There is no excuse for Americans to not learn Spanish at early age in school. There should be plenty native Spanish Teachers available. In fact here in germany we get access to spanish classes as early as middle school (not in every school though, but most). I bet USAs relationship with mexico would improve immensly and bring people closer to each other.
There are plenty of excuses not to learn Spanish early in school, especially outside of the American Southwest. Look at the research on retention, pay premium (or relative lack thereof compared to English, and against the opportunity costs), and studies on the effectiveness of learning languages at home compared to the classroom.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting at a restaurant in Paris, speaking in Slovak to my Czech friend who understands me perfectly, we both speak French to the waiter, we eavesdrop on the next table's conversation in English and overhear a few words with our limited knowledge of Italian from the couple across the room. And, of course, the waiter shouts the orders to the chef in Japanese, as it's a ramen restaurant. Then I come home and hear my roommate talking on the phone in Arabic. This is why I love Paris, there's such linguistic diversity. You do really hear tons of languages while going about your daily life, this situation literally happened yesterday!!
This has to be one of the biggest reasons that I LOVE to live in larger cities with people from all over the world. The cultural diversity is priceless. Learning new languages is awesome within itself but it also allows us to understand (on a whole other level) why and how people communicate and express themselves the way that they do etc. I love PARIS I hope you're having an amazing time there :) thanks for your comment! All the best -Cecily
As an American I find Europeans to be fascinating. They adapt to culture and languages so easily. They're seem like diverse people and the fact most can speak more than two languages is mind blowing lol
I'd feel so limited living in a single linguistic and cultural environment. Here is what my normal environment is. I'm a Frenchman but I live in Eastern Belgium. From home I can easily and quickly drive to four other countries, as it takes me 20 minutes to drive to Luxembourg, 30 minutes to Germany, an hour to France and 90 minutes to the Netherlands. All are check free borders within the EU. Obviously the German speak German, the French speak French and the Dutch speak Dutch. In Luxembourg (my most frequent cross border shopping spot) they use three languages, Luxembourgish, French and German. Luxembourgish is an interesting Germanic idiom with some French influence. Even if I stay in Belgium... I live in a French-speaking town, but my neighbors next town are German speakers (Ostbelgien) though many of them are bilingual German-French. As I live in a touristic area, we frequently see visitors from Northern Belgium, i.e. Flanders, who speak Fleimish, a Dutch dialect - as well as Dutch people who speak "real" Dutch. And of course cars with German or Luxembourgish license plates are nothing rare. So, it's natural to "switch" to adapt to the place I'm at, or the people I tallk to. I naturally speak fluent French (my mother tongue) and, as you can guess, I'm also fluent in English (I very recently retired from my job with an American employer) . I get along pretty well in German, and I have good notions of Dutch, and I can at least read basic Luxembourgish. Incidentally I also have basic notions of Spanish. Of course, not everyone in Europe lives in a multi-border area such as here, but that's not so rare either.
Every school in USA should have spanish a a mandatory language from elementary schools 3rd grade. From monday to friday atleast 1h lesson so the students hear it everyday.
Hence the joke, what's it called when you speak 2 languages, bilingual. With 3 languages trilingual. And only one? American. The low appreciation of other cultures and languages and it's not the case for Canada, also landlocked, probably no need to speak French on a daily basis, but still usefull.
Forcing people to learn languages they don't find useful or interesting is a lost cause. I have my own motivations for learning languages, but it's more of an intellectual fascination (I'm inspired by Tolkien) than a needed tool for adapting to my environment. Other people's strengths and interests lie elsewhere, and that's fine.
You want to see something super weird, look into how many high school students take computer science. On languages, the "US is the best" mantra doesn't encourage respect for others, the fact that the education system is focused on teaching kids how to get a job and not on providing an education is another factor. Neighbourhood segregation is a huge factor too, lots of US residents speak Spanish and normally you would expect kids to mingle and to learn the language and by now most people to speak both English and Spanish but that's not the case.
There is very little insentive to learn a different language when everyone else is trying to learn yours. If USA had the same sort of make up as Europe, then things would be different. But remember, USA is only one nation, not multiple like the EU. Therefore, they will naturally have a deep desire to learn another language because they will be able to use it for work, school or other requirements.
There is no excuse for Americans to not learn Spanish at early age in school. There should be plenty native Spanish Teachers available.
In fact here in germany we get access to spanish classes as early as middle school (not in every school though, but most).
I bet USAs relationship with mexico would improve immensly and bring people closer to each other.
There are plenty of excuses not to learn Spanish early in school, especially outside of the American Southwest. Look at the research on retention, pay premium (or relative lack thereof compared to English, and against the opportunity costs), and studies on the effectiveness of learning languages at home compared to the classroom.
No there is literally no reason for the US to learn Spanish. It’s irrelevant and shit language.
