I used to speak only 2 fluently. So I went on learning a 3rd one (english) and by the time I was fluent in english I had forgotten most of my german, which took me 10 years to learn ><
hot take , so is "i voted for democrats" , if all you do is vote your reason country is in shithole , democrats , people who not voted , republicans all let your freedom erode and not protest , from militarising police to brutal opression wo was being tuned each day till it is now , i herd just comment the other week here "i wont protests due death threats" and my reply was "will you if it will be more then just threat?" ofc not becouse why would he or most americans even fight for freedom.
Vocabulary is the hardest part, if you get the basics of Latin and Germanic languages you can indeed be a polyglot yourself. Vocabulary is the hard part. And you would be uniquely posed to learn English as a second language if you know that plus French. Spanish is easiest-ish but again, vocabulary. Western languages follow similar syntactical sentence structures. English is the Wild card
I have a Polish ex who grew up under Soviet occupation. She used to say she learned Polish, because she was Polish, Russian because of the occupation, English because it's the international language, and German just in case.
I don't fucking care. I just thought it was weird. Jesus. Imgur is so fucking touchy about the weirdest shit. Wear a vase on your head. Pierce your forehead. Drink bleach. I just thought it was strange. Fuck.
While I was working in Germany, a Polish co-worker told me that when you start dreaming in a language is when you're finally getting fluent in it. Turns out, my sleeping German was better than my conscious attempts.
dreaming is actually the 2nd step, the first is switching your thinking to the foreign language...instead of listening, translating, thinking of an answer, then translating the answer, you "just" skip the two translation steps...of course that requires already a pretty solid vocabularly so you dont get stuck by not knowing a word too often...but once you are able to switch your thinking to the foreign language you are not only already pretty good but will improve quickly even further...
Lin Manual Miranda also said that. He said he used to go to PR for the summers and by the end of the trip he'd be dreaming in Spanish instead of English
A good friend (Canadian) got secunded to his firm's Zurich office - that was fine and after a couple of years his German (and that of his wife) was more than passable. But he said the surprise was when his wife called him in to look at his four year old in bed - kid was sound asleep but was talking, in German.
I agree fully. I have become fluent in 4 foreign languages (not even related to my own), and all of them i learned by working in that country. You can also notice when you stop making translation in your head. You just think and speak in that language, and that makes it very much easier and that is the point when you learn to talk fluent. Now, years later, i can speak of these 4 languages in many diferent local dialects.
When I moved back to America from Germany, I found myself thinking in German if I was preparing what I was going to say ahead of time. I guess because I did that so often in Germany
I was living in France for about two years and it was around month #9 that I had my first dream in French. I don't remember dreams, just topics/participants and maybe a snapshot image at best but I woke up going "Putainmerde, je viens de rever en francais!"
The key is to just use it. Don't wait until you're fluent, because there's no way that can happen without thousands of hours of use. And despite what people on the internet would tell you, most natives are more than happy to work with you, no matter how broken your tongue is. Yes, even the French.
Absolutely true. I used to speak 4, but I stopped using spanish for so long that I hardly remember it at all, which is a shame. Pretty sure it would come back quickly if I were to study and try and use it again though.
Can confirm. Learned English primarily outside the classroom, by fucking around on the internet with a dictionary and a dream. Though I will say that some natives may pull out the UNO reverse card and instead try to practice their English on you.
I speak better Spanish now, 25 years after taking Spanish 3, because I have had more life experience with it and have learned the nuance that you can’t get in a classroom. Even though no more “formal” instruction.
I found that to be true in France especially. It's a lot harder when you try it in Scandinavia or Germany, because people tend to switch to English right away.
Went to Germany, excited to test my 6 months of studying German. Try ordering a beer at the hotel bar... guy is from Argentina and doesn't speak any German. Order a beer in Spanish instead.
Absolutely. When I lived in France in the 90s, I was billeted regularly and the immersion was soo helpful. That said, my third month in and we were eating watermelon and I made mention of how you have to, um, "shoot" (tirer) the seeds from your mouth and a kid **in a high chair** corrected me. "Il faut cracher, il faut cracher les pepites!" Humbling.
