Most Americans Don't Need To Learn a Second Language

It seems that once a year or so the media gets into this obsession that Americans need to learn a second language, most recently in response to Barack Obama's comments that Americans should do so.

This is silly. Most American's don't need to learn a second language. There are however some people who either should learn a second language or might want to because of good opportunities to take advantage of knowing one such as:

• Americans living on the Mexican Border
• Americans living on the northern border with French-speaking Canada
• Americans who speak a language other than English, in that they should learn English as their second language
• Americans living in foreign countries long-term

Take this example:

In a room you have:

• An American
• A Brit
• A German
• A Frenchman
• A Spaniard

What language do they speak?

Of course this one is easy as there is an American in the room, most certainly the only common language is English.  That is provided that the German Frenchman and Spaniard also speak English.  But in this case, let's assume that they do.  So there you have it.  Those Americans need to learn a second language......

Now let's remove the American from the room:

• A Brit
• A German
• A Frenchman
• A Spaniard

What language do they speak?

English.

Chances are the Brit doesn't speak any language other than English.  Perhaps he knows French as well, but that's no good as the German and the Spaniard would need to speak it as well.  They might speak French, especially if they live near the French border, but most likely do not. 

Now let's remove the Brit from the room as well:

• A German
• A Frenchman
• A Spaniard

What language do they speak?

English.

So is this still the American's fault?  Of course not.  It is just easy to blame Americans for most of them don't know a second language.  However, most of them have no need to learn a second language.  Really, does it make sense for an American to spend years learning French, just so that he can show it off on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Paris?  Doesn't make much sense does it?

So lets say that Americans decide that yes, they should be learning a second language.  The next question is which one?  At the moment, everyone is talking about learning Spanish, because of all the Spanish speakers flooding into the country.  But, they are the ones who should be learning a second language.  They should be learning English.  Why force the citizens of a country to learn a second language because the newcomers don't speak yours? (It is even more absurd when you consider that many of them are here illegally.)  At the least this is proof that Americans aren't the only large group of people who do not speak a second language.  There is a whole continent of people south of the US Border who do not speak English.  Maybe they should learn a second language.

So again, which language?  If French, which French?  Those living near the Canadian border might see that as a good option, the only problem is that Canadian French is so different from French spoken in France, that when the two meet, they might just speak to each other in English.  Too complicated?  Then how about learning German?  Again, it might depend on where you want to speak German as Germany, Austria and Switzerland have variations.  It might be best learning high German.  With that, you might actually intimidate some native German speakers.

The funny thing about this whole issue is that many Americans do speak a foreign language both at home and abroad, especially those who are living overseas. I learned Finnish while living in Finland.  There were other Americans living over there who were at least trying to learn Finnish.  Even just a couple words to make their life easier, like push and pull for doors and the obligatory please and thank you.  So it could just be that if you put an American in a room with five Germans or five Frenchmen the language spoken just might not be English!  I have been in many work situations when I was working in Finland where the locals spoke Finnish and I responded in English.  That is a very fair compromise in that all parties get to speak in their own language.  All the better if you can pull it off.

Still, most Americans are probably better off learning something else.  Remember, we Americans are presented as being intellectually deficient by our high minded European friends.  So just how do they expect us to learn a second language anyway?

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