There is no question in my mind that Senator Obama is doing his best to appeal to the widest number of voters to get elected. However, I take issue with his remarks in Powder Springs, GA on Tuesday regarding the need for Americans to learn foreign languages. It’s been more years than I care to admit but when I went to school passing two years of a foreign language was a mandatory college prep requirement.
The problem with any language is that if you don’t continue to use it you will lose it. I would also agree that being able to converse in multiple languages might be an advantage in some professions.
Where the Senator’s train went off the track was his comment on Tuesday that: “it’s embarrassing, it’s embarrassing when–when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, French, German and we go over to Europe, and, and all we can say is “Merci bo ku.””
For beginners, English is the international language for business. In fact, having been to many countries in Europe we never had a problem communicating within those countries.
I know many Californians who have never been east of Las Vegas. I also know people that travel from the east coast who have never ventured past the Mississippi River. So for those citizens, knowledge of a second language would have limited value.
While I can numb you with numbers I must in order to prove another point. Many of the states in American are almost as large as the Nations of Europe. In Europe, while they have a common monetary system, better known as the EURO, they each retain their own national culture and languages. Those living in France need to know German as they freely cross borders. The same applies from the Czech Republic to Germany or any other nation that share a common border.
I would also argue that Europeans go from nation to nation a lot more frequently than Americans cross the Atlantic heading east to Europe.
You can hear the Senator’s remarks at the following link.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4Jy_QOm2sbQ
Here’s the numbing part of this post. Following is the “square kilometer” area (in thousands) of a dozen European nations as compared to a dozen states to prove my point. I have dropped out the largest from both to avoid the “spin” machine.
France 547, Spain 505, Sweden 450, Germany 350, Italy 301, U.K. 244, Greece 132,
Portugal 92, Austria 84, Denmark 43, Switzerland 41, Turkey 24
Texas 696, CA 424, Ariz 295, Mich. 253, Wash. 185, FL 170,
IL. 150, NY 141, ARK 138, Ohio 116,
VA 111, MASS 27
Question. Do you need to know a foreign language when you visit any of the US states listed above?
I think it’s ethnocentric of us to shun the idea of learning a new language, whether or not we have ample opportunities to speak it. I don’t think the size the country matters; it certainly was not the impetus for my desire to learn to speak other languages. I think it denotes an interest in another’s culture and suggests the United States is not the epitome of arrogance.
When I have visited Paris, the French are always surprised (and pleased) when I speak even my cave-woman, grammatically horrifying French. People ALWAYS ask me where I learned to speak French because they are seemingly amazed that an American is willing to speak another language. I agree with Barack on this one. I wish I could speak 5 languages!
And yes, it is easy to forget a foreign language, but French and Spanish can easily be brushed up on by listening to DVD’s in those languages and reading the English subtitles.
If we use your ridiculous geographic area example, we should all be speaking Chinese.
This is all akin to America being the only developed country not using the metric system. “Longboobs” has it right…the rest of the world sees these positions as arrogant, despite their admiration for our democratic system.
Put things like this on top of our current foreign policy, and it’s easy to see why positive opinion about the United States is in decline.
Longboobs.
We have difficulty getting Americans to read books and you want them to devote time studying a foreign langauge so they can park it in their memory bank as many will never get to visit Paris?
Our high school drop out in LA is what 50 percent?
Two years ago the LA Times published the following report:
On a September day 4 1/2 years ago, nearly 1,100 ninth-graders — a little giddy, a little scared — arrived at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. They were fifth-generation Americans and new arrivals, straight arrows and gangbangers, scholars and class clowns.
On a radiant evening last June, 521 billowing figures in royal blue robes and yellow-tasseled mortarboards walked proudly across Birmingham’s football field, practically floating on a carpet of whoops and shouts and blaring air horns, to accept their diplomas.
It doesn’t take a valedictorian to do the math: Somewhere along the way, Birmingham High lost more than half of the students who should have graduated.
What happened to the Class of 2005?
Larry, we now appear to be talking about two different subjects: the value of learning another language versus the dismal state of our education.
I had no idea I would ever visit a foreign country when I started learning French and Spanish. Perhaps, though, knowing I could communicate if the opportunity arose spawned my interest in travelling to other places and learning about other cultures.
And Larry —
“We have difficulty getting Americans to read books and you want them to devote time studying a foreign langauge so they can park it in their memory bank…”
— come on! Pretty soon we’ll have lowered the bar to the point we do a jig when an 18-year-old reads Dr. Seuss! Let’s please not go there!
Anon.
Odd that you raise the name China. A group of us celebrated a birthday party this week at a local Chinese restaurant. I addressed the owners in Chinese and they didn’t know, or acknowledge, what I said.
