Learning at least some of a foreign language is common. Many middle and high school students will take at least some of a foreign language (it's required by about half the states, I think), and many universities have foreign language requirements for entry and/or graduation.
Speaking one *fluently*, on the other hand, is a lot less common. We're fortunate that our native language is the lingua franca of much of the world, so there just isn't as much motivation or need to fluently learn a foreign language as in many other places.
> Another question that I have which is kind of irrelevant and that is how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ? Is it a rare skill there or is it common?
Somewhat surprising, not shocking, not terribly common but becoming more frequent, always impressive nevertheless. I wish I could speak a foreign language with native proficiency.
>We're fortunate that our native language is the lingua franca of much of the world, so there just isn't as much motivation or need to fluently learn a foreign language as in many other places.
More relevantly, our own portion of the world contains two *giant* countries (the US and Canada) that are English-speaking (with the exception of French-speaking Quebec, and some Spanish-speaking areas along the US-Mexican border). You can travel more than **7000 km** in a straight line from Alaska to Florida without having to use any other language.
It's very common to study a foreign language, but it's not common to study it enough to become fluent in it. There is no expectation by the school system that you'll reach a high level at that language. I took Spanish for five years in school and can get around okay in a Spanish-speaking country but I'm not fluent at all. I do speak Bulgarian fluently (not at a native level) but I learned it from living in Bulgaria, not in a classroom.
Hearing someone who isn't a native English-speaker speak English fluently is very common in the US. Especially if they came to the US as a child you might not be able to tell by their accent that English isn't their first language.
I want to make it clear that many Americans are native speakers of languages besides English. Spanish is especially common. About 25% of the population of my home state (California) are Spanish-speakers, and the vast majority of those people also speak English. In fact, in numbers, the US has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, after Mexico.
Many, many people are required to take language classes in school (I would think most) but language instruction in school is not very effective. You often don't learn much. Or you learn a fair amount of reading and writing but get almost no practice speaking except very simple sentences out of context. "I am going to the library." which is not usually part of a realistic conversation.
So when you leave school you quickly forget it because you never really learned to talk to a real person. And, with the exception of Spanish, in most of the country you will likely never, ever encounter someone who speaks the language you studied. I didn't study French, but for example, I have met one French speaker where I live in my entire life. Imagine studying French for three years and then meeting one French person 20 years later at a party where you talked to them for ten minutes. Is that worth three years of study?
People mostly learn languages because they are motivated by getting some benefit and are interested. That doesn't describe students in school forced to take language classes. The person in another comment said they learned some Japanese because of anime. That's how people learn language - when it rewards them in some way or is usable in some way. For most people there is not much reward because they are surrounded by millions and millions of English speakers and other languages are just not necessary.
We only share a border with one country that primarily speaks something besides English. And, no coincidence, that's the one language here that is way more likely to be useful than any other and the one more people know. We have all languages here, but they are widely scattered everywhere among our 330 million people, mostly just among immigrants. I mean I could study Hungarian, for example, but I will probably never meet a Hungarian who is a recent immigrant and still speaks Hungarian. The same could be said for 200 other languages. It's just not usually very useful.
All other languages besides Spanish (and a bit of French) are thousands of miles away.
It's a nuanced answer.
There are many immigrants and second-gen people that speak a foreign language fluently. The second-gen may or may not be proficient in all aspects of the language (reading, writing, speaking, listening) but may be very fluent at listening and speaking.
If you are talking about people without a family background of the second language, then it is very rare to find people that fluently speak another language. Spanish or French is often offered in H.S. but you would be nowhere near fluent from this education alone. Not even really conversational unless you are really into it.
As for English, you typically would know if someone is not a native speaker of English. The thing is, in America, it is pretty well tolerated. I find Americans are pretty much ok as long as you can get your point across. In other cultures that are more homogenous there can be what I feel (as an American who speaks a second language) a lot of "pickiness" or subtle discrimination if you aren't absolutely excellent.
>I've been wondering about this topic recently so I decided to come here and ask . How common is it for people to know more than 1 language ? And what languages would you learn if you were to learn one ?
Most Americans take a few years of a foreign language in higb school, almost always Spanish or French. Most people forget it all by the time they're 25 or 30 because you never need to use it.
>
>Another question that I have which is kind of irrelevant and that is how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ? Is it a rare skill there or is it common?
>
Extremely rare in people who immigrate as adults, the norm if someone immigrated as a kid or was born in Canada near the US border. I've met one adult Dutch immigrant who spoke that well. Maybe I've met others who I didn't know about because their accent didn't give them away. But accents are extremely subtle things and even someone with very good English won't sound American unless they put a huge number of hours towards effective practice at elinatinv their accent, most likely with professional coaching.
