this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.social 123 points 1 year ago (4 children)

When you can drive for more than a week straight and still be in the same country, needing to know other languages is a lower priority.

I think it's more related to the language importance than it's size. We have continental countries (Russia, Brazil, etc) that you can also drive for a week without leaving and learning English is important there.

If the world had chosen another language for communication probably US citizens would need to learn another language still.

[–] Nepenthe@kbin.social 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

A low enough priority that the further I get in my efforts, the more it sinks in with me that I'm mostly wasting my time. It's a hobby more than a skill.

My attempts to learn my family's native language have hit a roadblock: now that I have a handle on the grammar, there is no one for me to speak to. It's frankly pretty upsetting and I'm very discouraged about it.

You're required to know at least a workable amount of English in order to live and work here, so no matter where they were born, there is absolutely no one in what feels like this entire NW hemisphere that I do not already share a language with. And only one time have I ever known before they said. All other times, they've just happened to mention they're from there after I say something about learning it.

Most immigrants I've met are perfectly incognito, and they speak more than well enough for us to understand each other casually. The point of language is to communicate. Goal achieved.

Trying to find a language partner in this situation is proving not only impossible, it's nigh-pointless to even do unless you're bored. It's the same online — nearly everyone already shares a language with me, you'd never guess most of the time, and even country-specific subs sometimes post things in english.

There's literally no one for me to practice on and zero need to practice unless I feel like going halfway around the globe pretty often in order to make the effort worthwhile. At which point they will still speak to me in english unless I'm lost in the super rural areas, and I will simply cry.

I've come to accept that going overseas even once in my life is never going to happen. Europeans seem to vastly overestimate Americans ability to afford to do that. Even if we could, we still have an entire hemisphere to get through first. Which costs significantly less, is almost just as fun, and doesn't take multiple years of work for a skill you'll only ever use once.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You say it's your family's native language and that you have no one to speak it with... I mean... Your family?

[–] Nepenthe@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My grandparents were turkish and swedish, respectively, but neither took it upon themselves to teach either language to their children. My mother didn't even know her mom knew swedish til she was almost an adult, and the disconnected handful of turkish words was a result of trying to sneak ice cream past the kids. We were all 100% americanized and I feel horribly out of place even though I'm technically only second generation.

I do have relatives overseas, but I understand half of them are dead now. Since I was a kid when my own mom was ostracized, I barely even know any names and as I've said, I've never actually visited or interacted with them in any way. They may not even know I exist, tbh.

I could theoretically message my one remaining second cousin, I admit. You're correct. I have the sense this would be very awkward and I'd honestly rather speak to a stranger than explain who the fuck I am and why they should care.

Bonus points if they turn out to be super racist hypernationalists like my granpa so I get to be rejected by the one remaining relative that hasn't gotten around to it yet. Which isn't a thing that's physically preventing me, the prospect just popped into my head and makes me really sad and it would add to my therapy bills

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[–] Dee@lemmings.world 4 points 1 year ago

Europeans seem to vastly overestimate Americans ability to afford to do that.

This part, I'm struggling to stay afloat I can't splurge for a intercontinental trip. I can, however, drive my car for a day or less and be in a completely different biome/culture. Each state is essentially it's own country with it's own laws and cultures. An overarching American influence but each place is definitely unique to itself.

I like to learn a language not so much out of practicality though because you're right, we can speak to everyone here with English. I like to learn a language just for the mental benefits of training my brain and learning more about another culture.

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[–] makyo@lemmy.world 57 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have come to realize that largely, in the western world, it’s most common that people speak their own language and English. It just so happens that is the same language for many people.

[–] dudewitbow@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 year ago

its because of how culturally relevant english is as a language to make others pick it up as a second language. Take for example coding, programming languages were mainly built around english monikers, so a very basic level of english understanding is helpful when doing that. Then you get to the large wall that is western, primarily American media and how its more or less it's largest export.

[–] Narrrz@kbin.social 55 points 1 year ago (1 children)

we insert token Maori words at the beginning and end of our emails, that totally counts

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 54 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Legit though, nobody alive today had anything to do with English becoming the trade language. It used to be French, but that went away and English filled in.

Any country where English is the primary language is going to have less people needing a second language for anything other than the general benefits it brings, which aren't truly necessary.