How many Americans, other than those with family or roots there, will be going to visit China?
The graphic is important. Europeans MUST know the languages of their neighbors as they commute there on a regular basis.
Having commuted to 32 of the 48 Continental States in North America I have not been required to learn another language. Some may have different dialects but we all speak English.
As to the metrics system. I for one do not support a “one world order” and am pleased to say that we have not adopted metrics as the U.S. standard.
Longboobs.
There is a direct link between a foreign language and education. When do we generally learn a foreign language? Unless you are a recent immigrant from a foreign country I would argue that it is while we are in high school or college where multiple foreign language classes are offered as part of the regular curriculum.
Yes, we do try to learn a few words and phrases before going abroad out of respect to the country we plan to visit as well as to find the closest subway, ATM or toilet.
Many years ago I could not understand why a close friend of our daughter learned Chinese in High School. She later got a position at the State Department as an interpreter for staff or businessmen travelling to meetings in China so that she could listen in while the hosts spoke in their native language as well as respond when asked. Yes, knowledge of a foreign language has value. If you wish to learn a foreign language as a hobby that’s fine. The Spanish we learned in school is surely not the same Spanish used in Mexico or, as we found out two years ago, in Barcelona, Spain.
No, I do not promote lowering the bar. We must begin with a focus on basics so that we can compete in the global marketplace where China and India graduate huge numbers of students to function in the critical disciplines of science and engineering. At last count China had over 15 million college students, the most in the world. We drove past some of their universities last year.
We need to compete with other nations or we are doomed.
As a British citizen, I make no comment on American politics, but I am not sure that English is as widespread or useful as people claim. I would like to argue the case for learning Esperanto. It is a planned language which belongs to no one country or group of states.
Take a look at http://www.esperanto.net
Esperanto works! I’ve used it in speech and writing in a dozen countries over recent years.
Indeed, the language has some remarkable practical benefits. Personally, I’ve made friends around the world through Esperanto that I would never have been able to communicate with otherwise. And then there’s the Pasporta Servo, which provides free lodging and local information to Esperanto-speaking travellers in over 90 countries.
How does Obama and his wife survive? This country seems to be soooo embarrassing for them.
Bill Chapman.
With all due respect sir is this the next step to “one world order?”
Having followed our sharing US treasurs with the U.N. let me share the following assessment from Google.
“When our Founding Fathers sparked the American Revolution and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they sought self-government for the American colonies and an escape from the dominance of England.
The Founding Fathers would be shocked to learn that some of their successors have given control of key American sovereign territory to other nations.
Through an international treaty, the United States is allowing the United Nations and its member countries access to and control of American soil – in particular, our historic buildings and treasured wilderness.
In 1972, our government signed the United Nations’ World Heritage Treaty, a treaty that creates “World Heritage Sites” and Biosphere Reserves.” Selected for their cultural, historical or natural significance, national governments are obligated to protect these landmarks under U.N. mandate.1 Since 1972, 68 percent of all U.S. national parks, monuments and preserves have been designated as World Heritage Sites.2
Twenty important symbols of national pride, along with 51 million acres of our wilderness, are World Heritage Sites or Biosphere Reserves now falling under the control of the U.N. This includes the Statue of Liberty, Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, the Washington Monument, the Brooklyn Bridge, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite, the Florida Everglades and the Grand Canyon – to name just a few.
Most ironic of all is the listing of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. The birthplace of our Republic is now an official World Heritage Site. The very place where our Founding Fathers signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – the documents that set America apart from other nations and created the world’s longest-standing democracy – is no longer fully under the control of our government and the American people.”
More recently we joke about the new north American currency called the “Amero” with a partnership joining Mexico and Canada to compete against a unified Europe.
Email comment:
Mr Inside:
I think the southern states with so much influx of Nathanors (northerners now) are speaking an accentless English. Same with the midwest twang. Can’t really speak for the northeast because I don’t do much business there.
Mr. Outside.
So you prefer a President who “looks them in the eye and says he’s a friend”. English speakers already know lots of foreign words, they just need to string them together intelligently. In business it would be desirable to know the culture of the people you’re dealing with and to know what they say among themselves. Also, our security is at stake with so few people knowing Arabic that the intelligence agencies are way behind in translations – we may already have intercepts about future activities that won’t get translated for years or ever.
Who’s more out of touch? Obama’s comment about languages or the comment about high gas prices being good?
The second comment is more in touch with reality. From a macro perspective, it is a good thing. It was not politically savvy to say so, but its the truth. Obama’s comment is just elitist disdain for middle america.