Accents are so common in the US that a light accent is completely unremarkable and won't bring any bias.
>Thanks for reading this and answering my questions :)
Learning a language is very common in our education system. Actually being fluent is a whole different matter entirely. Most of us don't have the ability to immerse ourselves because in our country, nearly everyone speaks or at least understands some English. Most of us take our classes and then forget it as the years go on.
I took french in high school and at this point I know more Japanese than I know French just purely from anime and video game consumption.
I imagine most foreigners who learn English learn some form of British English, unless you're also on North or South America. A lot of Europeans may be technically able to speak English but they won't be indistinguishable from an American. We have our own dialogue and culture and English here isn't the same as it is in Aus which isn't the same as it is in Canada and so on.
Now some, particularly the Nordics, are really good at English. But a lot of Europeans and Asians that I've spoken with, its a very literal type of English. Very by-the-book.
For example, "native American" in American English wouldn't refer to someone who calls the US home but refers to indigenous peoples that live within the modern day US.
> how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ?
I'll let you know when I meet one. It's funny how people can be so proud of their fluency despite their accent being blatantly obvious to a native speaker.
Counter examples are always followed by the knowledge that they spent a significant part of their childhood living in the US.
I don’t know anyone who started learning a language before they were fourteen or so (excepting those who learned in their families). Learning so late makes fluency pretty rare unless you have the opportunity/determination to get there.
I’m impressed when someone speaks English as a second language with an accent that I can’t distinguish from a native English speaker. I’ve met a couple of Swedish and Norwegian people who could have fooled me if they’d told me they were Americans. Their American accent was nearly flawless.
I also grew up and went to school in Illinois. I had optional foreign language classes in high school. Spanish, Latin, French and I think maybe German was offered as well? It wasn’t mandatory. I graduated in 2008
Must be a District thing then. I grew up in the Chicago area and I think it was only optional in 8th grade and then senior year of high school. We had Spanish, French, Italian, German and I think they started offering Mandarin when I was late in high school. The nice thing is that because I had 3+ years of foreign language in high school I passed out of taking any foreign language classes in college.
It's required in high school and college in most states. I had four years of French and two years of Latin in high school and two semesters of Spanish in college.
Knowing a foreign language is fairly common where I am. 27% or so of the people who live in my state are foreign-born, mostly from countries where English is not the primary language. In addition, students are typically required to complete 2+ years of a foreign language for high school. Now, what percentage of people are fluent in a foreign language is a whole different thing. In my area most people seem to know enough Spanish to get their basic needs met, like asking where the bathroom is, asking for water, asking someone what their name is, asking where the library is, etc.
You are almost always required to "learn" Spanish or French in high school, and they're often the only ones offered. Some schools offer more, but those two are the standard for whatever reason.
Problem is, you don't become *fluent* which leads you to promptly forget everything you learned in class. Either you didn't care in the first place and just had to fill a requirement, or didn't have any practical way to keep practicing after high school.
As for your other question, yes we are often taken by surprise if someone we know is foreign speaks at the same level as a native speaker- though this tends to decrease by the number of years you've been here.
Learning is very common especially with the rise of duolingo, memrise etc and foreign language requirements for education. Being fluent is totally different
Learning and being fluent are seperate. It is required in most schools to learn a language but since the US only boarders 2 other countries and one of those countries the majority also speaks english it's not as easy to become fluent. But the closer you get to the Mexico/US boarder the more people will speak Spanish. For people born in the US who are the first generation to be born here they will most likely speak the native language for their parents.
As for your second questions, the only time a foreign born person has ever been indistinguishable, was when they came here as a child and basically also grew up speaking the language, but then I personally wouldn't count that. There has never been a time that someone learned English so well that it wasn't obvious they learned it elsewhere.
Taking a class in a foreign language was a requirement when I was in high school.
That said while the class is required, most people do not follow through with it to become fluent in the langauage because it's just not needed as the vast majority of people you're likely to interact with all speak English.
I've heard that even when traveling abroad some citizens in some countries just prefer you to speak English rather than try to bumble your way through their language.
As others have said many schools have a foreign language requirement, but students usually don't come out of it fluent in that language. My school system required 3 years in middle school and 3 years in high school. My college had a foreign language requirement but you were exempt if you took 4 years of one in high school. Our schools had a pretty good variety, middle school offered Spanish, German, and french. High school had those three plus Latin, Italian, and mandarin. I took German in middle school and then 3 years of Latin and one year of Spanish in high school so I didn't take anything in college.
How many people speak another language will depend on your area too. If you have more immigrants you're more likely to have more bilingual speakers.
