Why is it important for Americans to learn another language?

As discussed in the last post, a couple of big factors come into play when we are trying to figure out why Americans don’t speak more than one language. But even with these things said, why should it even matter? Why is monolingualism bad, and what happens if we fix it?

On of the biggest parts of any language course is the culture in the target countries. For example, when learning Spanish, students will learn the culture of places such as Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, and many more. Many Americans lack a deep understanding of other places and their morals and traditions. This leads to a sense of ethnocentrism, which means that one thinks their culture and lifestyle is better than all others. This feeling of superiority can cause social issues such as racism and discrimination, which obviously can lead to much larger problems. If people are education on other parts of the world, they are more accepting of other types of people, and these problems can be avoided. This is one of the biggest benefits of multilingualism that many people don’t realize.

Something that concerns all students is the job they will have after they finish school. Many students focus only on their major, which may be something like business, pre-med, or psychology, without considering a language minor. Language is much more important in many jobs that most people would think: so much so that people can earn salaries significantly higher than the baseline if they are proficient in another language. Many jobs give bonuses for bilingual workers, and are more likely to hire this type of person than someone with knowledge only about the job at hand. If a student is looking for a fairly easy way to make upwards of $10,000 above their base pay, one should consider learning another language.

While these are only a couple of the many benefits of a second language, these are very important to education and society. Students are setting themselves up for success, and all people are more informed about the world after deciding to learn another language.