There's been a huge push to support the language in the last few decades, from what I understand. It's a required course in their primary education, and they have Gaelic immersion schools https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelscoil
Compared to a lot of the rest of the world Americans are functionally illiterate, having a working knowledge of only one language. And sadly yes, I'm pretty much in that same category, knowing only a few phrases in a handful of languages.
Love a good polyglot story… I have been married to a French lady for around 15 years now, and I am just about able to understand almost all nuances in French language, give or take. People who can do this with multiple languages, interchangeably, blow my mind!
Me wife speaks 5 languages and is learning a few more. Her 2 mains are english and spanish, and she teaches Spanish at uni. Her skill is placing Spanish accents. She can even get the city right in some instances.
Would you be able to say it’s as hard as distinguishing a Georgia Accent vs Virginia or the Carolinas? I can easily tell a difference in Spanish accents but southerners is harder
Im from north carolina. There are at least 7 accent regions there and one city that has its own VERY distinguishable accent. 3 regions are easy because of the word "house". I think this is what my wife does - look for words that sound different. My cousins live northeast nc. They say "hoess". Another region says "how-ess" and the third says it standard, "howss". In spanish, some places use certain verb conjugations like vos. Others use native words a lot. If youre around it, you just pick it up.
When I went to Australia they got a kick out of guessing where from in the states we were from and amazingly got it right on the first guess. Before that I didn't really think troll Michigan people had much of an accent, boy was I wrong.
I have family from Luxembourg. They all speak 4 languages by the time they are teenagers. Many of them speak many more languages as well. I believe there's a broadcast of a Luxembourg news channel with the anchor giving the news in a number of languages. I'm insanely jealous.
Their (functional) literacy rate is already shockingly low, your average American is on par with a 6th grader. They should probably learn English better first, before confusing them even further. Then again, learning multiple languages could perhaps increase their overall reading comprehension too I suppose
They try to teach us languages here but it's never about actually getting us to speak the language. Like everything else, it's basically teaching to the test. Also, an inordinate amount of it is written, not spoken, so it's not really useful in daily life.
I've learned more Spanish watching TV shows with English subtitles than I ever did in a classroom.
I was required to take at least 2 language classes in order to graduate high school. However, they should be requiring it in kindergarten because young children have brains primed to absorb languages. It's harder to learn the older you get.
By far the biggest issue with multi-lingualism isn't whether we're taught or not, at least in moderately progressive states, for instance: North Carolina and Virginia and better. We're required to take at least 2 languages and follow one into competency... But our country predominantly speaks TWO. English and Spanish, and most Spanish speakers here speak English. So we just lose our skills almost immediately after school. Like we all know some Spanish, but I'll be damned if I remember grammar.
To become fluent in a language, you really have to have someone to talk to or a reason to use it. With the exception of Spanish, or a tiny blip of French, Americans are an ocean away from any other language. Why did you think Europeans, who live very close to a wide variety of spoken languages, tend to learn more than one more often?
Let's just get them to be able to read at a high school level first before we introduce language. NGL but if they brought book-it back but for adults I'd probably be at the books store way too often
You seem to have missed the part about the proposed teaching of said languages. I mean, the comment you're replying to is redundant and dumb as fuck already, but you managed to top it. Congratulations.
Many schools have a second language as part of the curriculum, but it's really difficult for kids to really dig into it when the nearest e.g. German speaker is 4000 miles away. The guy in the video is able to do that because there are other speakers of those languages around.
Strangely in my hugely rural american school in the 90s we had several refugee families from Africa & I think Pakistan. It was cool to learn their swear words.
Thank you. People talk how if you drive a few hours in Europe, you're in another country. If you drive those same hours in the Midwest, you're in another cornfield.
Also correct. And it's unfortunate that students are restricted... well not always restricted but cannot be educated on... those different languages. It's not all French German and Spanish. More high schoolers need to be given the opportunity to explore more languages in America. I think I started middle school and chose German. Ausgezeichnet, aber we need to teach pidgin language more
Many schools will offer Japanese and other Asian languages if they have a teacher who can teach it. In Odessa, Texas, in the 90s, we had Japanese offered as well as one other language i can't remember what it was. But they only had six students total interested in it, that's at a school with over 3000 kids. Spanish was by far the top choice. Something like 15-20 sections across several teachers and 3 years. But Spanish is used daily in Texas, so it makes sense.
