Immigrants And Foreign Languages

All languages are important and realizing it will make you become a stronger, more diverse human being. We need take make an effort not only for ourselves but for other citizens living in the United States who don’t speak English; we need to make them feel welcomed into our country. Marjorie Agosín described that,”here in the United States, where I have lived since I was a young girl, the solitude of exile makes me feel that so little is mine, that not even the sky has the same constellations, the trees and the fauna the same names or sounds, or the rubbish the same smell. These are the dilemmas of one who writes in Spanish and lives in translation”(Agosin 599). Agosín has lived in the United States for quite some time now, yet still feels like she is living a life through “translation”. She should not feel this way, Agosin should feel apart of our country and feel as if she is a citizen. It is important for us to take a stand now to make language become apart of the curriculum within our school systems starting in Kindergarten, so that our children have a more diverse life filled with opportunities. One thing we know about the future for sure is that we will still have our knowledge about language, but it is how we use that knowledge that will depict how we will succeed in life and as a

Currently, there are over 6,000 living languages spoken in the world. Even with these many languages spoken, people are still discriminated in America. Language is a part of many cultures and daily life, for example in Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue", Tan says "I've heard other terms used, 'limited English,' for example. But they seem as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker." Language should not be a border where people today are still treated as "broken".

A serious issue will occur when 311 languages are spoken throughout the United States , and not one of them is recognized as the official language. I have personally experienced the difficulties of trying to communicate with individuals in my own community, because of the language barrier. This controversy has existed

Having different languages in a country, they say, would isolate those foreign-speakers from the rest of the country. Plus, since a knowledge of English—albeit a limited knowledge—is required for American citizenship, they argue that these immigrants might as well learn English proficiently. Economically, having one official language would be cost effective. Translators for both spoken and written language can be expensive, especially for good translators since an poor translation can lead to miscommunication and all kinds of unfavorable problems. English-speaking immigrants would also promote America’s economy because they would be able to secure better jobs. Lastly, the promoters of Official English argue that life would basically be unchanged since English is already the most-spoken language in the US. It would only affect the government and its documents, but it would not lead to a decline in usage of foreign languages nor would it require people to speak English only. Yet, others still argue that Official English is

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

Language is a very important part of culture. It’s the method of communication between people, it’s a comforting feeling to hear your own language, and it defines who you are as a person. In the Hispanic culture the language spoken is Spanish. Spanish is such a popular language in the united states that many people become bilingual to be able to speak English and Spanish. "Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in U.S. homes, even among non-Hispanics. A record 37.6 million persons ages 5 year and older speak Spanish at home, according to an analysis of the 2011 American Community Survey by the Pew Research Center” When visiting a different culture, the language barriers are scary, I recently visited Mexico and not knowing what people were saying was frightening, Luckily Spanish is common so it wasn’t hard to find someone to translate. I remember feeling so warm inside hearing someone who speaks English talking, it was comforting to

Raff also speaks of high failure rates of Hispanics but he fails to account for any success of

There is a saying foreigners use that goes “If you speak three languages, you’re trilingual. If you speak two languages, you’re bilingual. If you speak one language, then you’re probably American.” Living in America, the home language is English. So when foreigners come and are unable to pronounce or understand the traditional language, they come off as a useless individual to some members of American society. On the contrary, America is one of the few countries that is so heavily dominated by just one language. There are around 40 million Spanish-speaking citizens in America, however, compared to America’s population of over 320 million people, that is under fourteen

Students with foreign language skills can find jobs more easily than students without. Many employers look for applicants with basic foreign language skills. Language skills are also important for positions with international companies. Job security and higher pay for employees who know a foreign language are other possible benefits. Since only twenty percent of students in the United States take a foreign language, the ones who do have an advantage. Also,

Language has clearly become a powerful force in many countries where different communities actually want to split apart on the sole basis on the language they speak. An article about Spain’s language diversity explains how people feel so passionate about their native languages that the country had to create autonomous regions for each of the major languages, and people are still fighting to have their language become the dominant dialect (Berdichevsky 276). This is also seen repeatedly in America’s history where immigrants to the country struggle to keep their languages alive. These immigrants realize the important role that language plays in keeping a community together, and many immigrants from the same country will choose to live by each other in America and are resentful when they are forced to learn English. My own great-grandparents chose to live in an Italian neighborhood in Ohio when they first came from Italy so that their culture would not be lost. This allowed my grandma to learn Italian as well as English, and even though she was going to an English school she was still taught the morals of her culture because she was able to talk with the older Italian people who did not speak English. My grandma says that this has helped her throughout life because even though she lives in America she says, “I respect my Italian heritage,” and that it has helped “build my confidence” (12 April 2003).

People think that immigrants coming to America should learn to communicate in English instead of their native language. Immigrants should speak English to get rid of racial comments. Everyone speaking one language is communicating to the fullest. Talking to one another in a language we are not familiar with is won’t help communicate with others. People who think that immigrants should learn to speak English may just be mad because they can’t eavesdrop on their conversation.

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.

Why should people nowadays see languages as a big prize? A person speaks more languages have more opportunities are skewed to him because he benefits the profit comparing to a person who speaks only one standard language. It is time for globalization and its effects on children for speaking other languages as a must. In two articles “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez and “Whose Voice Is It Anyway?” by Victor Villanueva, the two authors both expressed their opinions on native language and how the assimilation impacts a child. However, Rodriguez believed that the assimilation was beneficial for him as he had grown up in the English-speaking world and he disliked bilingual education which created many controversy.

With society becoming more and more global, it will become a necessity to know a foreign language. Export business 's are growing in double digits every year and foreign business 's are expanding at a rapid rate (Porter). Obviously there is a growing need for bilinguals(Porter). At this point, there are more internet users in Asia than in North America ("Foreign Language a Must for High School Graduation"). The global economy is diversifying and if the U.S. expects to dominate the market we must follow the trend of our competition. In countries like Japan knowing two languages is the standard("Make Foreign Language a High School Requirement"). How can we expect to compete with Japan if their workers have a big advantage over U.S. workers in knowing multiple languages. In terms of foreign language, the U.S. is lagging behind its competition and to keep up we need to follow the trend of requiring a foreign language.

Globalization has been a hot topic for a while now, and its effects are real. According to Joseph Lo Bianco, a graduate from the School of Education, “foreign language education is deeply affected by globalization” (312). Globalization is increasing at a rapid pace, and more people are now enrolling in foreign language classes. Why does this pattern exist? Job security. In relation to