...of allegiance

I think this is a great idea, and would support it in my community. Although I think immigrants to the US should learn English ( as immigrants to Mexico should learn Spanish), doing things in multiple languages is a great way to learn.

Isn't Fairfax County blue?

Sorry for you guys who thought this was about imported furniture wax.

(11-28-2018 09:19 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  ...of allegiance

I think this is a great idea, and would support it in my community. Although I think immigrants to the US should learn English ( as immigrants to Mexico should learn Spanish), doing things in multiple languages is a great way to learn.

Isn't Fairfax County blue?

Sorry for you guys who thought this was about imported furniture wax.

I think it's a good idea as well. Promoting the learning of multiple languages is something that we should all support. If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

I know Houston has a few immersion schools for foreign languages, which are great resources for students to truly become bilingual.

(11-28-2018 09:19 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Sorry for you guys who thought this was about imported furniture wax.

Just think how confusing it would be if your title were "Polish Pledge" :)

(11-28-2018 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

Of course, the fundamental reason for English-language fluency in non-English-speaking countries is that their own languages are not the language of the world's dominant economic, military and political power. I hope that's never the case for the United States.

(11-28-2018 10:30 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

Of course, the fundamental reason for English-language fluency in non-English-speaking countries is that their own languages are not the language of the world's dominant economic, military and political power. I hope that's never the case for the United States.

I think the reason for other countries being bilingual is rather moot when discussing whether or not it is beneficial to have a populace that is bilingual. Being bilingual has multiple benefits to individuals, including having better reading comprehension, being better at using logic and solving complex math/language problems, and being better at learning other languages.

(11-28-2018 11:04 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 10:30 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

Of course, the fundamental reason for English-language fluency in non-English-speaking countries is that their own languages are not the language of the world's dominant economic, military and political power. I hope that's never the case for the United States.

I think the reason for other countries being bilingual is rather moot when discussing whether or not it is beneficial to have a populace that is bilingual. Being bilingual has multiple benefits to individuals, including having better reading comprehension, being better at using logic and solving complex math/language problems, and being better at learning other languages.

Not sure of your source for those claims, but I see no disadvantage to being able to speak (and more importantly, think) in other languages.

My sister speaks five languages and she is totally illogical. In all of them.

I think multilingualism is normal in Europe, where there are multiple languages in close proximity. I think it would be good for kids in the American Northeast to be bilingual in French and English.

(11-28-2018 10:30 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

Of course, the fundamental reason for English-language fluency in non-English-speaking countries is that their own languages are not the language of the world's dominant economic, military and political power. I hope that's never the case for the United States.

I guess we should start learning Chinese.

(11-28-2018 11:15 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 11:04 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 10:30 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

Of course, the fundamental reason for English-language fluency in non-English-speaking countries is that their own languages are not the language of the world's dominant economic, military and political power. I hope that's never the case for the United States.

I think the reason for other countries being bilingual is rather moot when discussing whether or not it is beneficial to have a populace that is bilingual. Being bilingual has multiple benefits to individuals, including having better reading comprehension, being better at using logic and solving complex math/language problems, and being better at learning other languages.

Not sure of your source for those claims, but I see no disadvantage to being able to speak (and more importantly, think) in other languages.

My sister speaks five languages and she is totally illogical. In all of them.

I think multilingualism is normal in Europe, where there are multiple languages in close proximity. I think it would be good for kids in the American Northeast to be bilingual in French and English.

Much like most of us border rats speak Spanish.

(11-28-2018 01:09 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 11:15 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 11:04 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 10:30 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(11-28-2018 09:37 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  If you travel anywhere in western Europe where English isn't the first language, almost everyone is bilingual (if not tri-lingual), and it's very impressive.

Of course, the fundamental reason for English-language fluency in non-English-speaking countries is that their own languages are not the language of the world's dominant economic, military and political power. I hope that's never the case for the United States.

I think the reason for other countries being bilingual is rather moot when discussing whether or not it is beneficial to have a populace that is bilingual. Being bilingual has multiple benefits to individuals, including having better reading comprehension, being better at using logic and solving complex math/language problems, and being better at learning other languages.

Not sure of your source for those claims, but I see no disadvantage to being able to speak (and more importantly, think) in other languages.

My sister speaks five languages and she is totally illogical. In all of them.

I think multilingualism is normal in Europe, where there are multiple languages in close proximity. I think it would be good for kids in the American Northeast to be bilingual in French and English.

Much like most of us border rats speak Spanish.

My father's first language was Spanish. When he was old, he often would have to search for a word in english, but I never saw him search for a word in spanish.

The language at my grandmother's house switched from English to Spanish and back with lightening speed, often several times in a single sentence. But my mother did not speak Spanish, so in my house all the conversations were in English.

School was in English but Spanish was a subject. When I moved north, I took Latin in HS.

I was not/am not very good with languages, including apparently english given how often I am misunderstood on these pages. I took German at Rice, and when my sister was studying in Zurich we would exchange letters using a mix of English, Spanish, and German. (she also speaks French and Italian - I barely speak English these days)

If I could have three wishes, they would be to have a good singing voice, a proficiency in languages, and to be three inches taller.