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Language Barriers: Why All Americans Should Learn a Second Language
And How the U.S. School System De-Prioritizes Language Learning
The only language I speak is English. It’s not that strange for a white girl from Western New York. Most of the people I grew up around only spoke English. I wasn’t exposed to other languages very often — unless you count Dora the Explorer (I don’t).
But I’ve always been drawn to different cultures. Europe has always fascinated me, and I dreamed for years about visiting countries like France and Spain.
When it was time to start studying a language in the 7th grade, I chose French. I excelled at it and studied it through my senior year of high school. I even added Spanish during my sophomore year. I loved language, and French and Spanish were always two of my favorite classes.
So it’s really no surprise to anyone that I married a man who was not white and not American. My husband is Moroccan and he speaks three languages — making me look pathetically uncultured.
And it’s not just him. My brother-in-law in Spain knows Arabic, French, Spanish and some English. Even his wife is able to speak English practically fluently, in addition to her native Spanish. Their 4-year-old daughter already knows her colors in English.