Just because someone speaks spanish, it doesn't make them necessarily a good candidate to bea teacher.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting at a restaurant in Paris, speaking in Slovak to my Czech friend who understands me perfectly, we both speak French to the waiter, we eavesdrop on the next table's conversation in English and overhear a few words with our limited knowledge of Italian from the couple across the room. And, of course, the waiter shouts the orders to the chef in Japanese, as it's a ramen restaurant. Then I come home and hear my roommate talking on the phone in Arabic. This is why I love Paris, there's such linguistic diversity. You do really hear tons of languages while going about your daily life, this situation literally happened yesterday!!
This has to be one of the biggest reasons that I LOVE to live in larger cities with people from all over the world. The cultural diversity is priceless. Learning new languages is awesome within itself but it also allows us to understand (on a whole other level) why and how people communicate and express themselves the way that they do etc. I love PARIS I hope you're having an amazing time there :) thanks for your comment! All the best -Cecily
@@CecilysPerspective what about the UK ? do they speak a second language there even though they are located in Europe ?
As an American I find Europeans to be fascinating. They adapt to culture and languages so easily. They're seem like diverse people and the fact most can speak more than two languages is mind blowing lol
I'd feel so limited living in a single linguistic and cultural environment. Here is what my normal environment is. I'm a Frenchman but I live in Eastern Belgium. From home I can easily and quickly drive to four other countries, as it takes me 20 minutes to drive to Luxembourg, 30 minutes to Germany, an hour to France and 90 minutes to the Netherlands. All are check free borders within the EU. Obviously the German speak German, the French speak French and the Dutch speak Dutch. In Luxembourg (my most frequent cross border shopping spot) they use three languages, Luxembourgish, French and German. Luxembourgish is an interesting Germanic idiom with some French influence. Even if I stay in Belgium... I live in a French-speaking town, but my neighbors next town are German speakers (Ostbelgien) though many of them are bilingual German-French. As I live in a touristic area, we frequently see visitors from Northern Belgium, i.e. Flanders, who speak Fleimish, a Dutch dialect - as well as Dutch people who speak "real" Dutch. And of course cars with German or Luxembourgish license plates are nothing rare. So, it's natural to "switch" to adapt to the place I'm at, or the people I tallk to. I naturally speak fluent French (my mother tongue) and, as you can guess, I'm also fluent in English (I very recently retired from my job with an American employer) . I get along pretty well in German, and I have good notions of Dutch, and I can at least read basic Luxembourgish. Incidentally I also have basic notions of Spanish. Of course, not everyone in Europe lives in a multi-border area such as here, but that's not so rare either.
Most people I know need to two or three jobs and at absolute most have like four hours of leisure time.
Crazy to think that English wasnt even the first language spoken in America
Should we do a Part two episode on the history of languages in the US?? Anyone who is intrigued like this comment to let me know!
@@CecilysPerspective A million times YESS!!
If I was eating at a restaurant, and someone called out on me for speaking Spanish, I would just switch to French LOL.
hehe it's easy to mix up all the languages in your head, especially if they're all latin based. The struggle is real!
Hiiii i live your videos, you’ve helped me sooo much with my language journey :)
Thank you for your SWEET comment, you've absolutely just made my day! I hope that you have a great weekend and keep pursuing your target language!
Every school in USA should have spanish a a mandatory language from elementary schools 3rd grade.
From monday to friday atleast 1h lesson so the students hear it everyday.
I've helped some American girls with their Spanish and it's exciting each time that they have a conversational level and are all into the culture.
Ooo I love this!! Excited for future episodes🤗
Merci BCP! I can't wait for what's to come :)
Hence the joke, what's it called when you speak 2 languages, bilingual. With 3 languages trilingual. And only one? American. The low appreciation of other cultures and languages and it's not the case for Canada, also landlocked, probably no need to speak French on a daily basis, but still usefull.
Forcing people to learn languages they don't find useful or interesting is a lost cause. I have my own motivations for learning languages, but it's more of an intellectual fascination (I'm inspired by Tolkien) than a needed tool for adapting to my environment. Other people's strengths and interests lie elsewhere, and that's fine.
Make a video on individualism in US vs other countries
On it captain! definitely adding this one to my notes ;)
You want to see something super weird, look into how many high school students take computer science.
On languages, the "US is the best" mantra doesn't encourage respect for others, the fact that the education system is focused on teaching kids how to get a job and not on providing an education is another factor. Neighbourhood segregation is a huge factor too, lots of US residents speak Spanish and normally you would expect kids to mingle and to learn the language and by now most people to speak both English and Spanish but that's not the case.
I see we annexed Flanders:) 1:52
I love your videos. Another great video. Do you speak English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese?
thank you you're too kind! I do indeed speak English, French, Spanish and i'm still at beginners level in Portuguese, but we're getting there :D
It's probably the same reason you only have 2 parties to choose from as a "democracy" but they both serve the same oligarchy
As an European watching this. It was funny
There is very little insentive to learn a different language when everyone else is trying to learn yours. If USA had the same sort of make up as Europe, then things would be different. But remember, USA is only one nation, not multiple like the EU. Therefore, they will naturally have a deep desire to learn another language because they will be able to use it for work, school or other requirements.