What causes the United States’s monolingualism?

In the United States, only 18% of people speak more than one language. This means that the remaining 82% of the population in monolingual, speaking only one language. In this aspect, Americans are very behind in comparison to the rest of the world, especially European countries, where 54% of people speak at least two languages. What are the reasons for this? And why should it matter to us?

One of the biggest factors for this huge gap in multilingualism between the United States and the rest of the world is geographical isolation. Because European countries are often bordered by multiple other countries within driving distance, this means that the people have much more interaction between other languages and cultures. We can’t say the same for the US. With our country being bordered only by Canada and Mexico, and having one of the largest land masses in the world, most Americans aren’t required to interact with foreign speakers on a daily or even monthly basis. Because of this, it isn’t exactly necessary to know another language for survival.

Another contributing factor to American monolingualism is the education system. Many schools don’t require language classes until high school, if at all, missing the most critical learning period for students. It is much harder for students to begin learning a new concept later in life, if they even choose to learn at all. Requiring language classes from a young age opens students up to so many more opportunities that are critical later in life. Unfortunately, many schools don’t give students the chance to learn about other cultures and languages until college.

With these being the biggest two factors contributing to monolingualism, Americans don’t see the importance of learning another language. If this was changed, western ethnocentrism would be much less common, and communications around the world would be easier. While this isn’t an easy problem to fix, students should start early and take the language learning opportunities they may be given.

– Hannah S