Yep I've heard that's pretty much the reason they nix language programs, which like you said, nobody signs up. Spanish in the US is the most versatile but the problem is people take it then forget it. I mean if you have an entire afternoon I would grab a coffee with you and gripe about the US educational system. I'm lib arts so suck it math people, 1 + 1 = progress
Almost every American student learns a foreign language in school. The difference is the ability to use the language outside of the classroom to gain fluency. Spanish is about the only viable alternative language where you could get everyday practice.
No, depending on where one lives, there are immigrant communities where one can get plenty of practice interacting with folks who speak only Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, West African French, Dari and Pashto, Arabic, Haitian Creole, or even indigenous languages of Central & South America. The most common non-English language among students at the Dallas-area college where I used to teach was Vietnamese, not Spanish.
I usually dismiss the "US is too big for " but you have a point here. I am lucky enough to live in a place where I can visit 6 countries in a 3 hours drive. Traveling is expensive and is class dependent. It's much harder to immerse yourself in a country's culture and language when you are poor in the US, or Canada (excluding french).
I had to get one to raise my credit score to offset my early student loans. If it weren't for that, and needing the cushion for if I lot my job suddenly and couldn't pay the loans, I wouldn't have gotten a credit card when I did.
The system is made so you have to have one. You have to build your credit number score to rent, to gets cars etc., it's such bullshit.... did you know that things like apartment shopping itself actually hurts your credit score? Fucking shell game shit.
Credit score aside, having a credit card is just free money if you use it like a debit card. You can get between 1%-6% cash back on all purchases you make. I pay off my card with autopay every month, so I make a few hundred dollars per year for nothing. I’d recommend getting one in general.
We watch a lot of foreign stuff in our house (recently: Dark, Train to Busan, Catla, etc) and it's always in the original language. I enjoy the dub for Dragon Ball, Cowboy Bebop and a few others, but original is, typically, way better.
Subtitles are great, dubbing is always terrible. Sometimes we will watch something and someone will Oh we mus twatch this, it is narrated by Attenborough! but it's dubbed...
I remember watching bienvenue chez les Chti in English dub when it first released… so much of the comedy fails to make the translation having now watched it in VO.
I am a Chti and I am now very curious as to how they would even attempt to translate a comedy based on regional "dialect" in a foreign language. It seems like it's doomed from the start. I need to hear how that sounds
Becker37
So envious
Mmrnmhrn
Estonian is a pretty good language for cursing too
acid9000
Keegi mainis Eestit!
BeeDeeEssEmm247
hot polyglot doctor in a keffiya? yes please
TheCryptid
man, I only speak 2 languages, I need to step it up
GordonFreeman59
I used to speak only 2 fluently. So I went on learning a 3rd one (english) and by the time I was fluent in english I had forgotten most of my german, which took me 10 years to learn ><
combatwombat0
The right language at the wrong time can make all the difference, mr freeman.
saganworshipper
Smart people are sexy
Righteousdew
Irish is the only language not capitalized in the captions.
BearMcBeary
That interviewer asked realy good questions, I like this
goflyblind
crisse de calice! c'est tout fucké.
Varenvel
hot take , so is "i voted for democrats" , if all you do is vote your reason country is in shithole , democrats , people who not voted , republicans all let your freedom erode and not protest , from militarising police to brutal opression wo was being tuned each day till it is now , i herd just comment the other week here "i wont protests due death threats" and my reply was "will you if it will be more then just threat?" ofc not becouse why would he or most americans even fight for freedom.
Varenvel
protest , dont comply , my country fought communism , some people died for it too , and their families.
n0gal
What country is that? Certainly not an English speaking one, as evidenced from your tenuous grasp on English punctuation.
Varenvel
And? you going to dismiss people based on their nationality now?
n0gal
Did I dismiss you or ask you a question?
Varenvel
Well seeing downvote and tone and how often people behave here i assumed so , https://youtu.be/d_St3QZajJ4 , Poland.
tombeithemist
Shout out to all my fellow Klingon speakers!
CharlesTooke
I know a young woman who while working in a large restaurant learned fluent Spanish by just listening to some of the other staff members.
noReallyIamPrincessBob
I would imagine if he is a doctor and can easily speak multiple languages, that he is rather quite brilliant.
