Anyone who is a college student today has heard of PewDiePie. Odds are, you’ve probably watched his videos before, maybe you were a fan once, maybe you still are a fan, but regardless, most young people today know him as a larger than life internet celebrity from Sweden who became famous for his Youtube videos about video games. The interesting thing about Pewdiepie is that, despite recording all of his videos exclusively in English, English is not his first language, it’s Swedish. Born and raised in Sweden, Pewdiepie did what all good Swedish children do and went to school where he learned all the most important elements to a child's education in Sweden: Math, Science, History, and English.
In Sweden, English proficiency is a reality of the school system. All Swedish students are expected to study English from a very young age, and as a result, adult Swedes speak English remarkably well, with 86% of Swedes being proficient in English. This trend is present across European countries, not just Sweden. In the Netherlands, 90% of the population is proficient in English, in Denmark 86% of people speak English, in Austria 73%, in Belgium 60%. In Europe, more and more people are learning to speak English, presenting English as an ever more important language on the world stage. But even in parts of Europe where English isn’t widely taught in schools, schools still teach children to be proficient in other languages, most notably in parts of Central and Eastern Europe where German is taught in most schools and German proficiency is fairly high.
Meanwhile, only 20% of people in the United States, and 38% of people in the United Kingdom are bilingual; in Canada, a nation which is officially bilingual, only 19.3% of Canadians are bilingual (most of whom speak French natively and English as a second). This demonstrates a serious problem persistent across the English-speaking world, the issue being that English speakers don’t seem to learn languages very well. Why? Honestly, we have no excuse: the United Kingdom has been a part of the EU since the 1970s, and has a history of being in close contact with Europe and the various languages across that continent, Canadians share a country with French speakers, and the United States is one of the biggest recipients of immigrants in the world. What I believe it comes down to is the privilege that native English speakers have by being born speaking English, the new world language for the media, science, business, and politics. English speaking countries are not motivated to teach foreign languages to their children because English is already so prestigious: why should I learn French or Spanish or German if all I need to conduct business, to become a successful scientist, or to even study abroad is English. English speakers don't learn German, or French, or Dutch, or Spanish because most German, or French, or Dutch, or Spanish speakers any English speaker might interact with probably already speak English.
But, in my mind, this shouldn’t excuse native English speakers from learning foreign languages. Americans should make learning new languages a bigger priority by making schools teach foreign languages from a much younger age. Like in the rest of the world, English speaking children should go to school and learn a foreign language rather than waiting until Middle or High School. We should put more money into our schools language programs to higher better language teachers and buy better course materials. Maybe if we as a society focus more attention on learning languages, we can learn to better appreciate the world and its people.
In Sweden, English proficiency is a reality of the school system. All Swedish students are expected to study English from a very young age, and as a result, adult Swedes speak English remarkably well, with 86% of Swedes being proficient in English. This trend is present across European countries, not just Sweden. In the Netherlands, 90% of the population is proficient in English, in Denmark 86% of people speak English, in Austria 73%, in Belgium 60%. In Europe, more and more people are learning to speak English, presenting English as an ever more important language on the world stage. But even in parts of Europe where English isn’t widely taught in schools, schools still teach children to be proficient in other languages, most notably in parts of Central and Eastern Europe where German is taught in most schools and German proficiency is fairly high.
Meanwhile, only 20% of people in the United States, and 38% of people in the United Kingdom are bilingual; in Canada, a nation which is officially bilingual, only 19.3% of Canadians are bilingual (most of whom speak French natively and English as a second). This demonstrates a serious problem persistent across the English-speaking world, the issue being that English speakers don’t seem to learn languages very well. Why? Honestly, we have no excuse: the United Kingdom has been a part of the EU since the 1970s, and has a history of being in close contact with Europe and the various languages across that continent, Canadians share a country with French speakers, and the United States is one of the biggest recipients of immigrants in the world. What I believe it comes down to is the privilege that native English speakers have by being born speaking English, the new world language for the media, science, business, and politics. English speaking countries are not motivated to teach foreign languages to their children because English is already so prestigious: why should I learn French or Spanish or German if all I need to conduct business, to become a successful scientist, or to even study abroad is English. English speakers don't learn German, or French, or Dutch, or Spanish because most German, or French, or Dutch, or Spanish speakers any English speaker might interact with probably already speak English.
But, in my mind, this shouldn’t excuse native English speakers from learning foreign languages. Americans should make learning new languages a bigger priority by making schools teach foreign languages from a much younger age. Like in the rest of the world, English speaking children should go to school and learn a foreign language rather than waiting until Middle or High School. We should put more money into our schools language programs to higher better language teachers and buy better course materials. Maybe if we as a society focus more attention on learning languages, we can learn to better appreciate the world and its people.
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