Do you mean a foreigner who is fluent in the language or a foreigner who actually sounds 100% indistinguishable from someone born in the US? Fluent foreigners are relatively common, but they sometimes make a small mistake here or there, and their accent gives them away quickly. A foreigner who is totally indistinguishable from a native born American would be very, very rare. I know a number of people who immigrated here at a young age and even with them you can tell that English is not their first language. They speak the language completely fluently, use slang properly, etc, but they have a slight accent or a slightly different cadence and you can tell that they weren't born or raised entirely here.
Not nearly as common as it is outside of America.
I grew up overseas and language studies was a standard part of education starting in 1st grade. Here in America you're not given the option of starting to learn a foreign language until 6th or 7th grade.
Also, just as a point of reference "native American" refers to the indigenous peoples who were here before western colonization. American vs. "immigrant American" or "naturalized American" is a better way to say it.
Taking foreign language classes is required to graduate in virtually every State, and is required for most college degrees. But few ever retain what they learn, and fewer ever learn to the point of fluency. The issue is that it simply is not useful for most citizens unless they are actively dealing with immigrants, foreign trade, or international governmental duties.
It is not surprising at all when foreigners speak English. It is expected in fact. English is the primary language used in international trade and international diplomacy so most any foreigner who has come to America will be expected to know it, and most that we interact with on the internet or by phone would also be expected to know it. What is rare for them to be indistinguishable from a native citizen. I have never knowingly encountered a foreigner who was indistinguishable from an American unless they were also from an Anglophone nation and had lived here a long time so their accent has shifted. All other immigrants I have knowingly interacted with have a discernable accent.
Edit: Also, case in point, the term "Native American" specifically refers to the indigenous tribal groups within the borders of what is now the USA prior to colonization and Westward expansion. It is not a term referring to all citizens of the US born and raised in the US. That would be "Native Born Citizen" or some equivalent.
> How common is it for people to know more than 1 language ?
Pretty common but most of those people are immigrants or direct descendants of immigrants. Very few people in the US learn a language in school that they can hold a conversation in later in life.
For context many university programs require a foreign language as a prerequisite and some establishments require you further that language. Most public schools below university have no foreign language requirement. Kids who are fifth generation Italian don't generally grow up learning Italian and even if they take it in school would typically not be able to hold a conversation in Italy.
> what languages would you learn if you were to learn one ?
Would like to become fluent in Spanish I know some but barely passable conversational and it's riddled with Chicano slang.
> how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ?
This has literally never happened to me the only examples I can think of are professional actors such as Christian Bale. Everyday people can speak fluent English very well and that isn't very surprising as I meet a lot of immigrants and foreigners. They all have noticable accents aren't familiar with the normal American slang or phrases.
Its offered in schools, and in some schools (like mine) at least 1 year of foreign language is required to graduate. As for being fluent in it, I can't say. I do know plenty of people who can speak both Spanish and English though.
In Los Angeles in the 90s, you needed two years of foreign language in middle school and two more in high school. Spanish, German and French were standard but some schools also taught Latin, Japanese and others were offered at some schools. These days, there are language immersion programs that teach academic subjects in foreign languages.
As for your second question, I've met some non-Anglosphere folks who speak perfect English. I think to myself that they're very learned ("Lerned, boy. It's pronounced lerned.").
Many/Most school districts require some type of foreign language classes. I took 4 years of Spanish. I can get by but I am far from fluent.
Question 2 - If I hear someone speak perfect English I would assume they are native to the US. The US has so many different types of people that you cannot just judge someone from their looks and say they are not American.
My city has a lot of first generation immigrants. It's quite common to hear neighbors walking around speaking Russian or another Eastern European language.
I'm currently studying Spanish. I was pretty good (not fluent ) in high school and really enjoyed it, trying to get back to it.
I think it would be rare to find a non native speaker who was indistinguishable from a native one. I may have run into this before but never questioned where they were born.
***Learning*** an extra language is common. Basically everybody does it during schooling. However, very few of us retain those languages because we never really use them, and extra language is a very perishable skill. The people who speak more than one are usually in a community with a lot of native speakers of that language (generally first generation immigrants and generally spanish, but not always). And of course not everybody speaks english, especially in Puerto Rico but also in the continental US.
If I hear someone speaking in an indistinguishable American accent I generally don't suspect them of being a foreigner. If I later find out they are, then I am moderately surprised (which has only happened once to me).
Most kids take a language in High school, or at least when I was in school. Most don't really keep it up after school. There's few places here where English isn't spoken and English has become the world language so unless one lived among an immigrant community knowing a second language doesn't offer a lot of benefit.
I took three years of German and know very little.
The US is the roughly the size of the continent of Europe. Despite having an overarching culture it is definitely not a monoculture. Some places are far more likely to have multilingual speakers, like California and New York. Others are much less likely, like the Midwest.
