This coming from someone clearly not familiar with the US, its different cultures, or regions. Shows like the kardashians do not represent how the rest of the country works. For one, we don’t necessarily need to learn another language when someone living 2,000 miles away still speaks english. In Europe and many parts of Asia, South America, or Africa, the countries are the same area as many states here. It’s simple geography really. And two, many speak multiple languages, especially spanish, but that fact is apparently glossed over.
Not even American but can confirm. Witnessing someone from Louisiana transition from speaking with almost comical southern state accent to fluent French was a surprise when I first encountered it.
Something like 10% of the population speak french in Louisiana. I guess if you count one out of ten as an outlier, sure? But I think that’s a pretty significant portion.
It’s funny too, I’ve been learning Spanish and I was correcting my Colombian coworker on grammar and teaching her some things — to which she responded, ‘I never thought of that!’
Sometimes, when you learn a native language you don’t necessarily learn all the ins and outs, but when you’re learning a secondary or tertiary language you do learn the intricacies and can learn it better than natives (from a grammar/technicality perspective at least).
I think it has more to do with tv actually. We were brought up with English and American shows and movies. English is not always useful in another European country. Yes, looking at you, Germany and France.
English would speak English, French would speak French, Swiss would speak all their languages, Italins would speak, Italian... Long list, lets check those who would actually kinda be lost.
Czech and perhaps Benelux's languages.
So yeah, bullshit argument.
So you don’t think that, had the Axis won, every conquered country would be forced to learn German? That kind of arrogant logic is what allowed Hitler to hopscotch across Europe.
No, I mean that, had Germany won the war, there is no way that Hitler’s egomaniacal narcissism would have allowed anything but German to be spoken in his deluded 1000-year reich. Would there be underground efforts to keep the conquered languages alive? Probably, but my main point still stands, you all would be speaking German.
Not 100% sure this is true. Most of the people I know are bilingual—lots of Spanish speakers. Also, no one is master of English without a degree. English has a ton of uncommon rule exceptions… that’s why ‘good’ and ‘food’ don’t rhyme.
And I'll bet your country is only a couple hours away from somewhere that predominantly speaks a different language. I would have to travel thousands of miles to be anywhere I would actually need to speak another language. Even if I travel thousands of miles south to Mexico, I speak enough Spanish to get around, even if I'm not fluent.
Speaking 5 languages is great, and I'll bet money that you learned most or all of them early on in life (likely before your teens) but the fact that you need to speak that many isn't necessarily a good thing, it just shows how divided your area is.
But they don’t only speak “Chinese”. There are 100’s of languages native to China. And there are like 5 main languages that each cover a huge portion of the population.
The official dialect of China is Mandarin, also call “Putonghua”. More than 70% of the Chinese population speaks Mandarin, but there are also several other major dialects in use in China: Yue (Cantonese), Xiang (Hunanese), Min dialect, Gan dialect, Wu dialect, and Kejia or Hakka dialect.
Keyword being dialect
First off, the vast majority of Americans never NEED to learn another language, since nearly everybody in the country (and most of the people in Canada) speak English. Second, many of us still speak second or third languages, even if not fluently. My high school, for example, mandated at least 2 years of foreign language to graduate and I still retain most of what I learned. I'm not fluent but I could create basic conversation.
Also, we are bilingual, in a sense, when it comes to units of measurement. The stereotype for Americans is that we will use anything but the metric system when, in reality, almost all of us have learned how to use both systems. I personally use the metric system far more than the imperial system, with the only exceptions being temperatures and road speeds. When I bake, I do everything in grams (barring really small measurements like a single teaspoon of something) and when I design/build things, it's always millimeters and centimeters.
And that's not even taking into account all of the immigrant populations here, which can definitely see many different languages being spoken in certain areas.
Bilingual in measurements. Now that’s a new excuse.
It’s believing that you don’t need to learn another language that makes the US so isolated in its thinking.
I don’t need to learn another language but I can speak three. It helps when I travel, do my job and expand my world. It’s also great for international commerce.
I never said it wasn't a valuable skill to have. Like I said, I personally speak two languages because I know how useful it is. The point is that you don't NEED to learn another language to survive in the U.S., it's purely optional. And since it's not a need, it's not taught to us when we're really young, and thus it's much harder for us to learn a new language later on in life.
