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Bilinguist's Edge
R. Alex Whitlock
According to
a poll, roughly half of Europeans can speak two or more languages.
Honestly, I thought that number would be a bit higher. I guess it's just my thinking after being drilled and drilled about how "all" Europeans can speak at least two languages and many can speak three. I never expected that all could, but I figured more-or-less all but their underclass could. I was a bit surprised that Britain had the second lowest rate of bilingualism at 30%. I was less surprised that the most common foreign language known and understood was English as the European superiority myth that I was familiar with was that everyone was taught their native language, English, and some other language. But anyway, that actually helped explain the first. People that can speak English have less need to learn another language than those that can't.
That said, America's 9% bilinguilism is abysmal. That's made worse by the fact that we're an immigrant nation and therefore for a large chunk of the bilinguals English is the second language.
I tried to learn Spanish in high school and know some, but never became fluent. Of my closest friends (most of which have college degrees) only a couple are bilingual. Interestingly I know more bilingual people here in Idaho than I did in multiculti Houston. But they did not learn it in school, they learned it while training to become Mormon missionaries abroad. So even that success doesn't vindicate our school system - and ourselves, of course, for not demanding a better school system.
The school systems are, by-and-large, not serious about teaching us foreign languages. It's rarely a requirement and when it is you spend one hour a day spaced out over the course of a couple years starting past the age where our understanding of the world in English has solidified. I suppose I'll eat my words if that's how other nations do it it as well, but that strikes me as a very bad learning schedule. Not only are the schools not serious about teaching it in any meaningful capacity, but students seem to have little interest in learning it. The fact that so many high schoolers and college graduates take the much less useful French and German instead of Spanish or Asian languages and that parents let them make these decisions suggests to me that it's all approached quite leisurely.
We need people learning Japanese and the various forms of Chinese and Indian and increasingly Arabic and other languages of the middle east. This is important stuff for the US to retain its competitive advantage. I don't know if I'm a hypocrite for saying so since I can't speak Spanish or if I'm in a better position to object to the system because I'm a part of it and the mindset because I've lazily conformed to it.
Observations
In England, "public" schools (i.e. fee-paying independent schools, what we would call "private") generally teach French from age 6, though the pace of learning is slow. No other modern language is taught before age 13, as a rule.
England's "state" schools (what we would call "public") are run by the central government, and are probably on par with Houston's.
So a third of Brits go to private school (or do a fair number pick up th second language in college)? How much do these schools cost? And since they call the private schools public, what would they consider private schools? Homeschooling? Or does the term just not really exist?
I think you're right about the importance of learning a second language - especially in these times when we're not very popular with the rest of the world, it wouldn't hurt to have Americans abroad that can actually express themselves in the local language.
I would like to point out, however, that the schools teach what the people demand. Many people still see foreign language requirements as keeping kids away from other, more important studies. I certainly felt like my language requirements were silly at the time.
Another thing I'd like to point out is that language is a prime example of a class that doesn't work very well when it's only taught for an hour at a time. I suspect having a five-hour class once a week would result in at least twice the comprehension. But this kind of scheduling flexibility is pretty rare, especially in high school.
I'd say the numbers are much larger than they'd be (in England, US, etc.) if they didn't include immigrants and their offspring. Counting only the people who are native speakers of only the state language, and later learned another language, the percentages would be somewhat lower. I'm sure they'd be lower in Texas if you discounted all the bilingual kids whose parents speak only Spanish.
Linus,
You're right about supply and demand. Not only are the schools not serious about it, but the students aren't serious about it. The fact that so much of it is Eurocentric at the high school level is not helpful. As far as school format goes (one hour a day) I very much agree. I've been meaning to read that John Gatto Taylor book that's on your bookshelf. I didn't agree with all of his Six Lesson Schoolteacher Essay (
http://www.cantrip.org/gatt...), but it certainly caught my interest and I do agree with a lot of what he has to say. But the scheduling thing goes back to the larger issue of parents and education experts not taking education seriously when it conflicts with summer vacation, convenience, or self-esteem and identity development.
Adrianne,
As I said, the fact that we're an immigrant nation with a fair number of people who speak English second makes it that much worse. I didn't harbor any illusions that we were competitive in bilingualism, but I figured we were at least a little better than that!
I actually feel that schools spend too much time on foreign languages. I took 4 years of Spanish -- that's over 700 hours of instruction -- and I know just enough Spanish to order at Taco Bell. What a waste! If my parents had forced me to spend an hour a day taking piano, I probably would be a concert pianist. I'd be a black belt in a martial art with 700 hours of class time. Damn.
Centinel, I only took two years, but I'm in the same boat. For all my trouble I can read some billboards. I think that says more about us than it does the amount of hours put in to it.
If by "us" you mean society, then you're quite right. It's an interesting question, and I've taken the liberty of throwing down a few of my thoughts on the matter over at my site.
I think 16% of British children go to independent schools. I would guess that about half of those come out functionally bilingual, along with a similar absolute number from the state sector, and that the 30% figure is achieved through a combination of recent immigrants and wild-eyed optimism.
In answer to your other question, "private" in Britain means the same as "public"... my [British] boss says that "public" connotes an older, high-quality school.
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