Er, not in the developed world! Good luck trying to pay with dollars in the UK/the Eurozone, except in certain very-upscale department stores where they're set up for multi-currency transactions (and even then, I'm not sure they'd accept cash!)...

Really? It's been awhile since I've traveled out of the country, but I've never had an issue before, especially in areas that are very touristy.

You might, repeat might, be able to pay with dollars in some major tourist locations in the UK and Europe, but it certainly isn't the norm, and most shops/venues will not accept anything other than the national legal tender (it may even be illegal to do so in some countries without some form of government permit, though I'm not sure about that). And, as doorki says, I doubt the exchange rate would be favourable if you were able to do so. Very different situation in large parts of Asia/Africa/India etc, where dollars are highly desirable.

There is one other aspect of this to be considered. In a democracy, everyone gets a voice. As groups become larger, they can exert more political influence. The idea that there is only one "official" language (english) is not permanent--it's just something that reflects the parochial interests of those who were here first and made up the majority. If large groups of citizens want to do things a different way--and they have the political clout to achieve their aims, our "monolingual" status could easily change.
And it would be as American as apple pie.

Language is simply a tool for communication, even if only, at the worst, it is one-way communication. But most people prefer two-way conversations - we have two ears and only one brain and mouth so that seems a strong indication that we need to listen more than we talk. Since there are 37 million Spanish speakers living in the U.S. (which is 12.8% of the nation's population) and knowing that U.S. Census Bureau projects the Hispanic or Latino population rising from 16% today to 30% by 2050, it behooves adults to not only encourage but require their offspring to become bilingual.

The work involved in the very beginning of creating any language was driven by the desire to communicate more effectively through recognizable symbols. If some want "their" language to stand in isolation and refuse to learn anyone else's symbols, then that person is the odd man out and should feel as embarrassed and ashamed as the anyone who is excluded because they won't play nice.


-Debra

Meh... being bilingual is overrated... when it seems like the majority of the world speaks english...

But it's amazing how much special treatment one can get as an Italian-speaking blonde in Italy :laugh:

Meh... being bilingual is overrated... when it seems like the majority of the world speaks english...

Ah, but it's such a nice feeling to be able to assist someone who cannot speak English. I help translate for people often, and the Spanish speaking people who were struggling are always so grateful.

It also helps when you're in Pamplona, Spain where not many people speak English and your car gets towed to the police department because you parked illegally. I understood $250, even in Basque.

Meh... being bilingual is overrated... when it seems like the majority of the world speaks english...

Ah, but it's such a nice feeling to be able to assist someone who cannot speak English. I help translate for people often, and the Spanish speaking people who were struggling are always so grateful.

It also helps when you're in Pamplona, Spain where not many people speak English and your car gets towed to the police department because you parked illegally. I understood $250, even in Basque.

I really suck at trying to speak latin languages... I mean truly... I would much rather torture myself learning a higher level mathematics such is differential equations (partial or ordinary makes no difference to me) than to try and fumble my way through a language that confuses the heck out of me... why must the verbs change so much? There is like 12 verb spellings and pronounciations based on the person and then multiply that by 4 based on the voice... it's confusing as hell.

why must the verbs change so much? There is like 12 verb spellings and pronounciations based on the person and then multiply that by 4 based on the voice... it's confusing as hell.

That's why Spanish is so easy! The vowels all sound the same, regardless of the word.

Yeah but like italian there is like 597 different ways to conjegate a verb... :indifferent:

Meh... being bilingual is overrated... when it seems like the majority of the world speaks english...

Ah, but it's such a nice feeling to be able to assist someone who cannot speak English. I help translate for people often, and the Spanish speaking people who were struggling are always so grateful.

It also helps when you're in Pamplona, Spain where not many people speak English and your car gets towed to the police department because you parked illegally. I understood $250, even in Basque.

I really suck at trying to speak latin languages... I mean truly... I would much rather torture myself learning a higher level mathematics such is differential equations (partial or ordinary makes no difference to me) than to try and fumble my way through a language that confuses the heck out of me... why must the verbs change so much? There is like 12 verb spellings and pronounciations based on the person and then multiply that by 4 based on the voice... it's confusing as hell.

