Thie Importance of Learning a Second Language in America

Has anyone heard this one?

Question: What do you call a person who speaks two different languages?
Answer: Bilingual.

Question: What do you call a person who speaks more than two different languages?
Answer: Multilingual.

Question: What do you call a person who speaks only one language?
Answer: An American.

That's the international "joke" about the people of the U.S.

Judging by the number of people in the United States who currently speak more than one language, that may indeed be a gift that is very wise.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau figures from 2000 show that the number of bilingual or multilingual people in this country has doubled for nearly 50 million over the past twenty years. It's a fad or trend that shows no signs of slowing.

The U.S. Census Bureau also had reports in their survey that

- 80 percent are fluent and speak English.

- 12 percent speak Spanish and

- 4 percent speak other Indo-European languages, such as French, German, and Russian.

Globally, the picture is quite different. According to the Central Intelligence Agency's, 'World Factbook for 2007" worldwide

· 14 percent speak Mandarin Chinese,

· 5 percent speak Spanish and

· 4.9 percent speak English.

As the world shrinks and countries become increasingly interdependent, cultural and language experts predict that within the next twenty years it will be necessary for everyone to speak a second, or even a third language. This is an area where the U.S. lack behind in other parts of the world. Western Europeans for example, are often fluent in two or more languages. Should American children be their equals?

A linguistics professor, Alison Mackey at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and co author of the book, "The Bilingual Edge", states that, "Being bilingual is an undeniable advantage and how the knowledge of two languages can give kids enhanced creativity as well as improve literacy skills. Numerous studies have also demonstrated that children who read at least bilingual are more likely to outperform their monolingual peers in those critical standardized exams in school. "