The major languages in the United States are English, Spanish, and Chinese, with these last two quickly gaining prominence, and about 17.9 percent of Americans speak a language other than English at home. Keeping this in mind, it is almost essential today to learn a second language. Being bi-, tri- or multilingual has many advantages, the more obvious being that one can communicate with exchange students, immigrants, and fellow online gamers, chatters, and forum users, as well as to bridge cultures and societies through lingual commonality and better understanding. It also can give a person a fresh eye for their own society and culture, and even improve understanding of the mechanics of one's own language, all by comparison.
Everyone
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If people don't understand you all you have to do is speak slowly and turn up the volume. You can more or less get away with this, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English. However, if you want to venture beyond such places, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc, knowing the local language is necessary.
Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.
(Dave Barry)
A basic ability in a foreign language will help you to 'get by', i.e. to order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. If you have a more advanced knowledge of the language, you can have real conversations with the people you meet, which can be very interesting and will add a new dimension to your holiday.
Should foreign language instruction start earlier in the U.S.?
Abbott: It is critical that foreign language instruction be available to all students throughout their PK-12 academic experience. Knowing other languages and understanding other cultures is a 21st Century skill set for American students as they prepare to live and work in a global society. No matter what career students enter, they will be interacting with others around the world on a
Those who speak English have a higher chance of obtaining a job. Due to their background many employers will discriminate against them but by law they are not allowed to unless their accent gets in the way of business and profit. Having a foreigner on a oral communication position can interfere in many different ways, the customer may not understand what the person is speaking to them creating less business and therefore the employer may do whatever they please with the employee. Some businesses create an “English-only” rule, making every employee to only speak English while on the job. The employer cannot fire the employee who speaks another language while on the job if the employee is not informed of it (“Employment Rights Of”). Various jobs will allow immigrants to speak English just in case someone
Being multilingual gives you a greater appreciation for other countries and their cultures, as well as making it easier to learn from others who have different experiences from living in different countries since some things get lost in translation. Some people argue that having one language will bring people however, this is not the case. Not everyone has the resources to learn English so by being able to speak multiple languages makes it is easier to connect. Additionally, studies have shown that children who grow up bilingual have improved cognitive skills. By being able to manage two languages at the same time helps improve the brains over function with paying attention, thinking at a higher level, multitasking, and motor
Shahid Khan comments his own experience in an interview with Serena Solomon: “I can't conduct a conversation in three minutes. Maybe I take ten minutes. I don't think in English. This is how an immigrant brain works. I talk in my head in Urdu, but then I have to speak in English.”(Serena Solomon). Do not speak the same language is one of the worst situations that an immigrant has to face with. This is exactly what happened to me when I came to United States. I was looking for a job and I needed to speak with the manager of a store. In Spain people learn English, however, most of them don’t use it and when the time runs they forget important concepts. I couldn’t have a normal conversation with the manager, because all what I wanted to said my brain processed it in Spanish. I didn’t get the job because I did not know how to speak in English. Unfortunately, this is something that every immigrant with a different language have to face
To start off, students should not have to learn a foreign language because students may never use the language
As time progresses, foreign languages are being abandoned in English-speaking countries. This is because English is becoming a dominant language in international affairs. A common question has arisen because of this situation as Americans are left wondering what will become of foreign languages in the future. At this present time, monolingual English speakers are at a disadvantage. Being multilingual offers better opportunities in the working field and improves brain flexibility. On the other hand, it is understandable that it can be useless as English is becoming an international language and it is expected that people who live in America should know English already.
Weitz, speaks about the nature of social stress and defines stress through three components; situations, emotions, and bodily changes. Situations typically produce feelings of anxiousness and unsteadiness when dealing with situations. Emotions is when people tend to get hysterical, nervous, and hysterical when dealing with any situation. Lastly, bodily changes occur when a person’s body actions alters when situations and emotions collide (2013).
