Learning Foreign Languages in Other Countries vs. in the U.S.
I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunities to travel either with LACC (my choir) or my school to other countries, and through these experiences, I have noticed how the people of other countries tend to spend way more time either learning one or more foreign languages. The reason the emphasis that many other countries have on learning other languages struck me as unusual is because so many people here in the U.S. do not have that same value and typically prioritize other subjects like math or science over the foreign languages. Even at my own school, I have noticed that most of my classmates prioritize their other classes over their the foreign language class, and many stop taking a language as soon as they fulfill their required 3 years of taking a foreign language. This attitude of not caring about learning other languages (or at least de-prioritizing them) was so different than the attitude of kids (both my age and younger) from other countries. I am now going to describe the different attitudes towards learning foreign languages from a couple of the countries I have traveled to (please keep in mind that what I'm going to write about these countries are solely based off of my experiences/observations traveling to these countries, so others might have different opinions than I do).
Nicaragua:
I visited Jinotega, Nicaragua in the spring of 2017. I volunteered with Outreach 360, an organization dedicated to teaching children English. Nicaragua is a developing country that typically has less money and resources than the U.S. As a result, a lot of children help their parents by working either during the mornings or during the afternoons to earn money for their families, which limits the amount of time they are in school (if they are able to go at all). Also, the kids do not always have the opportunity to learn another language (like English) in school, so organizations like Outreach 360 are that much more important. The kids that go to Outreach 360 classes choose to give up some of their time to learn English. English provides many of these kids with the chance to have better opportunities in the future, which is why many of the kids are so motivated to learn English. Some of the opportunities may include jobs (because they might get job offers at hotels, international companies, etc.) or even educational opportunities in the form of scholarships (some scholarships are provided to kids from countries like Nicaragua with the main stipulation being that they speak English).
Argentina:
In June of 2018, I went on my school's exchange program to Córdoba, Argentina. Since my host girl's school does not teach a strong English program at her age level, she attends "British school," where she takes many English classes and tests in order to learn the language. There was clearly a huge desire amongst the students there to learn English. While my host student was in her English classes at "British" (their nickname for the school), I sat outside the classroom and talked to some of the other students who were on break. All of the kids there took English very seriously and tried to practice speaking it with me. I had a 10 minute conversation in English with these three 13-yr-old girl and a 12-yr-old boy, all of whom were eager to learn more about me and the U.S. And, I found that the urge to learn English was not limited to students at that English school. While my host girl was taking a dance class, some of the members of the dance school also tried practicing their English with me. During one of my conversations there, they also revealed that not only are they learning English but also other languages like French. Meanwhile, the kids from the school I was visiting (called el colegio San Martin) typically took classes in Spanish, Hebrew (because it's a Jewish school), and English. Although English was generally the most popular second language to learn, I learned that many kids tried to learn more than just 2 languages (it was the norm with many of the students I interacted with). This desire to learn multiple languages definitely felt very different to me, as many Americans tend to undervalue learning foreign languages.
Norway:
I visited Norway on a LACC tour in July of 2018. There I typically found that Norwegians knew at least 3-4 languages (but usually more). In a country like Norway, where not many foreigners know Norwegian, I definitely can see the value in learning multiple languages (how else are you supposed to communicate with neighboring countries?). It was relatively normal to run into a Norwegian that spoke Norwegian, English, Danish, Swedish, or some other language from a nearby European country.
Iceland:
While on my 2018 LACC tour (the same one that went to Norway), I got to visit Iceland. Because Iceland has such a small population (only slightly above 300,000 people), the norm for most of the local kids is to learn a ton of languages in order to interact with people from neighboring countries or tourists that visit Iceland. Some Icelandic schools teach kids their first foreign language at age 11 and then add multiple others at age 12, 13, and so on. Plus, since most Icelandic adults can speak other languages (especially English), many kids hear multiple languages at home, which helps them pick up those same languages. While I was on tour, I talked to a girl from a local choir who was fluent in Icelandic, English, Danish, Norwegian, and semi-fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and a couple other languages.