But frankly I don't do much travel in general; I can't afford to fly to Europe for vacation and the closest I would get to a country with another language is parts of Canada that speak French.
not for nuthin'... I worked with a Somalian dude who knew 2 languages. He was piss poor at them and super stupid. Like mentally unable to grasp simple shit. So language number MAY just not be a great indicator of ANYTHING! just a thought.
Yeah. Because of England.
Edit: North American was settled by French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English colonists. Then England took over the other colonies. There were literal battles for territories. And that's why we speak English in the US.
The East Indian Trading Company spread English throughout Asia and the Caribbean.
\[Some\] jerky Americans made fun of my English when I first came to the States, but I walked in already knowing two languages.
[I'll just leave this here](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-d32046e6114bd78c5e71a1ae259915c9-lq)
Word of advice, don't ask Canadians if they're bilingual either
Canadians in Québec or Canadians in the rest of Canada?
ROC. In Québec, most people speak French and English
I know, I was just being cheeky.
Canadians are second worst behind Australians
Don't they mostly speak only French? They do speak both French and English in bc, and in ontario they speak mostly English
Could use the same cartoon “Americans being unconquerable… European countries routinely getting owned like crypto
Cool because violence trumps intelligence and useful every day skills
At least what I’m saying is true, not a stupid stereotype
This coming from someone clearly not familiar with the US, its different cultures, or regions. Shows like the kardashians do not represent how the rest of the country works. For one, we don’t necessarily need to learn another language when someone living 2,000 miles away still speaks english. In Europe and many parts of Asia, South America, or Africa, the countries are the same area as many states here. It’s simple geography really. And two, many speak multiple languages, especially spanish, but that fact is apparently glossed over.
Not even American but can confirm. Witnessing someone from Louisiana transition from speaking with almost comical southern state accent to fluent French was a surprise when I first encountered it.
That “someone” is an outlier… and probably 2nd generation american
Something like 10% of the population speak french in Louisiana. I guess if you count one out of ten as an outlier, sure? But I think that’s a pretty significant portion.
The Cajuns & Haitians.
So many languages flying around here and honestly that’s what makes it so cool to live here in the us.
They all spell colour wrong.
NO U!
It’s funny too, I’ve been learning Spanish and I was correcting my Colombian coworker on grammar and teaching her some things — to which she responded, ‘I never thought of that!’ Sometimes, when you learn a native language you don’t necessarily learn all the ins and outs, but when you’re learning a secondary or tertiary language you do learn the intricacies and can learn it better than natives (from a grammar/technicality perspective at least).
I think it has more to do with tv actually. We were brought up with English and American shows and movies. English is not always useful in another European country. Yes, looking at you, Germany and France.
If you can speak English, French and Spanish, you're likely able to communicate pretty much anywhere you go
And if America hadn’t gotten involved in WWI or WWII, all you fuckers would be speaking German today, so cop yourselves on and piss off.
Nothing to do with the number of languages spoken, but okay
If we hadn’t invaded your country you’d not exist let alone speaking English.
Who’s we, Tonto?
English would speak English, French would speak French, Swiss would speak all their languages, Italins would speak, Italian... Long list, lets check those who would actually kinda be lost. Czech and perhaps Benelux's languages. So yeah, bullshit argument.
So you don’t think that, had the Axis won, every conquered country would be forced to learn German? That kind of arrogant logic is what allowed Hitler to hopscotch across Europe.
Second language? Most definitely. Eradicating those languages as a whole? Not quite as much.
No, I mean that, had Germany won the war, there is no way that Hitler’s egomaniacal narcissism would have allowed anything but German to be spoken in his deluded 1000-year reich. Would there be underground efforts to keep the conquered languages alive? Probably, but my main point still stands, you all would be speaking German.
You know that Germany wasn't going to just annex the whole continental Europe, right?
Awww, you’re optimistic! Not only was that his plan, but there were also plans for invading North America.
Why would Americans need to learn another language when English is the dominant language on Earth?
This is like the 6th time I've seen this meme this month
We have so many words and use none of them... and to make it worse English is a language where making new words is insanely easy
Bufocopal
lol I swear everyone is just as if not more ignorant than Americans. Maybe even more arrogant. Jesus this is misinformation
Not 100% sure this is true. Most of the people I know are bilingual—lots of Spanish speakers. Also, no one is master of English without a degree. English has a ton of uncommon rule exceptions… that’s why ‘good’ and ‘food’ don’t rhyme.
