The Controversy Of Learning A Second Language

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:

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.

There are about 7,000 languages in the world today. In America, there are 350 languages alone. However, only about 25% of Americans can speak a language other than english. Despite the majority of Americans being monolingual, 43% of the nation believes it is important to learn a second language. Being bilingual has many benefits for the future. Knowledge of foreign languages can expand career potentials, help improve one's native language, and can aid opportunities to travel and experience new culture. Learning a foreign language is one of the most beneficial experiences for people in the future.

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).

One should learn a foreign language to be able to make more money. Being a bilingual worker , that person can make more money than the average person who can only speak one language. According to an article , written by Morgan Rush , this is an anecdotal evidence that some companies pay bilingual workers more. Suppose if someone come to a store , they need help , but they only speak Spanish . What will one do ? Americans should think about these things when choosing whether they should learn a foreign language or not. Do not just think about how you can benefit from learning another language but about how others will benefit from it also.

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.

Learning a second language will help the pupil develop positive qualities and improve their English skills.In Why Another Learn Language? ,the author Samantha Roberts,illustrates

“Learning another language assists in the development of critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving and memory,” according to Connecticut State Department of Education. In fact, students who studied a second language have had higher scores on standardized test such as the ACT and/or SAT. Someone might ask why should we learn a new language we are Americans everyone should learn English. However, most people who speak English that learn to speak a second language have better listening skills and greater understanding of their native language.

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,

Children all over the world are taught every day that communication is vital to life in this modern world, but they are being kept from learning any language beyond their native tongue. In Europe alone, there are twenty-four official languages and that count does not include the more regional languages that are dotted across the continent. There are forty-four countries in a land that is of comparable size to the US. Twenty-four languages in forty-four countries, yet each new generation that comes along has been taught that it is fine to seclude themselves to knowing a single language. A child in the US could be able to talk to a child in Finland, Vietnam, or South Africa in a literal moment, but that connection often never happens, because they don’t speak each other’s language. Without the knowledge gained from a well known second language, they will be unable to reach their full potential in expressing themselves in a world where they have the potential to be constantly interacting with people from other countries, cultures, and language backgrounds. “We Americans do a less than adequate job when it comes to teaching our children a foreign language. We start too late and we do too little to convince our children about why learning a foreign language is so important. “ Children need to be exposed to as many forms of the world to expand their minds and allow them to convey what they experience. To not allow this to happen, would be akin to attempting to write a paper with

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.

Around 6,000 to 7,000 languages are spoken daily around the world, but as time goes on the amount of people that know each language is decreasing. Schools should have foreign language class. Initially, students who are bilingual have a brighter future. At the same time, language class helps students overall in school. Following this, being fluent in more than one language may improve one’s appreciation and respect for others. At the same time, when considering learning a second language one may want to consider the few cons. Undeniably, if students study a foreign language,they will be better

In previous generations learning another language didn’t had an importance, but now it’s necessary and important to communicate with others. Technology doesn’t help as well because you have to learn the basics on how to communicate with

Studies have shown that knowing multiple languages does not stop diseases, such as dementia, but can slow the effects. If two people had dementia, but only one of them spoke a foreign language, the one who spoke a foreign language would retain their memory for a longer time. It would be as if the person was diagnosed with dementia five years later than the other person who was not bilingual (bbc.com). This proves that taking a foreign language in high school should be required so that later in life a person can at least acquire some of the good benefits that will help keep them healthy. Scientists have also found that learning a second language can reduce a person’s chances of having a stroke. However, if a person who knows multiple languages does have one, chances are they are twice as likely to recover from it than a person who is not bilingual (bbc.com). This shows that acquiring multiple ways of communication in the world allows for a longer, healthier, more meaningful life. Conclusively, knowing a second language gives someone a better chance at having an array of advantages, including a longer, healthful

Also, it has been estimated that half of the world’s remaining languages will become extinct over the next hundred years (ibid.). Another point suggested by Crystal (1997) is that the presence of a global language may cause people to neglect the chance of learning other languages because they may think that other languages are unnecessary. Thus, languages are dying out and this will lead to a ‘communication fault-line’ between generations. As a result, many concepts and culture cannot be kept and passed to the younger generation since the younger generation becomes more proficient in the new language and finds their first language irrelevant to their new needs.