Agree with Patti - I quite often end up helping tourists in London (I live in the centre near some major-but-tricky-to-find tourist attractions). However, Germanic languages drive me batty! Latin or Slavonic-based languages are fine, but even after years of lessons and singing in German, I still can only manage general day-to-day stuff. I certainly can't converse easily, though I generally understand a lot more than I can say. The grammar, however, and the compound words...groan.

Meh... being bilingual is overrated... when it seems like the majority of the world speaks english...

Ah, but it's such a nice feeling to be able to assist someone who cannot speak English. I help translate for people often, and the Spanish speaking people who were struggling are always so grateful.

It also helps when you're in Pamplona, Spain where not many people speak English and your car gets towed to the police department because you parked illegally. I understood $250, even in Basque.

I really suck at trying to speak latin languages... I mean truly... I would much rather torture myself learning a higher level mathematics such is differential equations (partial or ordinary makes no difference to me) than to try and fumble my way through a language that confuses the heck out of me... why must the verbs change so much? There is like 12 verb spellings and pronounciations based on the person and then multiply that by 4 based on the voice... it's confusing as hell.

Agree with Patti - I quite often end up helping tourists in London (I live in the centre near some major-but-tricky-to-find tourist attractions). However, Germanic languages drive me batty! Latin or Slavonic-based languages are fine, but even after years of lessons and singing in German, I still can only manage general day-to-day stuff. I certainly can't converse easily, though I generally understand a lot more than I can say. The grammar, however, and the compound words...groan.

I find it interesting how the structure of the language can sort of "map" the way your mind works -- or maybe it's the opposite. I know that German requires a certain amount of discipline, but, after that, I did not find it that difficult--again, I think the linguistic structure appeals to certain ways of thinking. I have not studied other languages formally, but I found that attempts to teach myself French or Italian did not work very well.

My undergraduate major was in German language and literature (although I haven't used it seriously since I stopped teaching high school in 1978). After a couple of trips to Germany, I was actually becoming reasonably fluent in everyday-type conversation (which you soon realize doesn't require a lot of vocabulary). What I found most interesting was that, once you reach a certain proficiency, you can understand (and compare) how ideas, concepts, etc, are expressed in each language, and how those expressions reflect the thinking and some of the cultural patterns of the different people.

It's also funny how some common or borrowed words are used differently. I drove to Quebec in the 1990s at the end of the summer. As often happens on longer vacations (this one was 15 days), i lost track to the calendar. I started hearing and seeing references to "Fete du Travail". I didn't know what it meant, but it seemed significant since it was being mentioned so often. Then I realized it meant "Labor Day". For me at least, words like "fete" and especially "travail" have a completely different connotation, so I found that very entertaining. My favorite of all time was in 1974, seeing the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Montreal listed as "Poulet Frites a la Kentucky".

I guess that's one reason why I have trouble taking the "ever'body should talk 'merican" debate seriously. To me, the world of language is so rich with expression, we should welcome the enrichment of our culture, not fight so hard to suppress it.

My husband reads other languages, too. The text in some of his books is read backward. No way I could do that!

I think the Japanese language is like that, right? Read backwards, I mean. I always see people reading those anime cartoon books backwards at Barnes & Noble, anyway...they're in English, but supposedly you still read them backwards like you would in Japan. I think that's what someone told me, anyway.

My English professor during my first year at college would grade papers in Polish. It really irritated me at first, but then I grew to find it funny.

why must the verbs change so much? There is like 12 verb spellings and pronounciations based on the person and then multiply that by 4 based on the voice... it's confusing as hell.

That's why Spanish is so easy! The vowels all sound the same, regardless of the word.

Yeah but like italian there is like 597 different ways to conjegate a verb... :indifferent:

Yeah, that's why I started failing German after several years of learning it in school. My Lutheran school started us in 7th grade and by my senior year of high school I had to drop it because of the complex turn it took.

I gotta say you wouldn't believe the amount of patients we have come in and ones that came into the hospital that I worked at before that live here and speak no english at all. They always have someone with them that does or barely does. And when we get work done to our house, it's always a large group where only one of them barely speaks english. I don't mind bilingual but if you are going to live (not visit) in a country you should really know the language. Hell I was only visiting france for a week but I learned enough to get by to order food, go to the hospital or get myself redirected if I got lost. At least speak enough to get by. I don't mind if you want to speak your own language 90% of the time, but be able to speak english in situations where it is necessary.

This.