Un homme qui ne parle qu'une langue est anglais
As of 2003, about a quarter of the world's population speaks English, though only 6% are native speakers. Meanwhile, the United States' multilingualism rate lags behind the world average by about 49% - even as we grumble about immigrants not being fluent in our native tongue.
Though we're quick to criticize those learning English, most Americans don't learn a second language. English, which was first spread around the world through British colonialism and trade, gained its modern-day dominance alongside the American economy. We therefore have the privilege of expecting (often demanding) that everyone else learn our primary language, English, instead of going out of our way to learn theirs. Because English is studied by so many people, in so many countries, native English speakers are by-and-large facilitated in multilingual situations, rather than being the ones to facilitate.
The ubiquity of the English language, combined with Americans' widespread paranoia that foreign forces are working to undermine our internal unity and economic hegemony, create a culture that is hostile to both foreigners who are not impeccably fluent in English and natives who try to learn other languages. Though English is not, in fact, legally an official language of the United States, "English-only" sentiments are widespread in the American population. In fact, 77% of Americans (and 81% of white Americans) believe that speaking English is "crucial" for immigrants, while only 19% consider it essential for native English speakers to know a second language. This dominant cultural attitude paints bilingual foreigners as a threat to the U.S., and bilingual natives as non-essential. However, as the global economic structure continues to globalize, and as Americans begin to recognize the various benefits of multilingualism, this "English-only, others-optional" mindset will hopefully disappear.
As it currently stands, about 66% of the world's population is proficient in more than one language. In America, about 25% of people can hold a conversation in a second language, and this rate varies by age, education, and ideology. Younger Americans are more likely to know a second language than older, with a bilingualism rate of 43% for those ages 18-29, compared to a rate of 15% for those 65 and older. 20% of high school graduates are bilingual, while 43% of those with a postgraduate education are. Ideology also influences your likelihood of knowing a second language, with 33% of liberals and 23% of conservatives speaking something other than English.
America lags behind its developed counterparts in multilingualism rates, with 56% of Europeans and 35% of Canadians speaking multiple languages, compared to our 25%. There have been some attempts to bridge this gap, such as the National Security Language Initiative, which aims to "create a much larger pool of language-proficient Americans by starting instruction at an early age". And, while enrollment in college-level foreign language courses has been declining since the recession, the number of colleges offering courses in Chinese, Arabic, and Korean have increased by 110%, 330%, and 208% respectively. On the other hand, courses in German, French, and Russian have dropped by 21%, 13%, and 30%.
Americans should not be so quick to discount the value of learning a foreign language, however. Research in many countries has shown that multilingualism can both improve your chances of being hired and increase your salary, and research done in the US indicates a $3,000 average salary augmentation for people who speak more than one language. Learning a second language has also been tied to myriad cognitive benefits, including:
- improved focus and exclusion of irrelevant information
- increased creativity and problem-solving capabilities
- diminished effects of aging on the brain
- delayed dementia onset by ~5 years
- improved information processing
- improved attention to detail
And many more, I'm sure. Learning a language other than your own can be a difficult and time-consuming task, but Americans would benefit from the necessary change-of-viewpoint that accompanies learning a new language. Being a global hegemon may mean that learning other languages is less of an economic necessity, but that in no way diminishes the many other benefits of multilingualism.