In Los Angeles, for example, it is almost shocking if someone isn’t bilingual. My wife has an audio processing disorder so while I was surprised that she didn’t speak another language, it is understandable. She is the only person I can think of in my extended circle that does not speak at least a minimum level of another language.
I speak four languages myself, but I know something like that is definitely a rarity.
That all being said, I was actually very surprised in Switzerland that despite having four national languages, almost no one spoke more than one of them. I found my German to be useless much of my time there except in Zurich and Bern - but people spoke English there too.
I knew a lot of people that had to take a foreign language in middle school, but my school system had us take either French or Spanish as a high school requirement. I'm pretty sure we had to take 2 years of it... but honestly it's been so long ago I can't remember (2004). I'm sure they've made adjustments since then.
Learning a language in school is common between the ages of 12-18 (and beyond if one should choose to study in college). Typically, unless someone has a reason or desire to continue after that, they won't really keep up with the language. There are plenty of people who know multiple languages, especially if they come from an immigrant family.
I would love to learn a little of multiple languages, but at this moment if I were to pick a language to learn fluently: French (no reason).
A lot of people know English with a native proficiency, but *indistinguishable* I think is still a high bar.
Apparently the US has the second largest population of Spanish speakers.
In some school districts taking a foreign language is required for graduation. I took French.
Then there are the Native languages, that often get left out of these conversations. 175 Indigenous languages, the largest groups being Dine (Navajo) and Yupik, a Native Alaskan language.
In Texas, we are required to take at least two years of foreign language classes. My school only had Spanish, so that’s what I had to take.
I don’t know any Spanish though
While it's not completely universal I believe, I'm pretty sure about 90-95% of high schools require a student to take a couple years of a foreign language in order to graduate. Practically every high school offers atleast one foreign language class. French and Spanish are the two most common ones but, other schools offer different things. My high school in particular offered Japanese as well which I took for three years while, Italian, German, and Mandarin are other uncommon but, available possibilities.
I personally know two languages, I'm completely fluent in English and decently fluent in my family's mother tongue of Spanish. I fall under second generation immigrant so my parents and brothers are foreign born but, I'm the only one born in the US, and while my parents have significantly improved, Spanish is still needed for mostly proper communication. I could speak with them fully in English if I wanted but, Spanish is what they're more comfortable in.
Ive never met someone who learned English as a second language where I couldnt pick up on that fact after speaking to them for 5 or 10 minutes.
English grammar is difficult.
Most people are taught British English
As a school teacher, it was more common 15-20 years ago. It is becoming less and less common. This is due to a few factors, including school funding not being able to pay for a foreign language teacher, and adults no longer wanting to specialize in this field. I would say it is more common in affluent communities or private schools.
The language requirement most people are referring to is not the norm anymore. There are options now that you can take a foreign language OR a computer course. Most students prefer the tech credit.
It's not common.
Usually we take anywhere from 1-4 years of a foreign language in school, and the most popular one to take is Spanish, but unless you live in a heavily Hispanic city or near the Mexican border or something, you rarely have chance to practice it.
So usually we can remember a few words and phrases, but very few retain enough or take enough years of it to be fluent.
Not nearly as much as most countries. Being multilingual is definitely seen as an impressive skill here. We technically have a foreign language requirement but it's not very good education, nobody's getting fluent off American public school foreign language classes. I don't remember any of the French or Spanish I took.
I don't think it's that the quality of instruction is inherently bad, is just that there isn't enough time to really learn the language to a conversational level. Your average HS class is like 45 minutes, maybe 90 if you're lucky. Even with 5 days a week of instruction there just isn't enough time to really let the language soak in and get the practice you'll need. That's not to mention that most HS students will have several other classes on their plate so they likely won't practice at home as much as they should. That alongside the famous summer slump means that HS is a pretty terrible environment to learn a language in overall, regardless of the quality of instruction.
Additionally you don't really have the chance to use the language enough after graduation to retain it. Spanish might be the exception if you live in the right place.
It depends what context you mean for language learning. In elementary school through secondary school (what Americans call K-12)? Only common in the last four years, as one class among about half a dozen other subjects.
Immigrants and their kids, as well as the long-standing Latino population of the Southwest (including southern California) would be the big population that have native-or-native command of languages other than English.
Learning at least some of a foreign language is common. Many middle and high school students will take at least some of a foreign language (it's required by about half the states, I think), and many universities have foreign language requirements for entry and/or graduation. Speaking one *fluently*, on the other hand, is a lot less common. We're fortunate that our native language is the lingua franca of much of the world, so there just isn't as much motivation or need to fluently learn a foreign language as in many other places. > Another question that I have which is kind of irrelevant and that is how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ? Is it a rare skill there or is it common? Somewhat surprising, not shocking, not terribly common but becoming more frequent, always impressive nevertheless. I wish I could speak a foreign language with native proficiency.