Pentjotal
English and Irish, didn't know it was 2 different language
4sambucas
Pretty man
GravyEducation
Vocabulary is the hardest part, if you get the basics of Latin and Germanic languages you can indeed be a polyglot yourself. Vocabulary is the hard part. And you would be uniquely posed to learn English as a second language if you know that plus French. Spanish is easiest-ish but again, vocabulary. Western languages follow similar syntactical sentence structures. English is the Wild card
carrotsonfire
I speak 40 languages. Granted I don't speak any of them well...
SoberAndBored
I have a Polish ex who grew up under Soviet occupation. She used to say she learned Polish, because she was Polish, Russian because of the occupation, English because it's the international language, and German just in case.
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[deleted]
NewNordicWarfare
Probably - why?
zenoshogun
Either as a style choice or because even seemingly intelligent people can be seduced by false narratives.
JustLettingPeopleBeWrong
Sorry, what false narrative exactly?
AlexSomething
"Is he wearing a scarf as a scarf?"
Interesting question...
KleptoKea
Why do you care?
ViolentlyJaded
I don't fucking care. I just thought it was weird. Jesus. Imgur is so fucking touchy about the weirdest shit. Wear a vase on your head. Pierce your forehead. Drink bleach. I just thought it was strange. Fuck.
KleptoKea
Take a chill pill mate.
JustLettingPeopleBeWrong
You're the only one displaying any sort of touchiness about this 🤷♂️
[deleted]
[deleted]
JustLettingPeopleBeWrong
Cool. Do you know where this guy got his, or why he wears it? Or are you just assuming?
Oh, you're just assuming? Cool.
MouseDenton
While I was working in Germany, a Polish co-worker told me that when you start dreaming in a language is when you're finally getting fluent in it. Turns out, my sleeping German was better than my conscious attempts.
RacecarIsRacecarBackwards
Alcohol helps, too.
RecurringNightmare
dreaming is actually the 2nd step, the first is switching your thinking to the foreign language...instead of listening, translating, thinking of an answer, then translating the answer, you "just" skip the two translation steps...of course that requires already a pretty solid vocabularly so you dont get stuck by not knowing a word too often...but once you are able to switch your thinking to the foreign language you are not only already pretty good but will improve quickly even further...
MadamPuddifoot
Lin Manual Miranda also said that. He said he used to go to PR for the summers and by the end of the trip he'd be dreaming in Spanish instead of English
BerryButcher
Basically the same as the language in your head vs clumsy mouth
FormerlySable
I had a similar experience when I lived in Austria 35 years ago.
Xalten2
A good friend (Canadian) got secunded to his firm's Zurich office - that was fine and after a couple of years his German (and that of his wife) was more than passable. But he said the surprise was when his wife called him in to look at his four year old in bed - kid was sound asleep but was talking, in German.
SergeyPrkl
I agree fully. I have become fluent in 4 foreign languages (not even related to my own), and all of them i learned by working in that country. You can also notice when you stop making translation in your head. You just think and speak in that language, and that makes it very much easier and that is the point when you learn to talk fluent. Now, years later, i can speak of these 4 languages in many diferent local dialects.
NotSomoneElse68
When I moved back to America from Germany, I found myself thinking in German if I was preparing what I was going to say ahead of time. I guess because I did that so often in Germany
Niagaran
I was living in France for about two years and it was around month #9 that I had my first dream in French. I don't remember dreams, just topics/participants and maybe a snapshot image at best but I woke up going "Putainmerde, je viens de rever en francais!"
drhobotron
The key is to just use it. Don't wait until you're fluent, because there's no way that can happen without thousands of hours of use. And despite what people on the internet would tell you, most natives are more than happy to work with you, no matter how broken your tongue is. Yes, even the French.
OozingRabbit
Absolutely true. I used to speak 4, but I stopped using spanish for so long that I hardly remember it at all, which is a shame. Pretty sure it would come back quickly if I were to study and try and use it again though.
TgCCL
Can confirm. Learned English primarily outside the classroom, by fucking around on the internet with a dictionary and a dream. Though I will say that some natives may pull out the UNO reverse card and instead try to practice their English on you.
MelfsAcidArrow
I speak better Spanish now, 25 years after taking Spanish 3, because I have had more life experience with it and have learned the nuance that you can’t get in a classroom. Even though no more “formal” instruction.
