In the United States, English is the language that dominates. I could not imagine what it would be like for people who are not native speakers of English. Everything that surrounds us in America is written and said in English. Although this is hard for nonnative speakers, I think they have found a way to adjust easily. Many people who speak Spanish live in America and some do not understand English very well. I think America has helped these people adapt to citizen life. For example, a lot of new things I buy nowadays have directions or labels on them in English or Spanish. Also, yesterday I drove past a bank and there were two signs in the window, one was in Spanish while the other was in English. There are many things that America does to help those who are not native adapt much easier to an English speaking country. But even without the help of America, people have learned how to live in America and in an environment where their native tongue is not the dominant one.
I could not imagine what I would be like to live in a place where everyone around is speaking a different language and where everything you read is not in your native tongue. I think since nonnative people would have difficulty finding jobs. This is because they do not speak the native tongue and they cannot read or understand the language. Having a job provides you with the money you need to buy essential living items. Also, maybe expanding their education to get a better paying job is a challenge. Being able to understand English and learn new things would be difficult if they did not speak the language. There are many important things that people need in order to live like understanding health plans and home owner stuff. Being able to understand that stuff is important. I know that Spanish speaking citizens have found a way to cope with the domination of English speaking people. Ultimately, living in a global economy dominated by English and being a nonnative (no matter what language is spoken) is going to be difficult in many aspects.
People are capable of adapting to any environment they choose to live in. Evolution provides evidence that humans are capable of adapting to certain situations and settings. I think the biggest thing is if the people who are native and speak the language, can they accept those who do not? Can people accept those who do not understand or speak the language that dominates? And I think those questions can be transferred over to today’s society and how we accept people.
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Hey Ashlin I do agree that they have adapted to being in a culture that is dominated by English. But you also can make the argument that other languages and other cultures are starting to dominate the U.S. as well. You will find more job openings looking for people who are bilingual than some who just speaks English. Internationally it is accepted that English is the language that is needed to succeed in the world today. But that is the opposite in the U.S. You are finding that there has been an increase to the amount of people living in America that knows limited English. It is almost to the point that you have to know another language than English to succeed in the U.S. because there are so many different cultures that speak there native tongue. With Nonnative speakers there is not as much of a pressing issues as with years past to learn English. In a way it seems not learning English is defiance of saying that they will not assimilate to English and never will. It is we that speak English that are starting to assimilate to languages other than our own. Even some of my friends say something like, “This is America speak English!” It is us that needs to realize that we need to learn there languages as well as English.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your blog because I absolutely agree you, yes it must be hard for those of a nonnative tongue to be in a society dominated by English, but we have done more a than fair job in making those people comfortable, and accepted. Speaking of people who speak only Spanish It is not that hard for them to communicate anymore, and if it is they can easily find someone to translate for them. Like you said a lot of signs now are written in English and Spanish. I went LensCafters the other day and they had a sign up, but I couldn’t understand it and then I realized it was in Spanish, they had the Spanish words just as big as English words. I say that because the primary language is usually the biggest, I guess that goes to show you how are population is changing, and what language is soon to be the dominate one. I was also reading another comment about this blog, and they mentioned how in today’s job offers you have to be bilingual in order to qualify, which is something I’ve noticed too. So I have to ask is English really the dominate language?
Hi Ashlin,
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that it must be difficult, if not terrifying, for foreign immigrants to the United States, to try and learn English as a second language in order to be able to land a competitive job here, and I think it is good that many of our products in the United States have labels in two languages. In fact, I would say that doing so is to the economic advantage of many of our companies (such as agriculture) to do that, as it enables them to reach out to a greater potential number of consumers that way.
I would also say that the fear of the necessity to learn English however, is being felt by the citizens of foreign countries who may never choose to (or be able to afford) emigrate from their own countries. With the globalization of English and its establishment as a “lingua franca” for business and scientific communication, I believe that the citizens of many foreign countries may also be feeling a pressure to learn English as a second language as well, in order to be able to land competitive, well paying jobs in the new and rising “global” economy.
Do you think that the dominant economies in the world should assist the citizens in poorer countries to develop competitive economic skills (such as speaking English), and that it would be to their benefit to do so?