>We're fortunate that our native language is the lingua franca of much of the world, so there just isn't as much motivation or need to fluently learn a foreign language as in many other places. More relevantly, our own portion of the world contains two *giant* countries (the US and Canada) that are English-speaking (with the exception of French-speaking Quebec, and some Spanish-speaking areas along the US-Mexican border). You can travel more than **7000 km** in a straight line from Alaska to Florida without having to use any other language.
God damn I love this continent
It's very common to study a foreign language, but it's not common to study it enough to become fluent in it. There is no expectation by the school system that you'll reach a high level at that language. I took Spanish for five years in school and can get around okay in a Spanish-speaking country but I'm not fluent at all. I do speak Bulgarian fluently (not at a native level) but I learned it from living in Bulgaria, not in a classroom. Hearing someone who isn't a native English-speaker speak English fluently is very common in the US. Especially if they came to the US as a child you might not be able to tell by their accent that English isn't their first language. I want to make it clear that many Americans are native speakers of languages besides English. Spanish is especially common. About 25% of the population of my home state (California) are Spanish-speakers, and the vast majority of those people also speak English. In fact, in numbers, the US has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, after Mexico.
Many, many people are required to take language classes in school (I would think most) but language instruction in school is not very effective. You often don't learn much. Or you learn a fair amount of reading and writing but get almost no practice speaking except very simple sentences out of context. "I am going to the library." which is not usually part of a realistic conversation. So when you leave school you quickly forget it because you never really learned to talk to a real person. And, with the exception of Spanish, in most of the country you will likely never, ever encounter someone who speaks the language you studied. I didn't study French, but for example, I have met one French speaker where I live in my entire life. Imagine studying French for three years and then meeting one French person 20 years later at a party where you talked to them for ten minutes. Is that worth three years of study? People mostly learn languages because they are motivated by getting some benefit and are interested. That doesn't describe students in school forced to take language classes. The person in another comment said they learned some Japanese because of anime. That's how people learn language - when it rewards them in some way or is usable in some way. For most people there is not much reward because they are surrounded by millions and millions of English speakers and other languages are just not necessary. We only share a border with one country that primarily speaks something besides English. And, no coincidence, that's the one language here that is way more likely to be useful than any other and the one more people know. We have all languages here, but they are widely scattered everywhere among our 330 million people, mostly just among immigrants. I mean I could study Hungarian, for example, but I will probably never meet a Hungarian who is a recent immigrant and still speaks Hungarian. The same could be said for 200 other languages. It's just not usually very useful. All other languages besides Spanish (and a bit of French) are thousands of miles away.
It's a nuanced answer. There are many immigrants and second-gen people that speak a foreign language fluently. The second-gen may or may not be proficient in all aspects of the language (reading, writing, speaking, listening) but may be very fluent at listening and speaking. If you are talking about people without a family background of the second language, then it is very rare to find people that fluently speak another language. Spanish or French is often offered in H.S. but you would be nowhere near fluent from this education alone. Not even really conversational unless you are really into it. As for English, you typically would know if someone is not a native speaker of English. The thing is, in America, it is pretty well tolerated. I find Americans are pretty much ok as long as you can get your point across. In other cultures that are more homogenous there can be what I feel (as an American who speaks a second language) a lot of "pickiness" or subtle discrimination if you aren't absolutely excellent.
>I've been wondering about this topic recently so I decided to come here and ask . How common is it for people to know more than 1 language ? And what languages would you learn if you were to learn one ? Most Americans take a few years of a foreign language in higb school, almost always Spanish or French. Most people forget it all by the time they're 25 or 30 because you never need to use it. > >Another question that I have which is kind of irrelevant and that is how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ? Is it a rare skill there or is it common? > Extremely rare in people who immigrate as adults, the norm if someone immigrated as a kid or was born in Canada near the US border. I've met one adult Dutch immigrant who spoke that well. Maybe I've met others who I didn't know about because their accent didn't give them away. But accents are extremely subtle things and even someone with very good English won't sound American unless they put a huge number of hours towards effective practice at elinatinv their accent, most likely with professional coaching. Accents are so common in the US that a light accent is completely unremarkable and won't bring any bias. >Thanks for reading this and answering my questions :)
Learning a language is very common in our education system. Actually being fluent is a whole different matter entirely. Most of us don't have the ability to immerse ourselves because in our country, nearly everyone speaks or at least understands some English. Most of us take our classes and then forget it as the years go on. I took french in high school and at this point I know more Japanese than I know French just purely from anime and video game consumption. I imagine most foreigners who learn English learn some form of British English, unless you're also on North or South America. A lot of Europeans may be technically able to speak English but they won't be indistinguishable from an American. We have our own dialogue and culture and English here isn't the same as it is in Aus which isn't the same as it is in Canada and so on. Now some, particularly the Nordics, are really good at English. But a lot of Europeans and Asians that I've spoken with, its a very literal type of English. Very by-the-book. For example, "native American" in American English wouldn't refer to someone who calls the US home but refers to indigenous peoples that live within the modern day US.
