User:Jacoblumbroso
Jacoblumbroso
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Jacoblumbroso
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- Jacob Lumbroso
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- Dallas, Texas
- My passion is history, foreign policy, foreign languages, and foreign cultures. My interest in foreign languages is related to the history, culture, and unique experiences of countries around the world.
Foreign Languages: Challenges & Solutions Personal Page
A few years ago I heard a joke that went something like this:“What are you if you speak three languages? You’re trilingual. What about if you speak two? Then you’re bilingual. What about if you speak one? Then you’re an American.Another version replaces the trilingual and bilingual answers with different European nationalities. You guessed it. The final answer stays the same,an American.
My criticism of this joke lies partly in my intense love for the United States. As the son of an immigrant father, I know the opportunities that were provided to my father and to me. I am not rich, far from it, but I am very grateful for the freedom and opportunity I have experienced.
In any case, Europeans are known for speaking several foreign languages. Why is this a challenge for so many Americans? Is this criticism of Americans and our lack of fluency in other languages fair? I don’t believe that it is.
The reasons why Americans struggle with learning foreign languages is complicated. For an American studying foreign languages, the challenge can become daunting rather quickly. Unlike Europe with so many nations, the size and uniformity of the United States grants most Americans the ease of not having to learn another language out of sheer necessity. After all many American States are larger than many European countries in terms of size and population. Our Canadian neighbors to the north don’t provide a tremendous amount of linguistic diversity! Yes there is Quebec and the Quebecois, but this is an exception.
There is Mexico to the South however, and the influx of Spanish speakers is creating the need for many business owners, social workers, medical professionals, police officers, among others to learn Spanish. There is something to note in the case of Europe. Along with the throng of American companies( i.e. Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, Platiquemos, Foreign Service Institute, etc.) France has some of the advanced foreign language programs (i.e. Auralog and Assimil), yet also experiences challenges in achieving rate of language proficiency than in other European countries.
That being said, having achieved a uniformity in language in a country the size of the United States is remarkable. But it can also be a challenge as learning, practicing, and maintaining proficiency in a foreign language is for the most part less practical in the United States than in Europe where foreign languages are ubiquitous. In the United States, with the exception of Spanish, foreign languages are largely the domain of recent immigrant communities. With regards to immigrants and language, according to Robert Longley (About.com) writes that 47 million Americans speak another language at home. The majority of those are Spanish speakers.
The difficulties of adults learning foreign languages is an significant challenge, so selecting appropriate courses that will give proficiency, provide practical usage, in light of the average American’s busy work schedule (now the highest on average in the world), is critical.
In view of these challenges, I believe that the critical issue is to teach languages alongside the culture and history of the target foreign language. That is, my own study of various foreign languages originates from my interests in the cultures I have an interest in. For example my fascination with the history of the Roman Empire led me to purchase a Latin textbook. My interest in the Roman empire also led me to study about Celtic history, which you guessed it, led me to my interest in Gaelic languages. It may not work in every circumstance, but can certainly work to keep the student excited about what he or she is learning.
Jacob Lumbroso
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