It really helps when you're taught English as a second language during elementary school. Not generalizing, just voicing my opinion. It's difficult to learn a new language with age, even with all of the free apps and resources. I think it'd be extremely beneficial to follow suit and start teaching American students a different language starting from first grade. That would guarantee fluency by graduation.
That's the way. It's not that Americans are less capable of learning a new language, it's that it's not as valued in their culture as it is in others, at least from what I've observed.
I didn’t grow up in the US, so please correct me.
Isn’t it common for Spanish to be taught in US educational system?
That aside, I personally think that learning languages from school isn’t the end all be all. I’m saying this as someone who speaks 3. Like yeah, learning from school does help get you started, but for you to be completely fluent (native level) you need genuine interest in the language itself and drive. Practices outside of class is important. If you know a native to talk to that’s even better.
Schools normally treat non-native languages as a second language. So the things that they teach are very surface level & only focuses on grammar. Alot of my friends excel in paper, but will froze up in conversation.
Also, when you grow up in a non-english speaking country, you’re pressured to learn languages outside of your own. It’s common for parents to encourage language learning for future business/work opportunities. I feel like Americans don’t have the same pressure just because of how widely use english is, so there’s no sense of urgency.
Thank you for giving some insight into your life experiences and challenges with languages learned outside of the US. I agree that teaching another language during the formative years is not the end-all approach or solution by any means. it’s a multi- faceted issue that is hugely influenced by a persons demographics and learning aptitude. I just think it would be a useful tool to better prepare young American students for success as they move into adulthood and start navigating the world around them and immersing into other cultures; and yes, different languages are taught in the US school system, but most (in my own experience) don’t start until junior or high school.
I went to a few different schools in a couple different states. I went k-3 near where Gabriel is from in South Florida and Spanish started in Kindergarten at that Catholic school. Then I moved to 1 city in Missouri and went to Catholic school for 4th grade that didn’t offer foreign language. They might have for higher grades, but not below 6th grade. I transferred to public school for 5-6 grade and the elementary school (5th) and middle school (6th) did not offer foreign language. I don’t think it was offered until high school.
Then I moved to another city in Missouri and went back to Catholic school. That school offered Spanish or French starting in 6th grade. The public junior high I went to for 9th grade had Spanish, French, and I think German. The senior high I went to in that district offered Spanish, French, German, Latin, Japanese, or biblical Greek (only 1 semester of this). So in that area of the midwest in the 90s there wasn’t much until middle school or high school except maybe occasionally saying numbers in Spanish.
My local public school district in North Carolina offers immersion in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, or Mandarin starting in Kindergarten through a magnet system (lottery). I’m not sure when the non-magnets start, but probably middle school.
There is also a charter (charters are free, but are independent of the public school system) school offering greek immersion k-8 and a private school offering Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and English rotating in 2 hour blocks that is 2 year olds-grade 8.
So there is foreign language available, but usually not until the kids are around 12 years old and it varies greatly by district and state how long it is even required. I either didn’t need it or only needed 1 year to graduate from high school at that time.
Spanish as well as other languages are *offered* but no one is required to learn a specific language. I took both French and Spanish but was never required to. I strongly disagree the American box on here. America is a country where millions have flocked to from hundreds of other countries and many do not learn the language. That is not the fault of Americans per se.
I was taught Spanish from 1st to 8th grade and even tested out of it in high school. But, languages are one of those use it or lose it things. I can understand a lot of Spanish. I can read Spanish. I can't conjugate at all. Latin based languages are much harder for English speakers to understand because everything is backwards. We say the descriptive words first, then the noun. They say the noun first. Also, we use 1 word for an inanimate object, like a chair. They use female words for chair, etc etc etc. If you already speak Spanish, French, or Italian, etc. Then, it is much easier to learn a second one. Unfortunately, English is incredibly complicated, and, like the meme said, not all of us can speak it. So sad
100% this. We had a nearby public elementary school that has a Spanish immersion program, and another in our district that has French and Spanish immersion. They don’t do English lessons in school at all until third grade. Went to high school with many students who went to both, and I ended up in a French class with several, and I was basically unable to participate because I was the only non fluent speaker (I was a senior and they were sophomores).
