The Ups and Downs of Speaking English

English usage and the role of English on the world stage have changed dramatically in my lifetime. In the 70's, when I was studying literature, educated people often sprinkled their writing with "big words" and the occasional French or Latin phrase. Just plain English was exactly that -- too plain.

At the same time, French was widely studied and spoken by educated people around the world, and many of the educated French were fighting hard to keep it "pure." If they had their way, they would eradicate "le parking" and "le weekend" from the French lexicon. Meanwhile, German was widely considered the language of science.

Colleges and universities provided crash courses in language study to fill the gaping hole in our elementary and secondary education. While Europeans typically spoke at least two languages in addition to their mother tongue, Americans were lucky to be fluent in English. Many of us lobbied hard to introduce language study in elementary schools (when it is the most effective) and sought ways to provide our children with language education outside schools.

For better or for worse, in the last 40 years, English has rapidly become the universal language. Multinational corporations typically require their professional employees to speak and read English competently. Shop clerks and waiters all over the world speak at least enough English to get by, making it less and less necessary for Americans to acquire a foreign language. See "The World's Languages, in 7 Maps and Charts."

The naysayers who argued against investing in language education gleefully say "I told you so" and yet... 


Language education seems on the rise. More and more school districts (at least where I live) are offering an immersion option for K - 6, usually in either Chinese or Spanish. And they are introducing language education (typically Spanish) for all elementary students. People are realizing that despite the prevalence of English, there is tremendous value in learning another language and culture. Much is lost if we always rely on the least-common-denominator passable English to express our thoughts.

In our increasingly diverse country, many children will be truly multilingual -- speaking fluent English with their friends and at school while speaking their mother tongue equally fluently at home with their immigrant parents. Science now tells us that multilingual children develop parts of their brain that will lie dormant in children with only one language. (See, for example, "The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual.") And the global economy will value language ability. So native speakers of American English need to step up and learn a second language or be left behind. And thankfully, our schools seem to be rising to the challenge. I look forward to the day when we in the US have widespread acceptance of the value of multilingualism instead of insistence that "we are exclusively an English-speaking country."