Language Gap in the US?

[Unkotare]

With 231 million Americans speaking only one language well enough to communicate (so relax, you 'English only' hysterics), and enrollment in language classes declining, is America exacerbating a strategic disadvantage? What consequences might this have, or will technology make it a moot point?


Why There's A Language Learning Gap In The United States

 

[there4eyeM]

Personally, I think tech will obviate the necessity to learn languages. This is unfortunate for the human mind, however, as such learning immensely increases capacity for understanding language itself, as well as revealing increased thinking capacity.

 

[Vastator]

English being one of the, if not THE most widely spoken language on earth; is really the only language one needs, to get by in America. If it isn't... Chances are you are dealing with people who need to learn our language. Not vice versa. With the advent, and popularity of the internet, the global community is shrinking when it comes to language.

 

[there4eyeM]

English has a lot going for it on the level of easy, basic communication; all non-gender specific nouns are neuter, all adjectives as singular, etc. Simplifying verbs a bit would help and some spelling could use "tweaking", but as a base for a universal language, we could do worse. Over three thousand characters for writing, for example, is evidently not necessary.
That said, technology (as stated previously) may well make 'translation' (which is usually really transliteration) easy and quick for most conversation.

 

[fncceo]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

 

[Two Thumbs]

England took English around the world, the dominate capitalist country is America.

however

If you travel, you get treated better if you can speak to the locals in their lingo.

 

[fncceo]

If you travel, you get treated better if you can speak to the locals in their lingo.

Speaking the local language, even poorly, is kind of a panty dropper.

 

[Two Thumbs]

If you travel, you get treated better if you can speak to the locals in their lingo.

Speaking the local language, even poorly, is kind of a panty dropper.

It worked on the local Italian hotties.

 

[Unkotare]

English has a lot going for it on the level of easy, basic communication; .....

No more than other languages.

 

[Unkotare]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

 

[fncceo]

English has a lot going for it on the level of easy, basic communication; .....

No more than other languages.

In fact, English grammar is more difficult than many other languages, because of the numerous exceptions to the rules. Some Asian languages, while difficult for Westerners to pronounce correctly, are grammatically more simple than English.

Cantonese has the singular advantage of having more swear words than any other language I know of .... really nasty ones too.

 

[Sunni Man]

English is the mandatory language used by all airline pilots who fly international flights regardless which country the airline is based. ...

 

[fncceo]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

Everyone with whom a foreigner might be dealing. China is a country where you could live for a decade and never learn more than a few words because you don't need to speak Mandarin to do your daily chores.

In Korea or Japan however, many locals are typically hesitant to speak English to foreigners so a basic ability in either language is essential if you're not living in Itaewon or Hiroo.

The solution to the problem in any country is acquiring a local girlfriend as quickly as possible.

 

[fncceo]

English is the mandatory language used by all airline pilots who fly international flights regardless which country the airline is based. ...

Only a few hundred aviation related words are required for international pilots, not fluency.

In China, air traffic communications is almost exclusively in Mandarin for domestic flights.

 

[Sunni Man]

Only a few hundred aviation related words are required for international pilots, not fluency.
In China, air traffic communications is almost exclusively in Mandarin for domestic flights.

I was only saying that English is used exclusively by pilots on "international" flights.

Of course airline pilots flying domestic routes will use the dominate language of that country for communication. ...

 

[Unkotare]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

Everyone with whom a foreigner might be dealing. China is a country where you could live for a decade and never learn more than a few words because you don't need to speak Mandarin to do your daily chores.

In Korea or Japan ......

That would be true in any of those three countries if you stayed in the big cities, but untrue in all of those countries outside the major metropolitan areas.

 

[fncceo]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

Everyone with whom a foreigner might be dealing. China is a country where you could live for a decade and never learn more than a few words because you don't need to speak Mandarin to do your daily chores.

In Korea or Japan ......

That would be true in any of those three countries if you stayed in the big cities, but untrue in all of those countries outside the major metropolitan areas.

I lived in Seoul for five years, in two different Ku in Tokyo for six years. I spent six years in Hong Kong (before and after the handover) while a frequent visitor to Guangzhou and Beijing. That's based on my personal experience.

At work, I spoke only English the entire time. In Hong Kong and China, taxi drivers seemed to be the exception to the 'everyone speaks English rule'. But, as long as you can say your destination in passable Cantonese or Mandarin, it seemed to work. Same for Japan and Korea, English was all I ever needed at work. However, shopping, transport, and everyday errands required me to speak local. Singapore, I never heard a single soul speaking anything but English if he was wearing a clean shirt.

 

[Unkotare]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

Everyone with whom a foreigner might be dealing. China is a country where you could live for a decade and never learn more than a few words because you don't need to speak Mandarin to do your daily chores.

In Korea or Japan ......

That would be true in any of those three countries if you stayed in the big cities, but untrue in all of those countries outside the major metropolitan areas.

.

 

[Unkotare]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

Everyone with whom a foreigner might be dealing. China is a country where you could live for a decade and never learn more than a few words because you don't need to speak Mandarin to do your daily chores.

In Korea or Japan ......

That would be true in any of those three countries if you stayed in the big cities, but untrue in all of those countries outside the major metropolitan areas.

I lived in Seoul for five years, in two different Ku in Tokyo for six years. I spent six years in Hong Kong (before and after the handover) while a frequent visitor to Guangzhou and Beijing. That's based on my personal experience.

At work, I spoke only English the entire time. In Hong Kong and China, taxi drivers seemed to be the exception to the 'everyone speaks English rule'. But, as long as you can say your destination in passable Cantonese or Mandarin, it seemed to work. Same for Japan and Korea, English was all I ever needed at work. However, shopping, transport, and everyday errands required me to speak local. Singapore, I never heard a single soul speaking anything but English if he was wearing a clean shirt.

Out in Xi’an in the early 90s virtually NO ONE other than some college kids spoke English in everyday interactions. Much, much fewer than the likely street interactions in Japan in the mid-to-later 90s. More bilingual printed material in Japan as well. Rather similar to South Korea in the early 2000‘s. Things change over time, of course.

 

[fncceo]

"The ability to be fluent in many languages is a valuable skill ... for a headwaiter"

-- Otto Von Bismark, German Chancellor

There isn't much point in learning to speak barely passable Mandarin Chinese when everyone in China speaks the Lingua Franca ... English.

everyone doesn't

Everyone with whom a foreigner might be dealing. China is a country where you could live for a decade and never learn more than a few words because you don't need to speak Mandarin to do your daily chores.

In Korea or Japan ......

That would be true in any of those three countries if you stayed in the big cities, but untrue in all of those countries outside the major metropolitan areas.

I lived in Seoul for five years, in two different Ku in Tokyo for six years. I spent six years in Hong Kong (before and after the handover) while a frequent visitor to Guangzhou and Beijing. That's based on my personal experience.

At work, I spoke only English the entire time. In Hong Kong and China, taxi drivers seemed to be the exception to the 'everyone speaks English rule'. But, as long as you can say your destination in passable Cantonese or Mandarin, it seemed to work. Same for Japan and Korea, English was all I ever needed at work. However, shopping, transport, and everyday errands required me to speak local. Singapore, I never heard a single soul speaking anything but English if he was wearing a clean shirt.

Out in Xi’an in the early 90s virtually NO ONE other than some college kids spoke English in everyday interactions. Much, much fewer than the likely street interactions in Japan in the mid-to-later 90s. More bilingual printed material in Japan as well. Rather similar to South Korea in the early 2000‘s. Things change over time, of course.

Apparently, there are residents of Xian who speak Hebrew.