I don't know why I didn't talk about this earlier on, especially when we were discussing the importance of language and the idea of bilingualism in class. This is something my dad brought to my attention when the Presidential Elections were taking place in 2008 and also the campaigning process prior to that. He raised really interesting point--why do none of the presidential candidates speak another language?
In our world today, we have interactions with people from all over the world. This is especially true in terms of politics--diplomats, presidents, and ambassadors are communicating and meeting on a daily basis. But how come we expect others who come here to know English and to be able to communicate with us? We often judge others whenever they speak with an accent or grammatical errors, but realistically speaking, these diplomats and politicians are better able to communicate with American politicians on an intellectual level that is not even their native language.
What my dad said to me really got me thinking, why aren't our presidents able to speak another language? What kind of message does it send to politicians around the world and what impact does the fact that these politicians often need translators have on the relationships between our politicians and the politicians of other countries?
It is no doubt that English is one of the most spoken languages around the world even though it comes third after Chinese (spoken by 874 million people) and Hindi (spoken by 336 million people). People around the world are learning English from an early age. Why is that in American society the importance of learning a foreign language is only stressed after middle school, if stressed at all?
I really do think being able to speak more than one language is important; particularly for someone who is in a position to interact with world leaders.
Do you guys think our future presidents should be able to speak more than one language?
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The presidents may have taken some foreign language courses in college. But just because you have taken some courses does not mean you would know that language, especially if you don't use it later on in life. While all of us at SLU are required to take a language course, at least all of us in the College of Art and Science, I'm sure we will not all graduate knowing a second language.
ReplyDeleteYes a second language is something very advantageous to have and give off the impression that you are well education, but, realistically speaking, what normal job requires you to speak another language beside English, if you're not in the business sector? People can get by fine in America without knowing another language, and the majority of Americans whose native language is English and speak only English do live fine.
Also, the encouragement to learn another language doesn't really come around until relatively recently, I think. I guess our presidents, being people of our parents' generation or a bit older, weren't really required to learn another language like we do in school.
Lastly, I do think it would be cool if our future presidents know another language beside English. Often, I think really knowing a different language give you a different perspective on how people of other cultures think. However, what language should he learned? Would people start asking why does he learn French but not German, or why does he understands Russian, but not Chinese? Are our country not important enough for him to know our language to interaction with us?
Besides. the need to learn another language seems a little less important when your job is being the president and there are countless of interpreters for you to call on.
I agree. I think that it is beneficial for anyone to know a second language. Although it is not necessary to know a second language to get by in the United States, it could still provide benefits to numerous people. As already stated, it would benefit people in the business industry, providing them the opportunity to do international business. I also agree that it makes people appear well educated and dynamic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that it would be great for our future presidents to be multilingual, I do not think that it is necessary. Our country has been involved with numerous other countries in a political manner, and has aided many other countries without having a bilingual president. However, I'm sure that the government is employing numerous people that provide this function for us. Also, I agree that there is an issue with what languages we should, then, expect our presidents to learn. It would be nearly impossible to require them to learn the languages of every country that they deal with. I feel that if our president did know another language, that could be interpreted by other countries as us having some sort of bias.
As a president, it would certainly be beneficial to know a second language. However, I do not think that it is a necessity. The president has access to many tools and resources that would enable him to communicate efficiently with individuals around the world. Also, I wanted to add that I would fully support a president who knows a second language. I would definitely not interpret the knowledge of a second language as a bias. It would be nearly impossible for the president to know ALL languages, and I don’t think that anyone would expect the president to learn ALL languages. People generally choose to learn a second language in school due to the language’s utility to them (whether future study-abroad trips, use in community, etc.). I don't think that their choice of language will be interepreted as a bias, but maybe that is just me...
ReplyDeleteMany of you commented on the use of a second language in business. I wanted to add that a second language (especially Spanish) is becoming a highly sought after quality in potential employees in many fields. One particular area is education. Many schools (even the Teach for America program) is seeking fluent Spanish speakers. I think that everyone will find the acquirement of a second language to be a valuable asset.