Bilingual Is The New Black

Many Americans believe their is no point to learning a second language, as they believe english will soon be the world's only language (Johnson). According to Betty Birner of PBS:

First of all, English should not be the only official language because a lot of people in the United States need to acquire skills and be able to exchange knowledge and communicate effectively. Uniquely, the nation of the United States is formed of people from different cultures and backgrounds, and hence one official language is not enough for people to learn well. For instance, when you walk on the street and someone asks you where the bus stop is, you need to answer him/her. If he/she speaks Spanish or Urdu and you only speak English, you may not understand each other or you may even misunderstand each other negatively(which may have negative consequences). Therefore, when people speak and understand more languages, they will be more educated and better connected.

In the article “America’s Foreign Language Deficit” by David Skorton explains how learning another language can have many effects. The author, David Skorton, claims that by having the next American generation learning a foreign language, it will prepare them for success in the future. This is a logical claim. First, as the author points out, “[America] need[s] diplomats, intelligence and foreign policy experts, politicians… who are proficient in languages other than English” (Skorton). For example, the military often needs people who can speak a different language for many different reasons, such as having an important meeting with another country. In addition, American businesses need to know how to communicate with other businesses outside

I bet everyone of you has complained about having to take Spanish in middle school, right? Trevor, and Blake I’m talking about you. But do any of you know how many people speak spanish in the united States? According to The huffington post 33 million people can or are speaking spanish right now. Can you believe that? 33 million people in the united states speak spanish, wouldn’t you want to learn a second language, at that rate a language that almost the whole world knows how to speak and understands? Many people will argue with me asking ‘why would you want to learn an language that almost all the united states knows? But the real question is why wouldn't you? I mean be smart pick a language that is going to help you in life. First reason

The United States is a melting pot of all different groups of people, cultures, beliefs, yearnings, hopes, and languages. The Census Bureau released data from the 2013 American Community Survey, that showed the number of people who speak a language other than English at home reached an all-time high of 61.8 million, 20%, up 2.2 million since 2010. The largest languages in the United States were Spanish with 38.4 million, Chinese with 3 million, Tagalog with 1.6 million, Vietnamese with 1.4 million, French with 1.3 million and Korean and Arabic with 1.1 million each (Owen); however, 75% of Americans have no second language, according to a Yougov survey, and nearly 56% of americans feel it’s unnecessary to know a second language unless it’s basic knowledge for vacations, if it’s a major world language, or because they think most people around the world can speak english. Learning a foreign language is much more than just that, and although it’s highly unlikely, learning a foreign language should be mandatory in the united states. We are constantly putting pressure on immigrants who can’t speak english to learn english, however, we never turn the page and force ourselves to adapt to their language as well.

“Despite about 18% of the U.S. population natively speaking a different tongue than English, a full 96% of United States citizens speak English fluently” (Whiskey 2012). Today in our society, a large majority of American citizens speak English and continue teaching those at a young age to resume this trend in the future. Although there is a minor percent of people whom come to America speaking a foreign language, many of them are learning and practicing the English language as a requirement for success in America. America originated with English being the superior language and shall continue to do so in respect to this nation by coming together as a whole to attain future achievement.

Should Americans learn a foreign language ? There are many reasons to why Americans should not learn a foreign language but there are also many reasons why Americans should. Most people think that learning a foreign language is very difficult , which it is , but there are a lot of benefits that can came out of being bilingual. About one in every five Americans believe that learning another language is important. Americans should have to learn a foreign language because they can make more money , connect with people , and travel easier.

Learning these languages early will prepare them for a better future, dual language programs show students a broader world view, whatever the foreign language of the student, and lead to greater opportunities for collaborative learning. Some jobs require a second language such as: Business Executives, Stenography Banking, and Finance International Operator Translator, Publishing, Teacher (K-12), Study Abroad, Coordinator, Textbook Author/Editor, Hotel and Restaurant Staff / Management Publisher of Tourist Literature Visitor, and Convention Bureaus. I believe that American students should be required to learn a second language. Learning a second language will enable American students an opportunity to better understand other cultures and languages this will result in our generation being better world citizens and continue our role as a global leader. 96% of the world's population lives outside of the United States. Countries that border our nation speak a language other than English; by learning a second language we will more effectively communicate with our neighbors. Employees of this new era must have the skills and ability to communicate fluently in several

I am privileged to speak English as well as some German and Spanish. This opportunity to learn different languages has been encouraged by others and although I am completely fluent in only English, I have been provided with the resources to learn German and Spanish while in High School, at University, and even through online applications. I grew up in an English-speaking household and it was the only language I was introduced to until High School. It was not necessary for me to learn a foreign language to be successful in life or to be considered by American society, an American citizen. However, not everyone living in the U.S. is as fortunate as me. Minorities and immigrants find it crucial to learn English in order to communicate effectively, acquire a job, receive a better education, and to live life successfully here. Hence my surprise at learning that America has been

On the one hand, it is stated the only reason why we should learn a new language is for travelling to work. In fact, if a person could use a new language fluency, he would get many benefits when he works in other countries, such as he can not only have more opportunities to get a promotion in his career, but also expand the business for his company. For example,

Two years of a foreign language should be required for college. Throughout life foreign languages can benefit you greatly. You have a diverse selection of job opportunities and you can work with foreign companies which allow you to be promoted to higher positions in your job.

The Netflix television series “Orange is the New Black” has been commended for its diversity and complex representation of various ethnic groups through characters who are either inmates or staff in a women’s federal prison. A unique feature of the series is that it frequently includes entire scenes of dialogue in Spanish, or that switch between Spanish and English. While there are other characters and scenes that show bilingual code switching with other languages such as Russian and German, the show includes more than five main Latina characters whose focal narratives are portrayed in Spanish and English, so I will focus on bilingualism in relation to the Spanish speaking characters. In her master’s thesis, Millette states that the dialogue of Latina characters in “Orange is the New Black” realistically reflects elements of code switching such that it is “always presumed to be a conscious choice by the speaker” and is “crucial” to “the relationship between language and identity” such that it exemplifies “performance of identity” (Millette).

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.

There may be some English speakers who argue that there is no need to learn a second language. While it is true that multiple countries speak English, not all places in the world do. According to The Telegraph, countries such as

The best way to connect cultures and communicate with people from other countries is to study a foreign language. Foreign language is defined as “any language used in a country other than one 's own; a language that is studied mostly for cultural insight” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Foreign language requirements in the United States are scarce but important to educational development. Only about 15 states have specific requirements for foreign languages in their high schools (Dounay) and even these requirements are minimal. Most of the other states give the students a choice between a foreign language, theatre arts, or art credits. Why should high schools in the United States be required to teach foreign languages? Minimal requirements in foreign language studies are part of the reason why languages are dying out. Foreign languages also have many benefits in the classroom. The studying of foreign languages has proven to help increase standardized test scores and overall cognitive achievements. Not only would teaching foreign languages prevent the extinction of “one language… every 14 days” (Rymer), teaching foreign languages in high schools has major impacts that could increase standardized test scores, improve the usage of the native language, and widen the range of job opportunities.