Why don't American children learn multiple languages?

I think it is a real shame that we do not learn other languages routinely...I think it puts us at a disadvantage in many areas, and many of us don't even realize it!

The only reason I've ever been able to come up with: arrogance...it's the same attitude that wants every place one travels to be the same as 'Home".

It causes us as a country to misunderstand a lot of things--and to build walls, and pass laws that profile people, and insist on English only. It is a very nationalistic attitude in a global world.

My sister lived in Holland for 7 years and I visited often. It was not unusual for us to drive to 3 different countries in an extended weekend and it made it a lot easier to pick up the language because in many cases you had no choice. In all fairness, where in the US can we drive to a different country, hear a different language and experience a whole different culture? Short of a few places like Texas, or NYC for that matter, there aren't many places where more than one language is spoken. One has to admit that this does make it a lot easier to learn a foreign language. I also don't feel that we, as Americans, have the license on language arrogance in the sense of learning it properly. Go to Holland and speak Dutch to someone and they catch on quickly it is not your native language. They will reply in English to you because English is taught from your first day of school. This country is a melting pot of different cultures. Who can say they are truly blooded Americans short of the American Indians? I think this is one of the reasons we have an arrogance, if you want to call it that, about learning English.

Also, as far as some Chinese and Japanese "elite", as you state, learning English, you have to also look at the culture. They have different views on education than we do. I lived in area with a large Japanese population in NY and they had their own schools for their children to attend after regular school. Their kids did not breathe for a second during the day. They often got home from their second school at 6 pm and still had homework to do. In their secondary school, Japanese only was used so the children didn't start to lose their skills. Even though a second language may be spoken at home, it is still important to study and read that language on a regular basis so it becomes as natural as breathing.

What it boils down to is that American students are at a disadvantage when it comes to languages because most students are not introduced to it till middle or high school. IMHO, it's much harder to learn a second language, or third for that matter and also because of all of the above, like exposure. In turn that is why I believe Americans are arrogant about foreigners learning English who wish to reside here in this Country.

We should start language studies, especially Spanish, starting in kindergarten; however, I wouldn't be surprised to see a backlash of complaints from parents about it.

You don't have to go to another country to hear a foreign language spoken - you just go to an ethnic neighborhood, watch a foreign film, read the side of a box or product, you name it. It is all around us, we just ignore it.

I studied Spanish and Italian and then used them by living and traveling abroad, but I still remember how to say "open and closed" in Spanish because it was on Sesame Street decades ago.

Half of my (admittedly limited) German is from Grandpa Scooterbug using phrases (eat, hurry up, put whipped cream on my dessert) or that I read on multilingual signs. My French phrases are from reading and words/phrases that are commonly used.

Most Americans are just arrogant about learning a foreign language and about other cultures - and it is biting us in the butt.

And just because others speak English doesn't mean everyone does so 100% of the time, everywhere, and that you won't miss out if you can't understand or speak the language.

My sister lived in Holland for 7 years and I visited often. It was not unusual for us to drive to 3 different countries in an extended weekend and it made it a lot easier to pick up the language because in many cases you had no choice. In all fairness, where in the US can we drive to a different country, hear a different language and experience a whole different culture? Short of a few places like Texas, or NYC for that matter, there aren't many places where more than one language is spoken. One has to admit that this does make it a lot easier to learn a foreign language. I also don't feel that we, as Americans, have the license on language arrogance in the sense of learning it properly. Go to Holland and speak Dutch to someone and they catch on quickly it is not your native language. They will reply in English to you because English is taught from your first day of school. This country is a melting pot of different cultures. Who can say they are truly blooded Americans short of the American Indians? I think this is one of the reasons we have an arrogance, if you want to call it that, about learning English.

Also, as far as some Chinese and Japanese "elite", as you state, learning English, you have to also look at the culture. They have different views on education than we do. I lived in area with a large Japanese population in NY and they had their own schools for their children to attend after regular school. Their kids did not breathe for a second during the day. They often got home from their second school at 6 pm and still had homework to do. In their secondary school, Japanese only was used so the children didn't start to lose their skills. Even though a second language may be spoken at home, it is still important to study and read that language on a regular basis so it becomes as natural as breathing.

What it boils down to is that American students are at a disadvantage when it comes to languages because most students are not introduced to it till middle or high school. IMHO, it's much harder to learn a second language, or third for that matter and also because of all of the above, like exposure. In turn that is why I believe Americans are arrogant about foreigners learning English who wish to reside here in this Country.

We should start language studies, especially Spanish, starting in kindergarten; however, I wouldn't be surprised to see a backlash of complaints from parents about it.

Well said!:clap: I do not see most Americans as committed to educating their children as the Asians that we are being compared to constantly. In my experiences in ecucation, sports are far more important than academics. I cannot imagine sending home 2-3 hours of homework at night, but parents allow hours of practice for a sport. Seems some of our values are misplaced.

why don't more American children learn more basic good values and common sense?....that'll get them further in life (and beyond) than being able to speak multiple languages.

I took Latin in the 9th grade and Spanish in 10th and 11th. Unfortunately, much of what I learned I soon forgot because there were no Spanish or Latin speaking people living in my small town.