It isn't like everyone, everywhere speaks English on top of their first language, nor does everyone speak multiple languages. They do just fine with the dominant language of their country, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Also, Australians don't speak English. They speak Cunt :)

[–] PrincessZelda@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Sgoin on cunt?

[–] lauha@lemmy.one 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Also, Australians don't speak English. They speak Cunt :)

It's not like americans speak english either.

[–] Kiosade@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

More like the Bri’ish don’t (know how to) speak their own goddamn language.

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[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago

"It isn't like everyone everywhere speaks english on top of their first language" while it can never be everyone, every person I have interacted with from europe, brazil, india, etc has said English was pushed in school. so they are fluent in native tongue and english. And then you have Indians who often speak 4-5 languages besides english. Westerners just don't need to learn anything besides english, since everyone accomodates for english. Especially Air traffic control.

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[–] KernelAddict@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 year ago (3 children)

A lot of Americans in the south appear to speak Spanish from what I've noticed while traveling there.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Yeah the closer you get to Mexico the more bilingual we get. With the exception of Louisiana where it’s common to know some French

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[–] Frederic@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Some Americans (upstate NY, VT) close to Québec speak some French too.

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[–] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Australia has enough problems. We Americans can take the hit.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Problem 1: livin' in 'straya

Problem 2: giant foockin spiders

Problem 3: whatever animal declares war on them

[–] Mick_Endzy@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

foocking

Think you mean fahckin' there, ya dumb dog

[–] Cannibal_MoshpitV3@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Aussies in this thread:

[–] d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Much bigger problem than 2 or 3

[–] beeng@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago
[–] BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

My relatives in australia speak english and a bit of german. They told me they had the choice to learn german or spanish in school.
But what is the point, other than you really want to learn a random language? I learned french, then english and later i had the opportunity to learn italian or spanish if i wanted to. But that's because these are the languages people speak here and the bordering countries. My relatives never used any of their german, except when they went to europe once.

[–] Chariotwheel@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Being from East Germany I had Russian in school, can't speak, but I retained the ability to read kyrillian letters, come in handy sometimes, especially if there are phonetically similiar words.

[–] Squids@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

In Australia I had the option to learn Japanese and then when I went over to Europe my school specifically had a Chinese option, both for "facilitating trade and future relations"

Ngl years later I kinda only use my Chinese skills when I'm at the Chinese market and I'm trying to find the right ingredients for something, and I reckon out of my entire class I probably benefited the most out of taking the language. It isn't the cultural trade exchange they were hoping for...but hey, it's pretty useful being able to correctly identify stuff when the English stickers they plaster on the label are vague at best and incorrect at worst

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[–] Tasio@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] Badass_panda@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Right? People are forgetting that we've got essentially three languages in the entire hemisphere.

You speak three languages in Europe? Congrats you speak 12% of the commonly spoken / national languages.

Speak one language in the Americas? Congrats, you speak 1/3 of them!

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[–] Leo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well it depends, in my city in Colombia they pushed english a lot. Was also mandatory in my university in case your school was not bilingual. May be an oddity but you are certainly expected to learn it at some point to not fall behind in this globalized world. Also USA companies hire people cheaply across all industries and have common time zones, so it can be actually worth.

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[–] RomeCallen@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

man i wish second languages were more of a thing for people in the US

ive struggled learning spanish for a while as an adult and i just wish I had went to an immersion school or something as a youngster. even if it doesnt really matter, i think its just so great. great for your community, great for your brain; besides the time i dont see any downsides to learning another language

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You might be surprised. Half of us were either born overseas or had at least one parent born overseas. A little under a third of us have English as our second language. That doesn't mean that two thirds of us only speak English - only that English is our 'home' language.

I know there's a lot of multiculuralism in the USA also, but I don't know whether those percentages compare.

Source: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/media%20release3

There are more Spanish speakers in America than Spain.

[–] cmbabul@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

I’m sure the percentage of Brits that only speak English is lower than the most of the former colonies just because of the proximity to mainland Europe. But I’d be shocked to find out it was the same rate as second languages in non English speaking countries

[–] Soulyezer@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They probably speak with their wild beasts, no way they survived this long otherwise

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