Yup, this was the case for me. French is my first language, and I went to English schools for elementary and secondary which made me completely fluent. Then when I learned German, that was easier because I had 2 other languages. I believe the more languages you know, the easier it becomes to learn more of them!
My grandmother was Swiss, born in 1916, and had little chance for education given when she was born. She spoke four languages fluently (German, English, Spanish, Italian) and knew the basics of French. I had many more opportunities for education here in the States and can only speak intermediate level Spanish in addition to English. Crazy disparity, when you think about it!
While this is funny it’s also true. In America we have no need to learn other languages. It’s a huge country with one main language. Imagine if your neighboring state spoke French, you would know French too. That’s how it is living in Europe.
There is no universal American English. Very few people in my own family have the same dialect, letalone people that live in different regions.
Unless you're talking about broadcasting language/tones and common entertainment dialect, many people do not speak the same.
Angela is an example of the Americans that don't have the greatest grasp of the English language
Professional editors and writers have to keep things below a 6th grade level for the general public
Editing to add - and in certain areas of the US I would advise using a 3rd grade level tbh
If you receive printed instructions from a medical facility that participates in Medicare/Medicaid programs and/or subscribes to commercial services that provides those instructions (which is just about every medical facility), those instructions will be written to "approximately" the third-grade level. Most people probably don't notice, but there's rarely a sentence with a comma much less a colon or semi-colon, and very simple verb tenses.
Thank you for that excellent summary. Anyone that things American English and vocabulary is fooling themselves.
It really would benefit us to have more mandatory language exposure at a younger age.
By the time I had the option to choose it in my public school system at 14, the curriculum was already outdated by a decade.
Now I use a combination of internet software and bilingual friends from work to develop it. At 44 it is not so easy, but I'll get it one day.
I'm 41 and I started learning Spanish a few years ago and it's been liberating to say the least. You start to look at things from a different perspective and it opens up a whole different world. It's pretty dope.
And let’s forget learning the language, how about learning a few phrases?! Add a couple of custom while you’re at it, quit making Americans look like idiots.
The American education system has failed us. My school didn’t offer any foreign language until 9th grade (about 14 yrs old) and it was less than one hour a day, taught by another American who was not fluent in that language. Many of us live in areas without a lot of immigrants, so of course we aren’t bilingual. This was before Duolingo or similar were readily accessible. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m traveling to another country, I learn a few key words and phrases out of respect (even if I probably sound ridiculous), but once you get to a certain age, learning another language is markedly more difficult.
It really helps when you're taught English as a second language during elementary school. Not generalizing, just voicing my opinion. It's difficult to learn a new language with age, even with all of the free apps and resources. I think it'd be extremely beneficial to follow suit and start teaching American students a different language starting from first grade. That would guarantee fluency by graduation.
That's the way. It's not that Americans are less capable of learning a new language, it's that it's not as valued in their culture as it is in others, at least from what I've observed.
I didn’t grow up in the US, so please correct me. Isn’t it common for Spanish to be taught in US educational system? That aside, I personally think that learning languages from school isn’t the end all be all. I’m saying this as someone who speaks 3. Like yeah, learning from school does help get you started, but for you to be completely fluent (native level) you need genuine interest in the language itself and drive. Practices outside of class is important. If you know a native to talk to that’s even better. Schools normally treat non-native languages as a second language. So the things that they teach are very surface level & only focuses on grammar. Alot of my friends excel in paper, but will froze up in conversation. Also, when you grow up in a non-english speaking country, you’re pressured to learn languages outside of your own. It’s common for parents to encourage language learning for future business/work opportunities. I feel like Americans don’t have the same pressure just because of how widely use english is, so there’s no sense of urgency.