RacecarIsRacecarBackwards
I found that to be true in France especially. It's a lot harder when you try it in Scandinavia or Germany, because people tend to switch to English right away.
comacomacomacomachameleon
Went to Germany, excited to test my 6 months of studying German. Try ordering a beer at the hotel bar... guy is from Argentina and doesn't speak any German. Order a beer in Spanish instead.
RacecarIsRacecarBackwards
Berlin, I assume?
Niagaran
Absolutely. When I lived in France in the 90s, I was billeted regularly and the immersion was soo helpful. That said, my third month in and we were eating watermelon and I made mention of how you have to, um, "shoot" (tirer) the seeds from your mouth and a kid **in a high chair** corrected me. "Il faut cracher, il faut cracher les pepites!" Humbling.
WhatTheFrog
Les pépins* (yes, I'm the kid in a high chair)
Whereabouts did you live?
freakdiablo
I love that he designates Irish as it's own language. Reminds me of Mr. Hunter - https://youtu.be/PnUKEL3xINA
NightOwlRally
Ever had a long conversation with a bogger?
QuamvisSintSubAqua
I thought that he meant Irish as in Gaelic, not as Irish English?
freakdiablo
Possible, yeah. I just checked, ~40% of Ireland reported they can speak it in some form, I was thinking it was a lot lower.
QuamvisSintSubAqua
Wow, that's a surprisingly high percentage.
freakdiablo
That's self reported in 2022 according to Wiki. So it can range from fluent speakers to maybe asking for basic directions.
WellAckchually
There's been a huge push to support the language in the last few decades, from what I understand. It's a required course in their primary education, and they have Gaelic immersion schools https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelscoil
freakdiablo
That's actually pretty cool.
Base841
Compared to a lot of the rest of the world Americans are functionally illiterate, having a working knowledge of only one language. And sadly yes, I'm pretty much in that same category, knowing only a few phrases in a handful of languages.
jon5465
Love a good polyglot story… I have been married to a French lady for around 15 years now, and I am just about able to understand almost all nuances in French language, give or take. People who can do this with multiple languages, interchangeably, blow my mind!
ArchMagos
Do you ever go "[pet name] that's French!" And pull a Gomez Addams?
GravyEducation
Humor in two languages is how you can tell an intelligent person
jon5465
Are we just excluding the Germans then?
GravyEducation
Der Humer ist ein Berliner Zeitzgenschraber, machst du bis flugenwaffle.
Ithinkimbetterthanyousometimes
If you grow up knowing more, it becomes second nature.
SkamanSam
Me wife speaks 5 languages and is learning a few more. Her 2 mains are english and spanish, and she teaches Spanish at uni. Her skill is placing Spanish accents. She can even get the city right in some instances.
mychesthairlookslikeacatsass
Would you be able to say it’s as hard as distinguishing a Georgia Accent vs Virginia or the Carolinas? I can easily tell a difference in Spanish accents but southerners is harder
SkamanSam
Im from north carolina. There are at least 7 accent regions there and one city that has its own VERY distinguishable accent. 3 regions are easy because of the word "house". I think this is what my wife does - look for words that sound different. My cousins live northeast nc. They say "hoess". Another region says "how-ess" and the third says it standard, "howss". In spanish, some places use certain verb conjugations like vos. Others use native words a lot. If youre around it, you just pick it up.
00Lochnessa
When I went to Australia they got a kick out of guessing where from in the states we were from and amazingly got it right on the first guess. Before that I didn't really think troll Michigan people had much of an accent, boy was I wrong.
Maviyakuku
Welcome to Africa. Where being multilingual is rather commonplace.
kamui9460
I know someone who speaks 4 languages, and 3 of them are Serbo-Croatian
criticalhitkoala
My mom fluently speaks 7 languages, and understands close to 10. I barely speak 2. I wish it was genetic :)
iamnoobplzhelp
I have family from Luxembourg. They all speak 4 languages by the time they are teenagers. Many of them speak many more languages as well. I believe there's a broadcast of a Luxembourg news channel with the anchor giving the news in a number of languages. I'm insanely jealous.
AyatollahBahloni
Maith thú, a dhuine!