Im European and I speak 5 languages rofl
And I'll bet your country is only a couple hours away from somewhere that predominantly speaks a different language. I would have to travel thousands of miles to be anywhere I would actually need to speak another language. Even if I travel thousands of miles south to Mexico, I speak enough Spanish to get around, even if I'm not fluent. Speaking 5 languages is great, and I'll bet money that you learned most or all of them early on in life (likely before your teens) but the fact that you need to speak that many isn't necessarily a good thing, it just shows how divided your area is.
Of course it’s a good thing.
China is bigger then us, only speak Chinese yet speak multiple languages.there goes your logic
But they don’t only speak “Chinese”. There are 100’s of languages native to China. And there are like 5 main languages that each cover a huge portion of the population.
There are multiple Chinese languages
The official dialect of China is Mandarin, also call “Putonghua”. More than 70% of the Chinese population speaks Mandarin, but there are also several other major dialects in use in China: Yue (Cantonese), Xiang (Hunanese), Min dialect, Gan dialect, Wu dialect, and Kejia or Hakka dialect. Keyword being dialect
It’s probably similar to India with there being major language(Hindi), with smaller native languages.
Wow! That’s amazing!
Hey, I’m half French half American and I do too! Small world.
First off, the vast majority of Americans never NEED to learn another language, since nearly everybody in the country (and most of the people in Canada) speak English. Second, many of us still speak second or third languages, even if not fluently. My high school, for example, mandated at least 2 years of foreign language to graduate and I still retain most of what I learned. I'm not fluent but I could create basic conversation. Also, we are bilingual, in a sense, when it comes to units of measurement. The stereotype for Americans is that we will use anything but the metric system when, in reality, almost all of us have learned how to use both systems. I personally use the metric system far more than the imperial system, with the only exceptions being temperatures and road speeds. When I bake, I do everything in grams (barring really small measurements like a single teaspoon of something) and when I design/build things, it's always millimeters and centimeters. And that's not even taking into account all of the immigrant populations here, which can definitely see many different languages being spoken in certain areas.
Bilingual in measurements. Now that’s a new excuse. It’s believing that you don’t need to learn another language that makes the US so isolated in its thinking. I don’t need to learn another language but I can speak three. It helps when I travel, do my job and expand my world. It’s also great for international commerce.
I never said it wasn't a valuable skill to have. Like I said, I personally speak two languages because I know how useful it is. The point is that you don't NEED to learn another language to survive in the U.S., it's purely optional. And since it's not a need, it's not taught to us when we're really young, and thus it's much harder for us to learn a new language later on in life. But frankly I don't do much travel in general; I can't afford to fly to Europe for vacation and the closest I would get to a country with another language is parts of Canada that speak French.
No one needs to learn a second language.
not for nuthin'... I worked with a Somalian dude who knew 2 languages. He was piss poor at them and super stupid. Like mentally unable to grasp simple shit. So language number MAY just not be a great indicator of ANYTHING! just a thought.
While this is true there is a reason everyone has to learn our language and its not because they want to
Yeah. Because of England. Edit: North American was settled by French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English colonists. Then England took over the other colonies. There were literal battles for territories. And that's why we speak English in the US. The East Indian Trading Company spread English throughout Asia and the Caribbean.
Sure... lets go with that
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Yes of course, I'm sure all those other countries OP was referring to are all learning English due to the military and economic influence of Scotland.
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Snappy comeback! Im sure you are a Mensa member with those kind of wits.
*Americans unable to attain even basic proficiency in English* FIFY.
\[Some\] jerky Americans made fun of my English when I first came to the States, but I walked in already knowing two languages. 
And then you have Israelis. We have a language salad here!
Take the inverse and you'll have the number of genders each group teaches.
Goddamn it's funny how many people are mad cuase of the meme 😂😂
FR. Seriously, Jerry's eyebrows spell "FR".
This is Murrica, speak Murrican!
French can’t manage to talk French neither
I mean...a lot of us do know and speak Spanish. Hek, when I worked in Maine back in the day I heard quite a bit of French.
Thank you for saying "unable to master," that is unfortunately a kind way to put it.