Why do Americans insist on having just one exclusive language?

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  • Socrates
    SBR Wise Guy
    • 02-24-10
    • 923

    #1
    Why do Americans insist on having just one exclusive language?
    Americans get pissed at the mere thought of expanding our language horizons. It's not just the rednecks either.

    Everytime I visit, I'm always very very surprised at how many languages Europeans speak. Even Latin Americans know at the very least, a little bit of English. A lot speak the language pretty well.

    We've gained this world wide reputation of being ignorant dumbasses who are too stupid to learn other languages. We can start with picking up Spanish, a European language that's widely spoken here in America by 'outsiders' who can't freely speak it without getting criticism.

    At my job we have lots of Asians and they're always either speaking Mandarin or Tagalog, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, yet people always snark at me about how they hate it.

    Learn to speak another language clowns.
  • chilidog
    SBR Posting Legend
    • 04-05-09
    • 10305

    #2
    For the most part, there's no need for an American to learn another language. The majority of Americans never leave the states, so why learn a foreign language if you're never going to use it?

    Europe is a melting pot of several different languages, so that's understandable why they would know multiple languages.

    As for Latin America, English is becoming more popular because of the cultural influences, and the desire to earn more money. If you know English, you can graduate high school and earn more money than a college educated person that only speaks Spanish
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    • Dutch
      SBR MVP
      • 09-21-10
      • 4339

      #3
      Originally posted by Socrates

      Even Latin Americans know at the very least, a little bit of English. A lot speak the language pretty well.

      Even Americans know at the very least a little bit of Spanish. A lot speak the language pretty well.

      Europeans don't learn second languages out of a desire to broaden their horizons, they learn it out of proximity. Same way I learned how to speak decent spanish. 4 yrs of spanish in high school, and too many kitchen jobs in my late teens, early 20's.
      Comment
      • cenger66
        SBR Rookie
        • 01-18-11
        • 17

        #4
        hablo espanol un poco

        most americans know enough spanish to get by in mexico. why cant we just have one worldwide language. i dont care what it is, as long as everyone speaks it. my vote is for swahili, that just sounds badass
        Comment
        • Doug
          SBR Hall of Famer
          • 08-10-05
          • 6324

          #5
          I doubt there will ever be a single world-wide language or currency, more likely on the currency, though.
          Comment
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