I’m exasperated with the demagoguery regarding Anglophones and second language acquisition.
There is a lot of ignorance in these loaded statements, and I find a lot of suspect language being used on language learning forums - particularly towards Anglophones.
Sympathetic and Fair? You’re learning English because you see clear benefits for you for doing so. It just so happens that, when flipped around, Anglophones simply do not see it that way. Additionally, we have people from all backgrounds learning English. This means that we can communicate with people from all manner of cultural backgrounds, nations, continents, etc. Your learning English doesn’t only facilitate your communication with Anglophones who are monolingual, but also with people from all corners of the world who have also learned English.
Of course you know this, which is likely why English is one of your strongest non-native languages…
However, that benefit is lost when we learn an L2 because it fractures that base and you end up having to use English to communicate with a majority of the world anyways, while having a very limited pool of people with which to use your L2. The L2 is practically redundant for us, to a large extent.
This is a big issue for people in the US, many (MANY) of which are not well traveled due to the logistics and expenses required. This isn’t the UK. French (Parisian) isn’t just across the English Channel, and Berlin isn’t merely a $3-400 ticket and > 3 hour flight away.
We had the choice of French and Spanish in HS. Why would I take 2-3 years of French and then start from scratch in Mandarin? For what benefit? I can at least use French in the US. I’ll have to search for people to speak Chinese with, as I know [literally] none…
Which brings me to the OP:
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He’s ignoring the fact that if not for their proficiency in English, he wouldn’t have those Chinese coworkers, and
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He’s making broad, useless suggestions based on anecdotes from his personal life… “I know a lot of Chinese people, does that mean we should learn Mandarin?” “I’ve been to a lot of places and seen Chinese people all over… Does that mean we should learn Mandarin?”
I’ve known a lot of Asian people, quite well… What I noticed is they spoke a variety of Asiatic languages: Mandarin, Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, Lao.
To the specific fragment “waste their precious time learning more than one foreign language,” I’m sorry you have those issues, but I have much more important things to do with my life than be a polyglot just because a random on the internet think’s it’s the fair and sympathetic thing to do.
Enjoy your perpetual foray into endless language learning. That is not the life I choose for myself. I totally support your decision, though!
I’m learning French because it’s the co-official language in my state and I want to be a part of resurrecting it further. Also, it’s part of my heritage, my Grandparents spoke it better than English, even though they were born and died in America (and never visited another country, ever).
That’s a reason to learn a Foreign language, and it’s a lot more valid than being a polyglot because it’s apparently the fashionable thing. And I’d rather go to 1-2 hour conversation meet ups down the street or in the next city 5-6 days a week than waste tons of money or time on crap like FSI language courses or iTalkie lessons.
I tired very quickly of being woken up in the middle of the night by people form Europe calling me on Skype to “practice their English,” and quickly regretted offering to help.
This B.S. about fairness any sympathy is rhetoric and it’s not useful. It’s also fundamentally unfair and lacking in sympathy because you obviously cannot even began to comprehend what it’s like to be a language learner from the perspective of an Anglophone native, particularly one here who is far removed from most European and Asiatic languages (geographically).