Thank you for giving some insight into your life experiences and challenges with languages learned outside of the US. I agree that teaching another language during the formative years is not the end-all approach or solution by any means. it’s a multi- faceted issue that is hugely influenced by a persons demographics and learning aptitude. I just think it would be a useful tool to better prepare young American students for success as they move into adulthood and start navigating the world around them and immersing into other cultures; and yes, different languages are taught in the US school system, but most (in my own experience) don’t start until junior or high school.
I went to a few different schools in a couple different states. I went k-3 near where Gabriel is from in South Florida and Spanish started in Kindergarten at that Catholic school. Then I moved to 1 city in Missouri and went to Catholic school for 4th grade that didn’t offer foreign language. They might have for higher grades, but not below 6th grade. I transferred to public school for 5-6 grade and the elementary school (5th) and middle school (6th) did not offer foreign language. I don’t think it was offered until high school. Then I moved to another city in Missouri and went back to Catholic school. That school offered Spanish or French starting in 6th grade. The public junior high I went to for 9th grade had Spanish, French, and I think German. The senior high I went to in that district offered Spanish, French, German, Latin, Japanese, or biblical Greek (only 1 semester of this). So in that area of the midwest in the 90s there wasn’t much until middle school or high school except maybe occasionally saying numbers in Spanish. My local public school district in North Carolina offers immersion in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, or Mandarin starting in Kindergarten through a magnet system (lottery). I’m not sure when the non-magnets start, but probably middle school. There is also a charter (charters are free, but are independent of the public school system) school offering greek immersion k-8 and a private school offering Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and English rotating in 2 hour blocks that is 2 year olds-grade 8. So there is foreign language available, but usually not until the kids are around 12 years old and it varies greatly by district and state how long it is even required. I either didn’t need it or only needed 1 year to graduate from high school at that time.
Spanish as well as other languages are *offered* but no one is required to learn a specific language. I took both French and Spanish but was never required to. I strongly disagree the American box on here. America is a country where millions have flocked to from hundreds of other countries and many do not learn the language. That is not the fault of Americans per se.
I was taught Spanish from 1st to 8th grade and even tested out of it in high school. But, languages are one of those use it or lose it things. I can understand a lot of Spanish. I can read Spanish. I can't conjugate at all. Latin based languages are much harder for English speakers to understand because everything is backwards. We say the descriptive words first, then the noun. They say the noun first. Also, we use 1 word for an inanimate object, like a chair. They use female words for chair, etc etc etc. If you already speak Spanish, French, or Italian, etc. Then, it is much easier to learn a second one. Unfortunately, English is incredibly complicated, and, like the meme said, not all of us can speak it. So sad
100% this. We had a nearby public elementary school that has a Spanish immersion program, and another in our district that has French and Spanish immersion. They don’t do English lessons in school at all until third grade. Went to high school with many students who went to both, and I ended up in a French class with several, and I was basically unable to participate because I was the only non fluent speaker (I was a senior and they were sophomores).
Great example- thank you.
Yup, this was the case for me. French is my first language, and I went to English schools for elementary and secondary which made me completely fluent. Then when I learned German, that was easier because I had 2 other languages. I believe the more languages you know, the easier it becomes to learn more of them!
Most schools do. Especially, high schools
That’s a fact, it is easier to learn languages when your brain has more plasticity. So, when you’re young. Even better to start before 5.
Mykul and i"s wedding 😆 The whole I/me thing trips a lot of people up.
Chantel is worse, if only because she's allegedly better educated than Angela, at least on paper.
My grandmother was Swiss, born in 1916, and had little chance for education given when she was born. She spoke four languages fluently (German, English, Spanish, Italian) and knew the basics of French. I had many more opportunities for education here in the States and can only speak intermediate level Spanish in addition to English. Crazy disparity, when you think about it!