If I had to guess why more American schools didn't/don't teach foreign languages would be because English is still considered to be the International language. Also, in Europe, people commonly travel just a short distance to another country where the people speak a different language. Here in the US, we don't travel much to border countries, and those who do, typically speak that language. To the point, we don't speak more languages because we haven't had to yet. If I were going to encourage my kids to speak just one other language, it would be Chinese.

I really wish we had learned languages at a younger age. I studied French for 2 years in high school and I could read and write it well but I have a tin ear and my East Texas accent does horrid things to the language so understanding and speaking it were much harder but many words/phrases stuck with me till this day. When hubby and I went to France a few years ago, I found with a little prep work that I could read and come up with words pretty quickly, hubby has a musician's ear and picked up what was said and could repeat it to me to figure out!

I have a friend who was in the army, his son's mom is from Germany so the son speaks German and English perfectly. They were stationed in Panama for several years so he picked up Spanish. They were stationed in Germany for a while where he picked up a great deal of French and Italian. The son is grown and went into the Airforce; he tested into a linguist position and last I knew was learning Chinese.

I think the early exposure to languages makes the brain more flexible to learning languages. Now, I don't know how my tin ear and thick accent could be improved upon so early exposure might not have been the answer for me!

I'm not so sure that it is early exposure that makes the brain more flexible to learning languages. I think it is more necessity that makes it so. If you travel to Russia and no one there speaks English, you will quickly learn to speak Russian as it becomes necessary to learn how to find a bathroom, how to order food, how to find specific locations, etc. In America, and much of the world where we travel, it isn't a necessity to learn other languages because they tend to speak enough English for us to get what we need.

It is easier to learn languages when you are younger, but nothing will make you learn like NEEDING to learn.

I must say that though many people speak English, I have been in many situations where I would have been screwed if I didn't know their language. English is fine if you want to stick to the same old tourist places and the beaten path - anything else, you need to know some other languages.

Frankly, I have traveled in groups where some people didn't know the language and they had a very different experience - they constantly had miscommunications, didn't know what was happening, and had to get myself or one of the guides to interpret everything.

The students today have a great deal of trouble with English, due to texting, instant messaging, etc. IMHO!

funny that nobody answered the "elephant in the room" question....

why don't more American children learn more basic good values and common sense?....that'll get them further in life (and beyond) than being able to speak multiple languages.

Maybe bilingualism leads to better values and more common sense.

Maybe bilingualism leads to better values and more common sense.

Being gay, straight, or bilingual has nothing to do with the issue.

Being gay, straight, or bilingual has nothing to do with the issue.

I think being drunk had a lot to do with your post.

I think being drunk had a lot to do with your post.

Being ME had a lot to do with my last post.....I don't need alcohol to think, or respond, as I do....but thanks for playing along, everyone needs a straight man/woman.....:wave:

It causes us as a country to misunderstand a lot of things--and to build walls, and pass laws that profile people, and insist on English only. It is a very nationalistic attitude in a global world.

English only for immigrants needs to be looked at from a budget and education issue. If the parents are not required to speak English in order to become legal then their children will probably show up to their first day of kindergarten not knowing a word of English.

That puts the child at an unfair advantage which will hamper his/her development permanently. I spoke to Raymund Paredes about this issue (he is the Commissioner of Higher Education in Texas) and he informed me that if a child is not on grade level reading in third grade, that child has a less than 10% chance of going to college.

Other than education, god only knows how much money the state would save if they did not have to teach these kids English in the public schools.

But on the other hand, I do want to make it easier for immigrants to go through the process of becoming legal, and English only would probably be a big hurdle in that endeavor.

Speaking of Elephants in the room, my daughter speaks German fluently since her Mother is from Germany. She has taken at least 2 years of Spanish in Middle School and 1 year so far in High school and will take at least 1 more year. The problem though is they do not teach them how to really speak Spanish. These kids forget everything they learn. They need to restructure the curriculum.

Speaking of Elephants in the room, my daughter speaks German fluently since her Mother is from Germany. She has taken at least 2 years of Spanish in Middle School and 1 year so far in High school and will take at least 1 more year. The problem though is they do not teach them how to really speak Spanish. These kids forget everything they learn. They need to restructure the curriculum.

Well the Spanish your daughter and I learned at Seaside is a joke. I know they just recently implemented an option where a student could, in 8th grade, take Spanish for credit if he/she passes a test.
But the fact that they require 6th and 7th graders to take Spanish for no credit just shows that the school acknowledges that their Spanish curriculum is just in place for show.

Spanish 1 is supposed to be for kids who have not taken Spanish previously. But, Seaside requires you to sit through two years of Spanish before taking Spanish 1.

Thats why we forget everything, because all that we learned was simple vocab and culture.

Edit: I should add that everything else at Seaside was a great experience for me and I absolutely have nothing but great things to say about the teachers and the overall program (Actually, a teacher I had back at Seaside is now the focus of one of my essays for college applications). The only thing that never made sense to me was the odd Spanish curriculum they had.

In addition to English, what languages do you speak fluently?
Language 1 Years spoken?
Language 2 Years spoken?

So I was just filling out my application for UT-Austin and they asked that question. So see, I will be at a distinct disadvantage for college admissions because I am not fluent in any language other than English.