According to Forbes, in the United States, Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken, and the United States is the home of the second largest population of Spanish speakers in the world (trailing behind only Mexico). This fact is supported each time we see commercials and publications in Spanish and English. However, in a 2014 study conducted by Harvard University, it was discovered that most of the Spanish language teaching programs in American schools are not effective for adequate proficiency.
Growing up in the New York City public school system, I took Spanish at most of the schools I attended. However, I only learned the basics. In middle school, we learned small phrases and the common verb, “ser,” which means “to be.” We watched many movies and videos, and to be honest with you, I graduated from that school not grasping one ounce of Spanish. It wasn't until I met my wonderful Spanish teacher in high school that I yearned to have decent proficiency in the language. The overcrowded classes of 30-50 students prevented full engagement from the students and limited one to one interaction with the teacher. From my conversations with friends, their experience with learning Spanish in school is similar to mine.
As a student who has just returned from studying abroad in Spain for a year, the lax attitude the American education system holds towards language proficiency compared to the overwhelming amount of European people who were multilingual was made apparent. The Washington Post reports that “According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 20 percent of Americans can converse in two or more languages, compared with 56 percent of Europeans.” When in Greece, my tour guide told us that Greek students start learning English from around 6 years old until they are 18 years old, and after a couple of years building their English skills, another language is introduced. Meanwhile in Denmark, English speakers can assume that every Dane they interact with knows English. In addition, while traveling from across Europe, all of the flight instructions were given in English. While this can be attributed to the proximity of the United Kingdom, a former member of the European Union, the effort made by non-English speaking countries to communicate in English should teach us Americans to make an effort to communicate with our large Spanish speaking population within the U.S.
Some Americans seem to have a problem with integrating Spanish into everyday life. A New York lawyer threatened to call ICE on deli employees because they were speaking Spanish. A young girl called out to her mother in Spanish while shopping at a Walmart in Georgia, which led to another shopper to snap and say, “You need to teach her English.” In California, a cardiologist refused to treat a Spanish speaking patient even though her daughter offered to translate saying, "she's been in this country she should know English.” These instances demonstrate the aversion to expanding American culture to include the many immigrants from Spanish speaking countries and first generation Americans with Hispanic heritage. Many job applications laud applicants that know more than one language, especially Spanish, but there is no nationwide system to ensure that future generations can converse comfortably in non-English languages. By not creating effective opportunities for school children to broaden their horizons and immerse themselves in Spanish, the growth of American society is stunted and a hierarchy of English speakers over all is perpetuated. There are certificate programs that offer exams to prove levels of fluency in Spanish that students can be prepped to take. I took and passed the Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) in Spain, which lasts a lifetime, but there are other certificate programs, such as Certificate of Use of Language in Spanish (CELU), and Standards-Based Assessment and Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP).
Recently our school, Andrews University, ranked first in the list of most diverse universities in the United States. It was my experience here that supported my journey to bilingualism. The many cultures on campus we experience on the daily promotes an environment that accepts the multilingual nature of our world.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.