Yogsothott
Duine Éireannach eile ar Imgur? Duine Éireannach a bhfuil ábalta Gaeilge a labhairt? An bhfuil mé i mbrionglóid?
MaybeIllDisappear
Póg mo thóin (no offense meant, it's the only Irish I know)!
[deleted]
[deleted]
AyatollahBahloni
"galore"
ebonyfaery
😍 He single?
pawlinkapinka
He might be poly 😉
ebonyfaery
We can dream
umbrellamaker
You're trying to form a queue?
YoudSwearImAVirgin
You don't need the extra letters. Q will suffice.
LiarLiarPantsUntier
I find that highly unlikely.
ebonyfaery
Shame
Littledirtybirdyfeet
I bet if Americans were taught to be polyglots, they'd gain a more rounded understanding of language and raise their literacy skills in general.
Rips4w
"I bet if I picked up this burrito, I'd have a burrito."
Like, come on.
Banzai51
Not likely, as it would be mostly a pure academic exercise. We don't get the option to use all those languages on a regular basis.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
The US doesn't want intelligent citizens. They want obedient workers.
Salpinus
Their (functional) literacy rate is already shockingly low, your average American is on par with a 6th grader. They should probably learn English better first, before confusing them even further. Then again, learning multiple languages could perhaps increase their overall reading comprehension too I suppose
dirtmarker
We're disbanding our Department of Education. The last thing our leaders want is an educated proletariat
GravyEducation
I did that and it cost me a bunch of money and now I am really good at word talk but my money she is no good
KatInTheCorner
They try to teach us languages here but it's never about actually getting us to speak the language. Like everything else, it's basically teaching to the test. Also, an inordinate amount of it is written, not spoken, so it's not really useful in daily life.
I've learned more Spanish watching TV shows with English subtitles than I ever did in a classroom.
FukcTedCruz
Bro we are having trouble getting a grasp of one language...
Atlasguitar
I was required to take at least 2 language classes in order to graduate high school. However, they should be requiring it in kindergarten because young children have brains primed to absorb languages. It's harder to learn the older you get.
PectorialMuscles
By far the biggest issue with multi-lingualism isn't whether we're taught or not, at least in moderately progressive states, for instance: North Carolina and Virginia and better. We're required to take at least 2 languages and follow one into competency... But our country predominantly speaks TWO. English and Spanish, and most Spanish speakers here speak English. So we just lose our skills almost immediately after school. Like we all know some Spanish, but I'll be damned if I remember grammar.
nikored
To become fluent in a language, you really have to have someone to talk to or a reason to use it. With the exception of Spanish, or a tiny blip of French, Americans are an ocean away from any other language. Why did you think Europeans, who live very close to a wide variety of spoken languages, tend to learn more than one more often?
clarkWhogotsanity
Let's just get them to be able to read at a high school level first before we introduce language. NGL but if they brought book-it back but for adults I'd probably be at the books store way too often
Deggies
As a polyglot myself I'd say it did that, but it also made me more forgiving of the grammar mistakes of others.
PourMeAPuppersPlease
Americans are obsessed with themselves so this will sadly never happen
unluckyandbored
Most Americans can't even manage one language, let alone multiple.
Rips4w
You seem to have missed the part about the proposed teaching of said languages. I mean, the comment you're replying to is redundant and dumb as fuck already, but you managed to top it. Congratulations.
unluckyandbored
Bold of you to assume Americans are capable of learning. Most evidence would suggest otherwise.
Rips4w
How generalizing of you. Not quite the practice of the educated, however.
ThrockmortonTheSkateboarder
So, so many people in the US speak more than one language. But for some reason, US policymakers see this as a blemish.
GravyEducation
Hey cuz
whatsisname
Many schools have a second language as part of the curriculum, but it's really difficult for kids to really dig into it when the nearest e.g. German speaker is 4000 miles away. The guy in the video is able to do that because there are other speakers of those languages around.
swooniegirldragon
Strangely in my hugely rural american school in the 90s we had several refugee families from Africa & I think Pakistan. It was cool to learn their swear words.
AliceAndRabbit
Thank you. People talk how if you drive a few hours in Europe, you're in another country. If you drive those same hours in the Midwest, you're in another cornfield.
