{"id":160,"date":"2011-12-17T18:32:33","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T18:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=160"},"modified":"2012-10-15T09:52:03","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T09:52:03","slug":"highlighted-article-infographic-of-the-day-americas-problem-with-second-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-infographic-of-the-day-americas-problem-with-second-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlighted article: Infographic Of The Day \u2013 America\u2019s Problem With Second Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you struggling to learn the language of your host country?\u00a0 Did you also struggle learning a 2nd language in your home country?<\/p>\n

It seems like there is still much to know about the language learning habits of the people from the United States.\u00a0 Granted I do know a nice handful of North Americans that are fully bilingual, but was that due to the classes they took in high school or college?\u00a0 The answer to that would most likely be no. Other factors like \u201cis the majority of their day in the target language\u201d and \u201cis their partner not able to speak English\u201d come into play more.<\/p>\n

What languages are people studying now in the United States?\u00a0 Which languages to people think are of most \u201cvalue\u201d to them?\u00a0 Why are they choosing to learn those languages?<\/p>\n

In a recent article by fastcodesign.com<\/a>, they discuss \u201cAmerica\u2019s problem with second languages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We have highlighted some paragraphs from the article here:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know and I know that other countries make fun of the fact that most Americans only rarely speak another language. But behind that truism, there\u2019s plenty of subtle forces that influence the attitude<\/em> that Americans have towards learning another language. And attitude, I\u2019d argue, is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt bears remembering that America is the world\u2019s only superpower that isn\u2019t bordered by a country of similar might\u2013thus, learning another language just doesn\u2019t feel like that much of a necessity as it does in Europe and other parts of the world. But the one thing that America does have is a tremendous influx of Hispanic immigrants. So it\u2019s no surprise that people want to learn Spanish\u2013it\u2019s useful and there are plenty of opportunities to speak it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some international school teachers are placed in a country\/city where the host country language is only spoken by less than 5-10 million people in the world.\u00a0 Out of 7 billion people, that is not a lot.\u00a0 Reasoning says then that why should I learn this language that I will most likely never use again once I move away and choose to leave in another country.\u00a0 I reckon learning the language of the host country is not so directly related to the usefulness of that \u201cskill\u201d when you move away, it is more about the quest for the understanding of the host country people and their culture (and the other many facets of a specific culture e.g. its humor).\u00a0 In terms of maximizing your multicultural experience in the host country, knowing their language is priceless.<\/p>\n

North Americans (and British and Australians) know though that it is still much easier to talk to people and get things done in English; that in turn is our Achilles heel.\u00a0 The world has English everywhere for us. So, now I reckon that learning that language of English<\/em> is<\/strong> directly related to the usefulness of that \u201cskill.\u201d\u00a0 That is why billions of people are learning English and putting it up on their bilingual signs in their cities.\u00a0 Even though Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, Shanghai still has English up in their metro stations and train signs.\u00a0 Also, when Chinese people are traveling around in Europe (and even Europeans traveling around in a country that is not theirs) they are all attempted to speak English to the host country people to communicate.<\/p>\n

So, what happens to the people that speak English as their first language?\u00a0 What are they to do if they already speak the language that the \u201ctraveling world\u201d is using themselves to communicate?\u00a0 Thus, we are back to \u201cAmerica\u2019s Problem with Second Languages\u201d again.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not give up hope though.\u00a0 There are still many moments when people from the United States are having successful encounters in a 2nd language, maybe not moments of fluent and error-free speaking, but moments of good communication and getting the meaning across.\u00a0 I guess people living in the United States need to put themselves in more situations when they need to use a 2nd language.\u00a0 However, with only like 37 percent of people from the United States having a passport<\/a>, those encounters are not likely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you struggling to learn the language of your host country?\u00a0 Did you also struggle learning a 2nd language in your home country? It seems like there is still much to know about the language learning habits of the people from the United States.\u00a0 Granted I do know a nice handful of North Americans that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[43,186,46,437,438],"class_list":["post-160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlighted-articles","tag-international-school-educators","tag-international-school-teacher","tag-living-abroad","tag-second-language-learning","tag-speaking-a-second-language"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-2A","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1274,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/highlighted-article-which-languages-are-the-hardest-to-learn\/","url_meta":{"origin":160,"position":0},"title":"Highlighted article: Which languages are the hardest to learn?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"June 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at which languages are easiest and most difficult for English speakers to pick up. \"The foreign service institute of the United States Department of State compiles learning expectations for many languages based on the amount of time it takes a native English speaker to achieve speaking and reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/06\/screen-shot-2012-06-12-at-10-39-19-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1542,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/common-myths-and-misconceptions-about-bilingual-children-8-if-a-bilingual-child-experiences-any-languages-problems-in-one-or-both-languages-dropping-one-of-the-languages-will-fix-the-situation\/","url_meta":{"origin":160,"position":1},"title":"Common Myths and Misconceptions about Bilingual Children #8: If a bilingual child experiences any languages problems in one or both languages, dropping one of the languages will fix the situation.","author":"ISCommunity","date":"December 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As teachers working in international schools, we are most likely teaching and working with bilingual children (or even, more likely, multilingual children).\u00a0 Many international school educators also find themselves starting a family; 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with potentially bilingual children.\u00a0 We all know colleagues that have ended up finding a partner from the host\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Common Myths and Misconceptions about Bilingual Children"","block_context":{"text":"12 Common Myths and Misconceptions about Bilingual Children","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/12-common-myths-and-misconceptions-about-bilingual-children\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/05\/img_7853.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1326,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/common-myths-and-misconceptions-about-bilingual-children-5-you-have-to-be-gifted-in-languages-in-order-to-learn-two-languages-at-once\/","url_meta":{"origin":160,"position":3},"title":"Common Myths and Misconceptions about Bilingual Children #5: You have to be gifted in languages in order to learn two languages at once.","author":"ISCommunity","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As teachers working in international schools, we are most likely teaching and working with bilingual children (or even, more likely, multilingual children).\u00a0 Many international school educators also find themselves starting a family; 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