Although the US has an official language of English, you constantly hear people speaking different languages when having a night on the town or picking up your groceries. Just because the official language of one country is English it doesn't mean that all must know English, although it is highly suggested. It simply means that documents made through the government will be printed off in English or whatever the official language to that specific country is. If I was to move to Mexico and wanted to get my drivers license, I would have to fill out the forms in Spanish. Likewise for people coming from Mexico to the US. These language policies are enclosed in the politics of class, culture, economics, and ethnicity. They do not develop because of the quality of the language itself.
Although I didn't really like to learn these specific languages in high school, I did because basically it was required. But looking back, I feel as if it was the best thing for me. Job markets favor those who are bilingual and can speak two or more languages. Reading about language policies made me realize that it is important to know more than one language, even if you aren't completely fluent in any other languages. After reading this article I have considered going out on my own and attempting to learn a little or a lot of different languages. After all the constitution states all have the freedom of speech, so why not learn different languages, because different languages are going to be migrating to the US constantly.
Martin, J.N. & Nakayma, T.K. (2012). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th ed.) Boston, MA: McGraw Hill
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When I was young, I completely agreed about not wanting to learn another language. I thought it was pointless. But nowadays, I find myself being envious of bilingual school programs. My niece attends a school that integrates Spanish from day one. By the time she gets to high school, she'll be completely bilingual and be better prepared for the future. In the meantime, I struggle with learning basic Spanish now!
ReplyDeleteI had the same perspective in high school and now I realize that learning another language would have been really beneficial, not only for my future but with better communication with others.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to your comment about learning a foreign language in high school. I took Latin:) And yeah that's so useful today!
ReplyDeleteFor the blogs, make sure you are responding to the blog prompts directly. I will post these to the class blog when the learning unit becomes available. Make sure you read the prompt first and use that to construct your response.