{{
`${userDetail.user.displayName}${userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode ? `#${standardizeBungieGlobalCode(userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode)}` : ""}`}}
{{getUserClans()}}
Edited by Orcinus Orca:
6/2/2019 2:59:36 PM
5
Is it true that the vast majority of Americans doesn't speak a second language?
If so, why not?
I speak English fluently, and I started to learn Spanish a month ago. I don't have to, I don't need it in my life, but I learn it because knowing a language opens many, many doors. A whole new world becomes accessible (even if it's just the internet world).
[spoiler]Tried French but the pronounciation is ass so I quit.[/spoiler]
-
[quote]If so, why not?[/quote] Because we don't need to. The United States takes up the full breadth of the North American Continent. We can travel the distance equivalent from the Straights of Gibraltar...all the way to Moscow....and still be in the same country...and speak the same language. Since we are nation of immigrants....and not a single ethnic group or nationality....common language is a powerful unifying force in the country. So virtually everyone learns to speak it....and those who don't find themselves culturally and economically isolated. Since their is very little functional reason why most Americans need to to learn a language other than English, the vast majority don't.
-
Because I don’t have enough time to Also I can read bass+alto+treble clef and speak pig latin
-
1 ReplyEdited by tjustie: 6/1/2019 11:26:55 PM20-25% of Americans are multilingual. Whether the remaining 75-80% is a "vast majority" is up to you I guess, but Americans by and large don't need to learn multiple languages. We're the most powerful country in the world, we're geographically isolated, we're one of the largest countries in the world, and English is the universal language. There's simply no practical reason Americans need to learn other languages, except maybe Spanish, which most people know a bit of anyways.
-
Most of us just aren't interested. We take the 1-2 foreign language classes required for high school and then never touch the subject again. You only really need a language if you plan to go to another country or speak with people [i]from[/i] said country. Since most of us are perfectly content to stay here and talk to the people we already know how to talk to, there's no real reason for us to expend the energy it would take to really [i]learn[/i] other languages. Feel free to disagree, though. There are always people that think differently.
-
1 ReplyUnfortunately, yes. Most Americans are not fluent in a second language. That’s not to say we can’t speak other languages - I can speak English and Spanish rather well, and I can recognize a bunch of other languages. But I can’t speak Spanish at native speeds, so I don’t believe I’m fluent, but I am practiced. However, I hope that most Americans are able to at least partially speak a second language, as 90% of American high schools require several years of a foreign language to graduate. I don’t believe most are at a fluent level, but I Hope most are at a communicative level.