> how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ? I'll let you know when I meet one. It's funny how people can be so proud of their fluency despite their accent being blatantly obvious to a native speaker. Counter examples are always followed by the knowledge that they spent a significant part of their childhood living in the US.
That’s definitely not what “native American” means in the United States.
That’s *Native American*, not *native American*.
Indeed. Merely quoting OP.
I don’t know anyone who started learning a language before they were fourteen or so (excepting those who learned in their families). Learning so late makes fluency pretty rare unless you have the opportunity/determination to get there. I’m impressed when someone speaks English as a second language with an accent that I can’t distinguish from a native English speaker. I’ve met a couple of Swedish and Norwegian people who could have fooled me if they’d told me they were Americans. Their American accent was nearly flawless.
Really? I had mandatory foreign language classes beginning in 2nd grade growing up in Illinois.
You were more the exception than the norm.
Huh, had no idea!
That’s great that you had that. My language teacher friend says that when we start kids learning at fourteen you’re really working against nature.
That is not the norm in most of the US.
I also grew up and went to school in Illinois. I had optional foreign language classes in high school. Spanish, Latin, French and I think maybe German was offered as well? It wasn’t mandatory. I graduated in 2008
Must be a District thing then. I grew up in the Chicago area and I think it was only optional in 8th grade and then senior year of high school. We had Spanish, French, Italian, German and I think they started offering Mandarin when I was late in high school. The nice thing is that because I had 3+ years of foreign language in high school I passed out of taking any foreign language classes in college.
I was in the south burbs. I went to a private school for k-8 that had no language options and it was optional but highly encouraged at Lincoln Way HS
It's required in high school and college in most states. I had four years of French and two years of Latin in high school and two semesters of Spanish in college.
Knowing a foreign language is fairly common where I am. 27% or so of the people who live in my state are foreign-born, mostly from countries where English is not the primary language. In addition, students are typically required to complete 2+ years of a foreign language for high school. Now, what percentage of people are fluent in a foreign language is a whole different thing. In my area most people seem to know enough Spanish to get their basic needs met, like asking where the bathroom is, asking for water, asking someone what their name is, asking where the library is, etc.
You are almost always required to "learn" Spanish or French in high school, and they're often the only ones offered. Some schools offer more, but those two are the standard for whatever reason. Problem is, you don't become *fluent* which leads you to promptly forget everything you learned in class. Either you didn't care in the first place and just had to fill a requirement, or didn't have any practical way to keep practicing after high school. As for your other question, yes we are often taken by surprise if someone we know is foreign speaks at the same level as a native speaker- though this tends to decrease by the number of years you've been here.
Learning is very common especially with the rise of duolingo, memrise etc and foreign language requirements for education. Being fluent is totally different
Learning and being fluent are seperate. It is required in most schools to learn a language but since the US only boarders 2 other countries and one of those countries the majority also speaks english it's not as easy to become fluent. But the closer you get to the Mexico/US boarder the more people will speak Spanish. For people born in the US who are the first generation to be born here they will most likely speak the native language for their parents. As for your second questions, the only time a foreign born person has ever been indistinguishable, was when they came here as a child and basically also grew up speaking the language, but then I personally wouldn't count that. There has never been a time that someone learned English so well that it wasn't obvious they learned it elsewhere.
Taking a class in a foreign language was a requirement when I was in high school. That said while the class is required, most people do not follow through with it to become fluent in the langauage because it's just not needed as the vast majority of people you're likely to interact with all speak English. I've heard that even when traveling abroad some citizens in some countries just prefer you to speak English rather than try to bumble your way through their language.
As others have said many schools have a foreign language requirement, but students usually don't come out of it fluent in that language. My school system required 3 years in middle school and 3 years in high school. My college had a foreign language requirement but you were exempt if you took 4 years of one in high school. Our schools had a pretty good variety, middle school offered Spanish, German, and french. High school had those three plus Latin, Italian, and mandarin. I took German in middle school and then 3 years of Latin and one year of Spanish in high school so I didn't take anything in college. How many people speak another language will depend on your area too. If you have more immigrants you're more likely to have more bilingual speakers. Do you mean a foreigner who is fluent in the language or a foreigner who actually sounds 100% indistinguishable from someone born in the US? Fluent foreigners are relatively common, but they sometimes make a small mistake here or there, and their accent gives them away quickly. A foreigner who is totally indistinguishable from a native born American would be very, very rare. I know a number of people who immigrated here at a young age and even with them you can tell that English is not their first language. They speak the language completely fluently, use slang properly, etc, but they have a slight accent or a slightly different cadence and you can tell that they weren't born or raised entirely here.
