Advantages And Disadvantages Of English

they further maintain this stand by stating how, “85 percent of all Europeans learn,” it and most importantly, “as their second language” (Source B). Again they are asserting the idea that the Europeans are attempting to be like the monolingual English Speakers as a result of the world becoming more and more English-based. Although on the contrary others will object connect this ideal as a disadvantage because, “the planet’s most common first language is Mandarin Chinese,” (Source B) but there is no need to learn it “unless you’ve got a specific professional use for it.” Monolingual English speakers are at an advantage, not a disadvantage, to citizens from other countries because the world is developing into a more “English-based” forcing them to become bilingual to understand English.

Everyone in America has had to learn a second language in order to obtain a high school diploma, however this ‘learning’ of a language is merely a short class that does little to tie one down to a second language. There are few students who continue to seek more and more knowledge about their intended language. Some lose interest, while others make excuses by saying that it is too hard. However, learning more than one language has so many benefits that it is mind boggling to me that more people like to remain monolingual. Obviously time and resources are a concern, but there are so many ways to learn a language that can be catered to one’s individual needs. Think about all of the people in our nation whose first language is not English.

If people maintain their native language, then they can represent their culture and linguistic needs in government. This way of thinking about multilingualism breeds acceptance and appreciation of other cultures and languages. Finally, I agree with and enjoyed Benjamin Rush’s commentary on multilingualism. He, “expressed his concern that, “narrow-minded people,” fearful of retention of the German language among Pennsylvania’s citizens, would not recognize the benefits a German college might provide the nation. The spread of learning among citizens, no matter what their native tongues, was crucial to the cause of the government” (23) by promoting democracy through freedom of speech and freedom of language. Additionally, multilingualism works to make stronger foreign relations, advances in science, math and all other research and allows America to communicate its success to other countries, The presence of multiple languages makes America the accepting, culturally diverse mixing pot that it is

“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.

Being able to talk a foreign language is more than those who see it as mere practice but a “gateway” to understanding other cultures. Russell Berman’s article makes a claim that learning a foreign language enables us to better understand society by noticing “cultural difference” America has today. By doing so, it can come with many benefits such as learning the culture of other countries and “

The benefits of learning a foreign language go beyond learning a different culture or being able to communicate with people of different backgrounds. It is essential that Americans speak languages other than English in order to compete internationally, keep the country safe, and prepare children to be world citizens. Several language organizations, educators, and policy makers have recommended the introduction of a second language at the elementary school level as a way of assuring a high level of language proficiency (Pufahl and Rhodes 273).

English as we know it is indeed the dominant language, but does that mean everyone should learn it? Should English be the global language? Should you have to know English to communicate if you are someone that lives in a place where the native language is something different? The answer is no. However, first you must consider the statement “It is a fact that English is the dominant language in the world today. Everyone, in every country, in order to participate in the modern world, should learn English. After all, a language is just a random collection of words, so how hard can it be”. Personally, I believe it is tremendously difficult to learn a new language as an adult, but in order to make the world go round, we all should know more than one language; no one language should rule. Barbara Wallraff, David Crystal, and John Tagliabue share a few words that connect to the statement to show their personal mindset behind English being a global language. In this essay, I will extract statements from each of the authors that explain their views on a global language to support my overall perception.

The number of Languages spoken throughout the world is estimated to be 6,000. Although a few languages are for wider communication around the world, these are very often spoken as second, third, fourth, or later-acquired languages. Fewer than 25% of the world 's approximately 200 countries recognize two or more official languages, with a mere handful recognizing more than two. Despite there being lots of bilinguals and multilinguals, there is also a bunch of monolingual people in the world. The adult population is allowing their children not to learn a foreign language, drastically underfunding language courses in middle to high school level classes. Because they think it 's not necessary in this century, thinking they don 't require communication with other people from other countries. But the truth is that it can actually benefit in more ways than people think. The United States school system has started to not require foreign language class for graduation requirements, this places the U.S at a disadvantage in the world scene.