GravyEducation
But it's my favorite corn field :(
GravyEducation
Also correct. And it's unfortunate that students are restricted... well not always restricted but cannot be educated on... those different languages. It's not all French German and Spanish. More high schoolers need to be given the opportunity to explore more languages in America. I think I started middle school and chose German. Ausgezeichnet, aber we need to teach pidgin language more
DoctorWookie
Many schools will offer Japanese and other Asian languages if they have a teacher who can teach it. In Odessa, Texas, in the 90s, we had Japanese offered as well as one other language i can't remember what it was. But they only had six students total interested in it, that's at a school with over 3000 kids. Spanish was by far the top choice. Something like 15-20 sections across several teachers and 3 years. But Spanish is used daily in Texas, so it makes sense.
GravyEducation
Yep I've heard that's pretty much the reason they nix language programs, which like you said, nobody signs up. Spanish in the US is the most versatile but the problem is people take it then forget it. I mean if you have an entire afternoon I would grab a coffee with you and gripe about the US educational system. I'm lib arts so suck it math people, 1 + 1 = progress
LespritDeLescalier22
It most definitely would. But the US values obedient consumerism over intellect. I say this as an American.
Trankia12
Yup, most of us aren’t even good with English.
HippoTel
Korbin Dallas summed it up the best when he said, "Look, lady, I only speak two languages: English and bad English."
axiomatik
Almost every American student learns a foreign language in school. The difference is the ability to use the language outside of the classroom to gain fluency. Spanish is about the only viable alternative language where you could get everyday practice.
FormerlySable
No, depending on where one lives, there are immigrant communities where one can get plenty of practice interacting with folks who speak only Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmer, West African French, Dari and Pashto, Arabic, Haitian Creole, or even indigenous languages of Central & South America. The most common non-English language among students at the Dallas-area college where I used to teach was Vietnamese, not Spanish.
GordonFreeman59
I usually dismiss the "US is too big for " but you have a point here. I am lucky enough to live in a place where I can visit 6 countries in a 3 hours drive. Traveling is expensive and is class dependent. It's much harder to immerse yourself in a country's culture and language when you are poor in the US, or Canada (excluding french).
Littledirtybirdyfeet
I've never had a credit card, and I am 34; I wonder how many Americans can say the same.
Froggie243
I had to get one to raise my credit score to offset my early student loans. If it weren't for that, and needing the cushion for if I lot my job suddenly and couldn't pay the loans, I wouldn't have gotten a credit card when I did.
smugg77
im 55 and the only borrowing i ever done in my life is mortages never even had a phone contact if i cant afford it i dont buy it
Littledirtybirdyfeet
Yes, my aunt always says cash is king
RobodocCheese
The system is made so you have to have one. You have to build your credit number score to rent, to gets cars etc., it's such bullshit.... did you know that things like apartment shopping itself actually hurts your credit score? Fucking shell game shit.
Littledirtybirdyfeet
I have a 750 credit score without a credit card
CanIInterestYouInASarcasticComment
Credit score aside, having a credit card is just free money if you use it like a debit card. You can get between 1%-6% cash back on all purchases you make. I pay off my card with autopay every month, so I make a few hundred dollars per year for nothing. I’d recommend getting one in general.
RobodocCheese
That's awesome. Silly game that make us play.
spitfires2000
I would rather watch a movie in an original language I don't speak than listen to this dubbed shit in Germany.
7thor8thcaw
We watch a lot of foreign stuff in our house (recently: Dark, Train to Busan, Catla, etc) and it's always in the original language. I enjoy the dub for Dragon Ball, Cowboy Bebop and a few others, but original is, typically, way better.
corylusavellana
Subtitles are great, dubbing is always terrible. Sometimes we will watch something and someone will Oh we mus twatch this, it is narrated by Attenborough! but it's dubbed...
jon5465
I remember watching bienvenue chez les Chti in English dub when it first released… so much of the comedy fails to make the translation having now watched it in VO.
GordonFreeman59
I am a Chti and I am now very curious as to how they would even attempt to translate a comedy based on regional "dialect" in a foreign language. It seems like it's doomed from the start. I need to hear how that sounds
jon5465
Trust me you don’t. Also Dany Boons voice is terrible in eng.
GordonFreeman59
I feel like I really want to open that pandora box but I'm afraid it would change me in ways I cannot possibly imagine.
jon5465
tu devrais prendre la pilule bleue