Multilingualism

Every time I go back to the States, I see more and more things written in Spanish. And every time I go back, I hear more and more rants about it. I hear the rants in English, because my Spanish consists of a few courtesies and miscellaneous general words, and rants are usually not very courteous, and usually are very specific. So I admit I'm only hearing one side of the argument. But here are my thoughts, and they're in English, because I'm mortified to say that it's the only language in which I'm fluent.

I am thrilled that the United States is becoming multilingual. Thrilled. It can only be a good thing for the arts, for access to technical and academic information (yes, people who don't speak English can be smart too), for diplomacy, for international economic development work, for pastoral care, for social welfare programs, for political enfranchisement.

I hear many complaints that "It would cost too much to have all official documents in two languages". However, I notice that Switzerland, as one notable example, has four official languages, in which all official documents are presumably available, and it doesn't seem to have beggared them.

Then there's the tried-and-true "They came here, they should speak our language" argument. Oh? And why, then, aren't we speaking Dutch, or, for that matter, one of the Native American languages? And, now that you mention it, significant portions of what is now the United States were first colonized by Spanish-speakers. So...who should speak whose language?

And, oh, yeah, there's the "If you let them keep speaking their language, they'll never learn English" poppycock. Okay, there's probably a grain of truth in this for those who arrive significantly post-lingually (as in, too old to easily learn another language). Heck, I arrived in Australia twelve years ago and I still can't even manage to get the accent right -- and I'm an English-speaker to start with. But (just to extend this example a bit) Margaret, my kid, has grown up here. She can pick up and put down any accent or vocabulary set she pleases, whenever it suits her. (Her American accent, in case you're wondering, is flawless. But it's not her everyday accent.) The kids can't help but learn the dominant language -- from television, from school (even multilingual schools, as far as I'm aware, still incorporate English into a hefty percentage of the day), from the kids down the street or on their sports teams, from the tap water.

So, all you who think a single, legally determined "official language" is a good idea, quit cowering: multilingualism is a force for good. Insularity and hypernationalism only make the world situation worse. Even if you don't have the time or the resources to learn another language, at least don't snap and snarl and yank the food bowl away from those who don't (yet) speak yours.