No doubt there is value in learning several languages, but there is no practical reason to learn another language in the US except when it is necessary to get along in certain employment situations, ie. foreman in Los Angeles, etc.
Yessirree, Bob.
No fancy elitist learnin’ for us Americans. We can borrow and spend better than anyone in the world. Why shouldn’t they learn our lingo?
And let’s stop listening to all their silly talk about energy and climate change and health care systems that work. Me, I’m sticking my fingers in my ears and saying “Nyah, Nyah, Nyah”.
Business leaders such as Charlie Kolb of the Committee for Economic Development, the folks who created the Marshall Plan which provided the blueprint for rebuilding Europe after WWII, strongly advocates learning a foreign language, especially a “strategic” language. He says that if you were to take a snapshot of who is learning what, currently about 2 million American high school students are studying French, yet only about 75,000 are taking Chinese. Conversely, in China, over 100 million Chinese students are learning English beginning in primary grades. In one generation, more Chinese will speak English than Americans. From a business perspective, who would a multinational corporation hire? Remember also that when you study a foreign language, you also study that culture and if you are advanced will study literature, politics, social aspects, etc. If we are to be competitive in a global economy, we must invest in studying strategic languages, cultures, and geopolitics.
Obams’s comments therefore were not “elitist disdain for middle America.” It was a bold wake-up call for where America needs to go if we are to stay on top economically.
Regarding the comment about mastering the basics before taking on a foreign language, there is a huge body of research that underscores academic success for those in “dual language immersion” programs. There are many such programs in California, a handful of them are in OC, one right in the middle of Anaheim.
email reply
Larry,
I retained much of the three years of Spanish I had many (!) years back in high school. We were in San Francisco yesterday finishing up a vacation, and were surrounded by European tourists at our last nights dinner out. They each spoke several languages and I wished that I had learned to do the same. One family was from Switzerland and the other from Germany and their English was fluent. We had such fun talking about the city that we were all enjoying.
Our schools make it a requirement to get into college, but not enough emphasis is put on the significance that it will have later in your life. It is not only an advantage for some for business, but it opens a whole new world of knowledge when you can converse with a person sitting next to on a plane, a park bench or a cafe in San Francisco.
Learning a language not only gets you into a college, but into a conversation with anyone anywhere.
Folks.
#15 is a friend whose husband is VP of a firm for which he travels the globe. As such he does not represent the masses when he and his wife travel on business.
How many of the 303 million Americans travel to a foreign country where their primary language is not English?
Yes, the ability to converse in multiple languages has its advantages. Our son-in-law speaks four languages however, he does not use them in his corporate travels.
Larry Morrisey.
Interesting that you select Arabic as a language we should learn. Should I assume from your words that you support Homeland Security and surveillance, better known as profiling?
With China claiming to overtake the USA in the next 20 years, and with all of the goods coming to our shores from China, I am surprised you failed to list their multiple languages.
Today’s Guest Column Editorial in the Register addressed this very topic. One area that I agree with is that it’s easier to learn a second language when you are younger and high scool is an easy place to start. Sadly it is proven that “use it or lose” still applies. You might remember a few words and sayings but I doubt that you can carry on a meaningful discussion if that second language is not used virtually daily.
This leads me to another point raised by former US Treasurer Rosario Marin when we covered her kick-off of the “No Child Left Behind Act” at Huntington Park HS a few years ago. You can see that program in our Archives on the http://www.CuttingEdge-atalkshow.com where she shared her life after being born in Mexico and focusing on learning the English language if Latino’s wish to advance. So instead of promoting English for those that are here some of the comments on this post shift gears and propose learning a second language, other than English. Go figure.
I reference Spanish because I believe that is what Senator Obama had in mind with his remarks. He shifted the focus to international languages to deflect conservative criticism of “pandering.”
Denizen of the Gilbertocracy
This post was about Senator Obama’s speech in Powder Springs,GA.
You and I agree that this country has many more serious issue to confront which is why I called this “pandering” for votes.
Concerned citizen.
Last April/May we visited a school in Guilin, China where top officials send their children. As we entered the courtyard on our way to visit a kindergarten classroom I took photos of farm animals with their names in both Chinese and English painted on the exterior walls of the school. We stood in the calssroom and listened as the kindergarten students sang American songs.
You bet the rest of the world wants to learn English which is the unofficial international language.
Again. It’s a simple matter of numbers. If you, or a member of your family, may find employment based on having multiple language proficiency than go for it.
Larry Gilbert “wiggle room” Perhaps those representing the Y generation may have a different viewpoint on this topic. However, let’s stay on point. What did Sen.Obama say, and why?
One liner from north County:
Senator Obama “pandering” for votes
Please tell me — what politician isn’t?!