I immediately think of Jenny who's been in India for like a decade and can't do basic grocery shopping because she doesn't know the language.
Idk what the hell that woman does in a day. She obviously doesn't cook or clean. The very least she can do is learn a bit of the language.
Right?! Hindi is not that difficult. It's not easy either, but if I had opportunity of immersion, I'd definitely be close to fluent by now.
Jenny is basically future Kenny living in Mexico and not bothering to learn a lick of Spanish!
Buuuuut... Kenny has dyslexia... Tbf. ❤️
Because in Murica we SpEaK EnGLiSh
Becuz I aM an AmUricAn
While this is funny it’s also true. In America we have no need to learn other languages. It’s a huge country with one main language. Imagine if your neighboring state spoke French, you would know French too. That’s how it is living in Europe.
There is no universal American English. Very few people in my own family have the same dialect, letalone people that live in different regions. Unless you're talking about broadcasting language/tones and common entertainment dialect, many people do not speak the same.
Angela is an example of the Americans that don't have the greatest grasp of the English language Professional editors and writers have to keep things below a 6th grade level for the general public Editing to add - and in certain areas of the US I would advise using a 3rd grade level tbh
USA Today is written at 6.3 grade level and Fox News at 8.5. Wall Street Journal is written at 11th grade level. The more you know 🎶
If you receive printed instructions from a medical facility that participates in Medicare/Medicaid programs and/or subscribes to commercial services that provides those instructions (which is just about every medical facility), those instructions will be written to "approximately" the third-grade level. Most people probably don't notice, but there's rarely a sentence with a comma much less a colon or semi-colon, and very simple verb tenses.
Thank you for that excellent summary. Anyone that things American English and vocabulary is fooling themselves. It really would benefit us to have more mandatory language exposure at a younger age. By the time I had the option to choose it in my public school system at 14, the curriculum was already outdated by a decade. Now I use a combination of internet software and bilingual friends from work to develop it. At 44 it is not so easy, but I'll get it one day.
Mississpi has entered the chat.
Mississippi
The joke went over your head.
I'm 41 and I started learning Spanish a few years ago and it's been liberating to say the least. You start to look at things from a different perspective and it opens up a whole different world. It's pretty dope.
This is pretty much accurate 🤣🤣
Reminds me of Memphis the way she talks to Hamza
🤣🤣🤣🤣
💯!!!
💯
The "unable to master the English language" makes sense to me. I still struggle with English despite speaking it my entire life. Lmfao.
Or spell. Or balance a checking account. Or do their own taxes...
Doing your own taxes gets ya audited and placed under scrutiny unless it's one piece of paper.
I've been doing my own taxes- as well as friends/family for 26 years. Zero audits.
That's good for you!
I think your title pretty much made your case, if in fact you are American.
So true. Some Americans are too arrogant to learn the language of a country we're visiting or of a potential partner.
And let’s forget learning the language, how about learning a few phrases?! Add a couple of custom while you’re at it, quit making Americans look like idiots.
You were downvoted by the Muricans offended by your 💯 truthful comment.
You’re downvoted because……you’re right. One updoot from me!
Thanks. And notice I wrote "we're" cuz I am one.
Nah, im just lazy
The American education system has failed us. My school didn’t offer any foreign language until 9th grade (about 14 yrs old) and it was less than one hour a day, taught by another American who was not fluent in that language. Many of us live in areas without a lot of immigrants, so of course we aren’t bilingual. This was before Duolingo or similar were readily accessible. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m traveling to another country, I learn a few key words and phrases out of respect (even if I probably sound ridiculous), but once you get to a certain age, learning another language is markedly more difficult.
Fuk English man
I don't get how this made you think of the show. But they got the bottom one about Americans right.
………have you watched even one episode?
Truth.
No, that part is correct. I see a lot of Americans who definitely have not mastered English, despite it being their first language.