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Thread: "The idea the US is such an assimiliationist and monolingual nation is really outdated". Discuss

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    Default "The idea the US is such an assimiliationist and monolingual nation is really outdated". Discuss

    (1) Nowadays, I meet many more Americans than Brits who have at least an intermediate ability in foreign languages (principally but by no means exclusively Spanish).

    (2) At least a fifth of people living in the US speak a language other than English at home. Of course, the majority of these speak Spanish, but there are hundreds of other languages present in the US too, from all over the world. The notion that foreign languages "go to die" in the US is less and less true, if it was ever true at all.

    (3) It is increasingly common in US cities to have multilingual signs, menus, timetables and even PAs. The contrast with British cities in that respect (including even London) is pretty striking.

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    It's not that they are less assimilationist than the brits, on the contrary they have assimilated more peoples than any other country. The problem is that cockney accent makes it useless to even try to speak a foreign language.

    Anyway Britain, unlike the USA is not menaced by a superior language.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sebastianus Rex View Post
    It's not that they are less assimilationist than the brits, on the contrary they have assimilated more peoples than any other country.
    Brazil?

    The problem is that cockney accent makes it useless to even try to speak a foreign language.


    Anyway Britain, unlike the USA is not menaced by a superior language.
    I don't think Spanish really threatens English in the US, that's just hype. But certainly some portions of the country might become fully bilingual.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sebastianus Rex View Post
    It's not that they are less assimilationist than the brits, on the contrary they have assimilated more peoples than any other country. The problem is that cockney accent makes it useless to even try to speak a foreign language.

    Anyway Britain, unlike the USA is not menaced by a superior language.
    People who don't assimilate cannot succeed here unless they own their own business and fill a niche market. There are people who speak only Spanish but they work like at McDonalds or in the fields etc. You have to play the game here or break the rules. We are a very bureaucratic nation even at the private level. What's funny is you are more likely to be treated like shit or not hired as an immigrant by liberals than conservatives .

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    (1) Nowadays, I meet many more Americans than Brits who have at least an intermediate ability in foreign languages (principally but by no means exclusively Spanish).

    (2) At least a fifth of people living in the US speak a language other than English at home. Of course, the majority of these speak Spanish, but there are hundreds of other languages present in the US too, from all over the world. The notion that foreign languages "go to die" in the US is less and less true, if it was ever true at all.

    (3) It is increasingly common in US cities to have multilingual signs, menus, timetables and even PAs. The contrast with British cities in that respect (including even London) is pretty striking.
    The only multi-lingual signs I have seen are in government buildings, You don't even see multi-lingual billboards very often in places like California. They have Gaelic signs in Scotland and Ireland etc. A large chunk of America used to be part of Mexico and Spain, of course those places are going to have signs in stores in Spanish etc. There are cities named after Spanish Governors, saints etc. We didn't wipe out the Spanish culture we just made it a part of the Anglo culture.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    Brazil?







    I don't think Spanish really threatens English in the US, that's just hype. But certainly some portions of the country might become fully bilingual.
    USA received more immigrants from more nations than Brazil.

    A large portion of the british population can't even speak a proper english, how do you want them to learn foreign languages ?

    Give it time...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sebastianus Rex View Post
    USA received more immigrants from more nations than Brazil.
    But paradoxically is still at least marginally less racially-mixed overall.

    A large portion of the british population can't even speak a proper english, how do you want them to learn foreign languages ?
    Now that is insulting. In fact, among older middle-class Brits, knowledge of French at least is quite widespread. Just that the combination of the USA's global rise, France's global fall and declining standards of language teaching in British schools have largely put a stop to that.

    Give it time...
    Even in Miami, English is still the dominant language when it comes to signs, menus and adverts, however much it may be true that, in practice, people in shops and restaurants are just as likely to communicate with each other in Spanish as in English.

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    [QUOTE]
    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    But paradoxically is still at least marginally less racially-mixed overall.

    Of course, the USA received much more european immigrants and genocided 90% of the native americans. Brazil received much more african slaves (5 million according to some sources) and assimilated much more the native tribes.

    Now that is insulting. In fact, among older middle-class Brits, knowledge of French at least is quite widespread. Just that the combination of the USA's global rise, France's global fall and declining standards of language teaching in British schools have largely put a stop to that.

    .
    Not insulting at all when it's the Brits who take pride in maintaining their local or working class accents.

    Middle/upper class brits fluent in French is something I only found in some Agatha Christie's novels, as you imagine I am not that old.

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    Britain must be one of a very few countries on Earth where knowledge of foreign languages is actually declining by generation, whereas in most other countries - including the US, hence the point of this thread in the first place - it is increasing.

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