The View From Carnegie 210

I think this is a really interesting question, unfortunately my opinion would be that the trend is not changing. Other cultures have an advantage over Americans because they are in such close contact with other languages; it is far easier to put your foreign language knowledge to use in Europe where you might just hop over the border from Germany to France for the weekend than it is here in America where you travel for hours just to get to Québec (where they donâ??t speak â??Real Frenchâ?? I might addâ??ooh thereâ??s some linguistic arrogance!). Another disadvantage is that America is a country built on the value of blending in, losing former cultural identities to foster a sense of unity; while this trend might be decreasing, I do not think that Americans are likely to learn foreign languages en masse any time soon. Itâ??s very doubtful in my opinion that cultures will switch places in this joke any time soon.

I think that it would be difficult for English to lose its place as the standard. It is difficult to change something around that has become so prevalent now throughout the world. However, it could be a possibility in the future because there really isn't a reason why is couldn't. All of our languages are equal it just happens to be at this point in time English is the most prevalent among people. Maybe as schools begin teaching more languages in the United States we could see a shift or even if children begin learning from a younger age. It seems that more people are traveling abroad with their families so many as thing keeps occurring people will want their children to learn languages earlier on. I guess there is always a possibility for change.

I think eventually the trend of American monolingualism will have to change, to some extent, but I agree in that the change does not appear to be happening quickly. Who knows exactly what the future has in store for the United States of America, but one thing is for certain: every world power has its rise and fall. And while the US may be one of the most powerful countries in the world (at least in terms of military, weapons, and economics), it is likely not destined to remain so indefinitely. So while global pressures to be bilingual are not yet extensive on Americans, I think they eventually will become more noticeable, especially as China keeps gaining a foothold in the capitalistic marketplace.

Another thing I wonder, as well, is if the influx of hispanic immigrants is threatening to some Americans not because Spanish may replace English--but because it might make it more necessary to be fluent in a second language. I know just by working at a call center, it could be frustrating for me to call households that spoke only Spanish. Had I been fluent in Spanish, however, I could have easily circumvented the problem.

Another difficulty of American bilingualism (or lack thereof) is that most of our language learning is done in our later years, long after the critical period of acquisition. Thus, when we take language classes, most of us have difficulty attaining proficiency or even fluency in a second language, even after years of study. Until we radically change our education system, I think we'll remain for quite sometime the punchline to this joke.