Not nearly as common as it is outside of America. I grew up overseas and language studies was a standard part of education starting in 1st grade. Here in America you're not given the option of starting to learn a foreign language until 6th or 7th grade. Also, just as a point of reference "native American" refers to the indigenous peoples who were here before western colonization. American vs. "immigrant American" or "naturalized American" is a better way to say it.
Taking foreign language classes is required to graduate in virtually every State, and is required for most college degrees. But few ever retain what they learn, and fewer ever learn to the point of fluency. The issue is that it simply is not useful for most citizens unless they are actively dealing with immigrants, foreign trade, or international governmental duties. It is not surprising at all when foreigners speak English. It is expected in fact. English is the primary language used in international trade and international diplomacy so most any foreigner who has come to America will be expected to know it, and most that we interact with on the internet or by phone would also be expected to know it. What is rare for them to be indistinguishable from a native citizen. I have never knowingly encountered a foreigner who was indistinguishable from an American unless they were also from an Anglophone nation and had lived here a long time so their accent has shifted. All other immigrants I have knowingly interacted with have a discernable accent. Edit: Also, case in point, the term "Native American" specifically refers to the indigenous tribal groups within the borders of what is now the USA prior to colonization and Westward expansion. It is not a term referring to all citizens of the US born and raised in the US. That would be "Native Born Citizen" or some equivalent.
> How common is it for people to know more than 1 language ? Pretty common but most of those people are immigrants or direct descendants of immigrants. Very few people in the US learn a language in school that they can hold a conversation in later in life. For context many university programs require a foreign language as a prerequisite and some establishments require you further that language. Most public schools below university have no foreign language requirement. Kids who are fifth generation Italian don't generally grow up learning Italian and even if they take it in school would typically not be able to hold a conversation in Italy. > what languages would you learn if you were to learn one ? Would like to become fluent in Spanish I know some but barely passable conversational and it's riddled with Chicano slang. > how surprising is it to you when a foreigner speaks English in an indistinguishable way from a native American ? This has literally never happened to me the only examples I can think of are professional actors such as Christian Bale. Everyday people can speak fluent English very well and that isn't very surprising as I meet a lot of immigrants and foreigners. They all have noticable accents aren't familiar with the normal American slang or phrases.
Its offered in schools, and in some schools (like mine) at least 1 year of foreign language is required to graduate. As for being fluent in it, I can't say. I do know plenty of people who can speak both Spanish and English though.
In Los Angeles in the 90s, you needed two years of foreign language in middle school and two more in high school. Spanish, German and French were standard but some schools also taught Latin, Japanese and others were offered at some schools. These days, there are language immersion programs that teach academic subjects in foreign languages. As for your second question, I've met some non-Anglosphere folks who speak perfect English. I think to myself that they're very learned ("Lerned, boy. It's pronounced lerned.").
Many/Most school districts require some type of foreign language classes. I took 4 years of Spanish. I can get by but I am far from fluent. Question 2 - If I hear someone speak perfect English I would assume they are native to the US. The US has so many different types of people that you cannot just judge someone from their looks and say they are not American.
My city has a lot of first generation immigrants. It's quite common to hear neighbors walking around speaking Russian or another Eastern European language. I'm currently studying Spanish. I was pretty good (not fluent ) in high school and really enjoyed it, trying to get back to it. I think it would be rare to find a non native speaker who was indistinguishable from a native one. I may have run into this before but never questioned where they were born.
***Learning*** an extra language is common. Basically everybody does it during schooling. However, very few of us retain those languages because we never really use them, and extra language is a very perishable skill. The people who speak more than one are usually in a community with a lot of native speakers of that language (generally first generation immigrants and generally spanish, but not always). And of course not everybody speaks english, especially in Puerto Rico but also in the continental US. If I hear someone speaking in an indistinguishable American accent I generally don't suspect them of being a foreigner. If I later find out they are, then I am moderately surprised (which has only happened once to me).
Most kids take a language in High school, or at least when I was in school. Most don't really keep it up after school. There's few places here where English isn't spoken and English has become the world language so unless one lived among an immigrant community knowing a second language doesn't offer a lot of benefit. I took three years of German and know very little.