While I wish I (and my fellow Americans) knew as many foreign languages as the people from Norway or Iceland, I understand why most people from the U.S. do not feel that same push to learn one or more foreign languages. By traveling to many different countries, I have realized how fortunate I am to know English, as the common theme I have gathered from my travels is that many people from other countries know or are learning English. That being said, I still believe that learning foreign languages should be a higher priority to Americans (or at least the students at my school), for we should not have to rely on people from other countries to know English in order to communicate with them. Plus, as I learned by traveling to a developing country like Nicaragua, most of the people from that country did not know much (if any) English, so relying on other people to know English will most likely only work if you are in more developed countries (like Norway).
Nicaragua:
A group of Nicaraguan kids practicing their English vocabulary at an Outreach 360 class |
I visited Jinotega, Nicaragua in the spring of 2017. I volunteered with Outreach 360, an organization dedicated to teaching children English. Nicaragua is a developing country that typically has less money and resources than the U.S. As a result, a lot of children help their parents by working either during the mornings or during the afternoons to earn money for their families, which limits the amount of time they are in school (if they are able to go at all). Also, the kids do not always have the opportunity to learn another language (like English) in school, so organizations like Outreach 360 are that much more important. The kids that go to Outreach 360 classes choose to give up some of their time to learn English. English provides many of these kids with the chance to have better opportunities in the future, which is why many of the kids are so motivated to learn English. Some of the opportunities may include jobs (because they might get job offers at hotels, international companies, etc.) or even educational opportunities in the form of scholarships (some scholarships are provided to kids from countries like Nicaragua with the main stipulation being that they speak English).
Argentina:
In June of 2018, I went on my school's exchange program to Córdoba, Argentina. Since my host girl's school does not teach a strong English program at her age level, she attends "British school," where she takes many English classes and tests in order to learn the language. There was clearly a huge desire amongst the students there to learn English. While my host student was in her English classes at "British" (their nickname for the school), I sat outside the classroom and talked to some of the other students who were on break. All of the kids there took English very seriously and tried to practice speaking it with me. I had a 10 minute conversation in English with these three 13-yr-old girl and a 12-yr-old boy, all of whom were eager to learn more about me and the U.S. And, I found that the urge to learn English was not limited to students at that English school. While my host girl was taking a dance class, some of the members of the dance school also tried practicing their English with me. During one of my conversations there, they also revealed that not only are they learning English but also other languages like French. Meanwhile, the kids from the school I was visiting (called el colegio San Martin) typically took classes in Spanish, Hebrew (because it's a Jewish school), and English. Although English was generally the most popular second language to learn, I learned that many kids tried to learn more than just 2 languages (it was the norm with many of the students I interacted with). This desire to learn multiple languages definitely felt very different to me, as many Americans tend to undervalue learning foreign languages.
Norway:
I visited Norway on a LACC tour in July of 2018. There I typically found that Norwegians knew at least 3-4 languages (but usually more). In a country like Norway, where not many foreigners know Norwegian, I definitely can see the value in learning multiple languages (how else are you supposed to communicate with neighboring countries?). It was relatively normal to run into a Norwegian that spoke Norwegian, English, Danish, Swedish, or some other language from a nearby European country.
Iceland:
While on my 2018 LACC tour (the same one that went to Norway), I got to visit Iceland. Because Iceland has such a small population (only slightly above 300,000 people), the norm for most of the local kids is to learn a ton of languages in order to interact with people from neighboring countries or tourists that visit Iceland. Some Icelandic schools teach kids their first foreign language at age 11 and then add multiple others at age 12, 13, and so on. Plus, since most Icelandic adults can speak other languages (especially English), many kids hear multiple languages at home, which helps them pick up those same languages. While I was on tour, I talked to a girl from a local choir who was fluent in Icelandic, English, Danish, Norwegian, and semi-fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and a couple other languages.
While I wish I (and my fellow Americans) knew as many foreign languages as the people from Norway or Iceland, I understand why most people from the U.S. do not feel that same push to learn one or more foreign languages. By traveling to many different countries, I have realized how fortunate I am to know English, as the common theme I have gathered from my travels is that many people from other countries know or are learning English. That being said, I still believe that learning foreign languages should be a higher priority to Americans (or at least the students at my school), for we should not have to rely on people from other countries to know English in order to communicate with them. Plus, as I learned by traveling to a developing country like Nicaragua, most of the people from that country did not know much (if any) English, so relying on other people to know English will most likely only work if you are in more developed countries (like Norway).
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