The disadvantages described by Sternberg and Sternberg (2017) are that individuals who speak more than one language have a smaller vocabulary for each language, resulting in a slower ability to identify the meaning words. In addition, if an individual never learns any language fluently, the person will have difficulty distinguishing between the languages, resulting in a degradation of performance in school and the job

The United States is first in imports and second in exports, where in 2015, 2.16 trillion dollars’ worth of products were imported into the country, and 1.38 trillion dollars’ of American products were exported (Simones). Even in the United States knowing a foreign language can give an individual many experiences that only knowing English cannot provide. One can imagine walking through Manhattan neighborhoods, where Spanish can be heard from the Dominican barrio of Washington Heights, or Mandarin from the vibrant Chinatown. The experience would be completely different for a monolingual person compared to a bilingual or trilingual person. Three possible solutions to improve world language education in the United States is to offer more foreign languages to teach, such as Arabic or Chinese, require three or four years to graduate from high school and be admitted into a college or trade school, and to teach foreign

I believe that monolingual english speakers are at a disadvantage today. Studies have shown that the ability to speak more than one language is beneficial to the overall health of our brains and even better for our brains as children. In Ursula Oaks’ Foreign-Language Learning , Catherine porter gives facts that children who learn languages other than their native tongue their thinking abilities are just better than those who speak one language. She gives her own experience and compares it to a workout for your brain. Being able to speak/communicate in another language exercises your brain and increases flexibility. Yudhijit Bhattacharjee backs this statement in their article, Why Bilinguals are smarter, “But this interference, researchers

Although there are approximately 7,097 languages spoken around the world, 75 percent of the United States of America’s population cannot speak a second language. Twenty-eight percent of Americans feel that they do not need to know a second language because everyone they know speaks English or they expect all those they encounter to speak English. Because such a large percentage of Americans are monolingual, they often struggle to communicate with those in foreign countries because they do not know the native languages. This is largely due to the lack of language classes offered through the American school system, and not starting languages early in education. The solution to help close language and cultural barriers for Americans is starting foreign languages earlier in schools around the United States.

Whether one is confronted by international or non-native English speaking clients or customers, the years of Spanish or other foreign languages studied in high school can shine through, impressing whomever one is confronting. An approach to the four-year foreign language policy should not be to avoid taking it again in college, but rather to better oneself. It is no secret that the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not implement a national foreign language requirement. According to the 2006 General Social Survey, it stated: “Only 25% of American adults self-report speaking a language other than English.” (qtd. in Devlin). In countries such as Germany, Italy, and France, the numbers are more than double of the percentage, revealing a shocking contrast how much the US

On planet earth, there are a lot of smart animals and primates, however, none of them can talk to each other in the way that human beings do. The biggest distinction between humans and animals, is language (The Children of the Code Project, 2012). Language is a shared symbolic system, it is a means to expressing ideas and concepts, it is inquisitive, and it is also the link between the past and the future (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p. 97). Language consists of groups and combinations of words and is the prime means of communication between humans (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014, p. 17). Many linguists question whether language is a naturally inherited process, or whether it emerges and develops through instruction. Others however, like Noam Chomsky, an American linguist and cognitive scientist, believe that with more than 4000 languages existing today, some are too complex to the learned through formal instruction and that children possess an inborn “language acquisition device” (O'Donnell et al., 2016, p. 127). Chomsky believed that language is made of words, nouns, verbs and subsequently, the rules on how those are moved around for example syntax and grammar (O'Donnell et al., 2016, p. 127); this is also known as a cognitive phenomenon (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 6). During his / her career, a teacher will have in the classroom a vast variety of students with diverse linguistic backgrounds, and it is imperative that educators use language as the social bridge that connects his /

‘To prosper economically and to improve relations with other countries,’ U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan declared, ‘Americans need to read, speak and understand other languages.’…18% of Americans report speaking a language other than English, while 53% of Europeans (and increasing numbers in other parts of the world) can converse in a second language.’