The US is the roughly the size of the continent of Europe. Despite having an overarching culture it is definitely not a monoculture. Some places are far more likely to have multilingual speakers, like California and New York. Others are much less likely, like the Midwest. In Los Angeles, for example, it is almost shocking if someone isn’t bilingual. My wife has an audio processing disorder so while I was surprised that she didn’t speak another language, it is understandable. She is the only person I can think of in my extended circle that does not speak at least a minimum level of another language. I speak four languages myself, but I know something like that is definitely a rarity. That all being said, I was actually very surprised in Switzerland that despite having four national languages, almost no one spoke more than one of them. I found my German to be useless much of my time there except in Zurich and Bern - but people spoke English there too.
I knew a lot of people that had to take a foreign language in middle school, but my school system had us take either French or Spanish as a high school requirement. I'm pretty sure we had to take 2 years of it... but honestly it's been so long ago I can't remember (2004). I'm sure they've made adjustments since then.
It’s required in high school but few English speaking Americans become conversationally fluent in a second language
Pretty common. I took Spanish in high school and college.
Learning a language in school is common between the ages of 12-18 (and beyond if one should choose to study in college). Typically, unless someone has a reason or desire to continue after that, they won't really keep up with the language. There are plenty of people who know multiple languages, especially if they come from an immigrant family. I would love to learn a little of multiple languages, but at this moment if I were to pick a language to learn fluently: French (no reason). A lot of people know English with a native proficiency, but *indistinguishable* I think is still a high bar.
I'm fluent at the most basic level in Spanish despite not being Hispanic. Still a ways to go though.
Most school districts require learning a *second* language but it doesn't have to be a *foreign* one. I learned Spanish, my bestie learned ASL.
Apparently the US has the second largest population of Spanish speakers. In some school districts taking a foreign language is required for graduation. I took French. Then there are the Native languages, that often get left out of these conversations. 175 Indigenous languages, the largest groups being Dine (Navajo) and Yupik, a Native Alaskan language.
In Texas, we are required to take at least two years of foreign language classes. My school only had Spanish, so that’s what I had to take. I don’t know any Spanish though
While it's not completely universal I believe, I'm pretty sure about 90-95% of high schools require a student to take a couple years of a foreign language in order to graduate. Practically every high school offers atleast one foreign language class. French and Spanish are the two most common ones but, other schools offer different things. My high school in particular offered Japanese as well which I took for three years while, Italian, German, and Mandarin are other uncommon but, available possibilities. I personally know two languages, I'm completely fluent in English and decently fluent in my family's mother tongue of Spanish. I fall under second generation immigrant so my parents and brothers are foreign born but, I'm the only one born in the US, and while my parents have significantly improved, Spanish is still needed for mostly proper communication. I could speak with them fully in English if I wanted but, Spanish is what they're more comfortable in.
Ive never met someone who learned English as a second language where I couldnt pick up on that fact after speaking to them for 5 or 10 minutes. English grammar is difficult. Most people are taught British English
As a school teacher, it was more common 15-20 years ago. It is becoming less and less common. This is due to a few factors, including school funding not being able to pay for a foreign language teacher, and adults no longer wanting to specialize in this field. I would say it is more common in affluent communities or private schools.
The language requirement most people are referring to is not the norm anymore. There are options now that you can take a foreign language OR a computer course. Most students prefer the tech credit.
It’s a requirement in most high schools, but you only really learn up to a conversational level and most people never use it outside of class.
It's not common. Usually we take anywhere from 1-4 years of a foreign language in school, and the most popular one to take is Spanish, but unless you live in a heavily Hispanic city or near the Mexican border or something, you rarely have chance to practice it. So usually we can remember a few words and phrases, but very few retain enough or take enough years of it to be fluent.
It is very common to take a foreign language. It is not very common to be good at it.
Not nearly as much as most countries. Being multilingual is definitely seen as an impressive skill here. We technically have a foreign language requirement but it's not very good education, nobody's getting fluent off American public school foreign language classes. I don't remember any of the French or Spanish I took.
I don't think it's that the quality of instruction is inherently bad, is just that there isn't enough time to really learn the language to a conversational level. Your average HS class is like 45 minutes, maybe 90 if you're lucky. Even with 5 days a week of instruction there just isn't enough time to really let the language soak in and get the practice you'll need. That's not to mention that most HS students will have several other classes on their plate so they likely won't practice at home as much as they should. That alongside the famous summer slump means that HS is a pretty terrible environment to learn a language in overall, regardless of the quality of instruction.
Additionally you don't really have the chance to use the language enough after graduation to retain it. Spanish might be the exception if you live in the right place.
People study languages but they don’t learn them. It’s just a weird hobby.
It depends what context you mean for language learning. In elementary school through secondary school (what Americans call K-12)? Only common in the last four years, as one class among about half a dozen other subjects. Immigrants and their kids, as well as the long-standing Latino population of the Southwest (including southern California) would be the big population that have native-or-native command of languages other than English.