don't think there's anything wrong with being monolingual, after all for some people it's quite difficult to learn another language. It certainly doesn't make one backward or uneducated just because they only speak one language.





Then there's the issue when immigrants come to America and they don't speak English fluently it's assumed they're not trying to learn it. Which couldn't be further from the truth. From I've been hearing (at least for the universities and community colleges in my area) it's difficult to get into ESL classes because oftentimes they're full or there's a wait list. So even when there are situations where classes are available it becomes a matter of whether they're accessible or not.

Imagine being an immigrant who does not speak English, even trying to find an ESL class to get into. The reality is, most immigrants only find out about classes like these if they happen to live in a community of people who speak their home language who already know about these programs. Otherwise, they have no way of finding out that information (let alone actually being accepted and put in the program).

 

[shinkou]

Imagine being an immigrant who does not speak English, even trying to find an ESL class to get into. The reality is, most immigrants only find out about classes like these if they happen to live in a community of people who speak their home language who already know about these programs. Otherwise, they have no way of finding out that information (let alone actually being accepted and put in the program).

Really is that true? I am surprised about that. Usually I think it is not difficult to find those things. First when I go to Korea of course I do not know Korean, but I can find Korean language school very easily by searching internet. Usually there is many information about that kind of program in many languages on internet.

 

[Zenaida]

There is a big issue with teaching quality, be it for English or any other language. There are a number of people who believe they have an excellent grasp of another language only to learn it is rather poor, there is also the issue of learning a language from someone who is not fluent (happens more often than people like to imagine) or individuals from different areas of the English speaking world.

There is no problem with being monolingual, it just limits the opportunities available to you. A lot of jobs around here prefer individuals to have a basic grasp of Polish, it is not because they do not make an effort to learn English but so that if there are words they are unfamiliar with or they are having difficulty getting the basics outside of the situations they have been schooled in there can be a basic level of understanding.

Also size has nothing to do with it, as the actress said to the bishop. There are lots of Europeans who are monolingual, but these are not the ones travelling about or being put into positions where others can view their language skills. There are many who "speak" English but do not understand it, and the same for other languages. Just because a place is larger than somewhere else does not detract the need for knowing the basics of another common language. In some European countries there are three commonly spoken languages and individuals have to have at least a basic understanding in all three in order to make themselves employable throughout the country.

Yes, for a long time in the UK speaking several languages has been linked to being better educated, but that is largely true. It is nothing to do with being multilingual but the amount of time a family/educators/the child spend on their education. Someone who puts the time into helping their child learn another language often puts a lot of time into helping their child in other areas, in a school which puts a lot of time helping their students become fluent in other languages often put a lot of time into helping their students in other areas. It is not, necessarily, a direct link but the correlation exists due to other factors which increase the general standard of education across the board. Of course not everyone who is multilingual is any more intelligent than someone who is monolingual, it's just an average result from a sample of the population.

It all depends on the level of job you wish to get and the area in which you wish to work. It is not about learning the culture, just the ability to communicate and then, if you so wish, this ability enables you to learn about the culture surrounding the language. Otherwise it's just something you require when the standard of the "common" language is poor.

It goes each and every way. It pays to have a basic grasp of a common language, it also pays to have a basic grasp of languages that are common in the area you live/work, whatever your level of employment.

 

[broken_one]

First let me say that I am a product of my environment: I speak impeccable English (American Standard dialect, American New York dialect, and of course the Queen's English), and extremely poor Spanish. To whites it is beyond adequate, to Spanish speakers....not so much.

Well, you used to have to. Before the Europeans colonised America, and even for a while after that, there were hundreds of American Indian languages (the true native tongues). There still are actually. American Indians had to be multilingual.

Bleeding hearts gonna bleed.

And FTR nobody speaks those languages, not even most of the Indians themselves. There's a real struggle to keep them going nowadays.

True that. It irritates me like nobody's business every time I see a job application for something relatively low-level, like customer service, that requires proficiency in Spanish, for instance.

I'm sure there will come a point when Spanish becomes a language as American as English is. And then there won't be a need for all this hand wrangling.

It's a dual class system. Well, three to be exact. The lower classes speaks Spanish, the higher classes speak English, and those in the middle know both. It was billed to me when I was learning as having flexibility in case your real job fell through or you hit hard times (e.g., doing middle management work for a spell).

People can be so dreadfully blunt at times.

 

[Gym]

to answer the topci question...
because it's incredibly arrogant to expect everyone you meet to speak YOUR language.

 

[toastface_grillah]

This is how I feel too. I think it's great to learn other languages and know about other cultures. Regardless, you should be able to speak the language of the country you're living in. It wouldn't make sense to live in Germany and not be able to speak German. There's a big difference between knowing a bit of the language when visiting and not knowing enough when you actually settle down there.

I love the diversity and culture we have here in America. However, I think anyone living here should be able to speak enough English to function in society instead of the other way around. I know from living in the South for 25 years that Spanish is the dominant language in some areas and you can go into some regions and hear five different languages, none of which are English. It gets pretty confusing.

Wow. I haven't spent a lot of time in the South (just enough to pass through, for the most part), but never knew it was that linguistically diverse.

I'm sure there will come a point when Spanish becomes a language as American as English is. And then there won't be a need for all this hand wrangling.

I really, honestly dread this.

We live in a country where we expect immigrants to learn our language, which a majority of our own residents have not mastered. We offer little to no help in teaching our language to immigrants and in the cases where we have to offer help (ie: schools) we do it in the least efficient and least effective ways, because they are cheaper.

For all that politicians and rednecks whine and complain about people not speaking English, none of them are doing even a portion of the work it would take to provide the services necessary to get immigrants the education required to learn English, which is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being monolingual, I am too for the most part. I just think it's messed up when we say that other people need to speak our language when we don't provide them the opportunity to do so.

Agreed, agreed, agreed. We really could do better.