Article Categories

»	Arts & Entertainment
»	Automotive
»	Business
»	Careers & Jobs
»	Education & Reference
»	Finance
»	Food & Drink
»	Health & Fitness
»	Home & Family
»	Internet & Online Businesses
»	Miscellaneous
»	Self Improvement
»	Shopping
»	Society & News
»	Sports & Recreation
»	Technology
»	Travel & Leisure
»	Writing & Speaking

Reprint Article Code

Category: Articles » Education & Reference » Language » Article » Article Code

What do you call someone who only speaks one language? American!

Ok, so the title of this article is a little harsh. And it could've been rephrased lots of ways. In fact, people from Australia, Britain and New Zealand are just as guilty as Americans when it comes to only speaking their native language, yet expecting foreigners to learn English. When I was in Europe earlier this year, I was amazed at the number of people who spoke "a little English". I say this because that's what they considered their English to be like, even though we could converse all night without any major troubles. And it wasn't just ... read more

Article Title:

Article Body:

When I was in Europe earlier this year, I was amazed at the number of people who spoke "a little English". I say this because that's what they considered their English to be like, even though we could converse all night without any major troubles. And it wasn't just English a lot of these people learnt. I remember having a conversation with a man from Belgium in German and English. He was able to speak another two languages on top of this. There was another guy from Finland who spoke Finnish, English, Swedish, German and Japanese!

I've never met an Australian who spoke this many languages. Actually, apart from people whos parents come from overseas, I've never met an Australian who spoke two languages fluently. Let alone four or five languages! Why is this? Do these dastardly Europeans have some special genetic advantage over the rest of us? Of course not. I think it is partly due to culture and partly due to teaching.

In Europe, you are constantly exposed to other languages. This constant exposure makes it easier to pick up a second language. Imagine being able to practise German on a daily basis? This is very hard to do in countries like Australia or America. It is also usual for many Europeans to speak a couple of languages. It would be thought of as unusual to find a Dutchman who didn't speak English, for example.

In the United States, it's just not a normal thing to want to learn a language fluently. People are focused on other things. So, culture does play a large role in wanting to learn a language. Another factor is the teaching. I myself spent 5 years in high school learning Japanese, however, I was able to speak much better German after just spending maybe 20 hours listening to audio cds. Learning a language at school is often thought of as a painful experience and something that students no longer want to consider after they are no longer forced into doing it.

Something else I'd like to see changed is the general attitude of some non-European Westerners. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard "Well, they speak English, so why should we bother to learn XXXX" I wouldn't be here writing now! I think it's a shocking attitude and one that won't get you anywhere. If anything, just because a certain people have learnt English, you should want to learn their language more.

I really hope that has changed the way some of you think about learning a language. It doesn't have to be torture anymore, with all the great resources available these days. Visit my site to find reviews of the best ones out there.

Author Bio:

Some other recently published language articles

How to Learn Bahasa Malaysia? by Wan Yee
Or rather, how to learn Bahasa Malaysia as a standard language instead of being contented speaking the very easy Creole Malay? ...

How demanding are intensive week-end or summer courses? by Rick Martin
People of all ages find it easier to learn English or further study English language and literature through intensive week-end or summer courses. The thick unexciting books ...

How to simply learn Spanish? by Patrick Clark
o learn Spanish, you could go to college spend a lot of money and you could earn a degree in the language. At the end you would be very fluent. But, ...

Why learn to speak Spanish? by Patrick Clark
Because it is the fastest growing language in america right now. With the Latin American population expending, being able to speak a ...

Learn Chinese! by Gong Mo Tai
Essential Chinese Have you ever wanted to learn Chinese? Don't know where to start or tried products that promise fluency and give you about 10 phrases? ...

Motivating Young Children to Learn English: Keeping Their Attention without Giving Them Gifts by Shelley Vernon
Young children are often eager, almost too eager. The problem arises when they are eager to do things other than what you're trying to ...

Publisher Guidelines

You may reprint this article electronically in your newsletter or on your website, free of charge.

If you reprint this article from our site, then you must keep everything intact. This includes the articles title, author name, articles body, authors bio / resource box, the links contained within the article, all copyright notices and the link pointing back to our site. All links within the article must also be made active / hyperlinks.