A common joke says “What do you call someone who speaks two languages?” in which the person being asked the question would usually respond with “bilingual.” It goes on to ask about those who speak three or four languages, but then there is a kicker. “What does one call someone who only speaks one language?” to which the punch line is “an American.” According to the 2006 General Social Survey, only 25 percent of American adults are fluent in a foreign language, while only 7 percent cite the source of this education to formal schooling (Devlin 1). Large amounts of evidence point to the benefits of being multilingual. Although the United States has a few laws that help immigrants assimilate through dual language programs, there is little to be
"America's strength is not our diversity; it is our ability to unite around common principles even when we come from different backgrounds, we can still unite with those bilingual people that have the same dream. The American Dream..." That is what Raj answered when I asked his opinion in regards of bilingualism and how diverse the United States is becoming. Bilingualism is the use of two alternative languages that are interchanged depending on the situation the speaker wants to convey or communicate (Myers-Scotton, C. (2006). Multiple voices: An introduction to bilingualism. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.) In this Bilingual Profile I will share my interviewee's background, explain the reasons of his language of choice, and explain
Picture yourself as an immigrant, only knowing one language. You would find it complicated to find someone the same nationality, sharing the same language as you. The United States, and also Canada offers diverse language courses for both adults and kids. “One of the most surprising findings from the research is how insistent immigrants on or that learning English is critical for their success. Focus group discussions
From my early experiences with fashion, these lead me to continue to follow all through my academic process, my favorite classes all through elementary school were Art, this continued until high school. In high school, I explored more into the world of fashion and more behind the scenes of the fashion industry. During my junior year of high school, I took a job a K-mart I learned about not only fashion but retail. I learned a great deal in the job about visual merchandising, during this time through a class in high school we were given the opportunity to spend the day with the Austin American statesman, I was chosen to spend the day with marketing department, I learned a great deal and this really changed my outlook for my career path at the
Studying a foreign language also gives students insight to another culture. As John Christie said, "Learning to speak a foreign language helps you to understand the people who speak the language." Foreign language study helps students to understand why people think other ways and why some of their traditions came to be.
“According to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, from the 1997-98 school year to the 2008-09 school year, the amount of ESL learners enrolled in U.S. public schools increased from 3.5 million to 5.3 million, a 51% increase” (WeAreTeachers Staff). The number of international students is very hide in that country “the percentage of students ages 5-12 who speak a language other than English at home has doubled since 1980” (Shi, Steen 64). In our days, around 200 dialect are be spoken in America (WeAreTeachers). “According to the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS), Spanish was the most common home or first language, spoken by 71 % of ELL students, Chinese was second with 4%, followed by Vietnamese 3%, and French/Haitian Creole 2% ” ( Top Language 1).
Language is a key part of any family, community, culture and the human race. Without language the world today would be much different. From cavemen, to the Egyptian use of hieroglyphics, to Old English, to more than 6,500 languages spoken around the world today, the advances that humans have made in language is remarkable and inspiring. The ability to speak, read, write and understand more than one language is also remarkable and expands the liberties in life, especially for young people. High school students should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language class in order to graduate, as many recent studies support the benefits of doing so. Students who have learned a foreign language in high school have proven to have a
“One of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time”, Federico Fellini once stated that “A different language is a different vision of life” and I, in my turn tend to say that he was perfectly right. A person who speaks more than one language can experience multiple personalities, visions and reflections consisting which language is he speaking. High School students should comprehend the real benefit of speaking a foreign language. Being a multilingual myself and speaking fluently four languages and studying another two, I consider that I am qualified enough to persuade that my argument is strong, plausible and not ultimately-right. In the following paragraphs I am going to address the following three reasons why should other High School students learn at least one foreign language? Firstly, learning a new language enhances performances in the academic domain and makes you smarter. Secondly, knowing a new language is a high estimated and a very valuable characteristic in your professional CV. Thirdly, international travel is more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.
Ancient Egypt is a complicated period in history to understand how their society became urbanized and how cities emerged in their region due to the geographical area along the Nile River. Through excavations and analyses, historians have been able to conclude that the Ancient Egyptians valued tombs and temples, and were in contact with the Near East due to rare findings of subterranean domestic housing. Analyses of tombs, temples, and the rare findings of domesticated housing tell the archeologists and historians about the urbanization process, however, these three features only provide the scholars with a limited amount of knowledge due to robbing of tombs, deterioration of buildings, and flooding of the Nile.