Editor's Notebook: Spoken Like an American

We’ve all heard the jokes that portray Americans as uncultured country hicks compared to Europeans. We are stupid. We continually make fools of ourselves. We only speak English.

Recently, I was lying on a beach in southern Florida when a middle-aged Italian man struck up a conversation with me. He seemed surprised when I knew that Italy was in Europe and that Italians speak a language called “Italian,” which includes the word “ciao.” Then when I revealed that I am also aware that Italy is shaped like a boot, he was positively ecstatic.

Similarly, when I first arrived in China last year for a year abroad and finally mastered how to say “hello,” “how are you?” and “goodbye” in Mandarin, all the Chinese people I met were surprised and impressed at my “mastery” of their language. Later, when I could hold my own in a conversation, some of them even refused to believe that I was from the U.S.

There is an element of truth to the foreign perception of Americans as cultural and linguistic isolationists. When we go abroad, we speak English to everyone we meet and get angry when they do not understand. If we go abroad, that is. Very few Americans make it overseas, and if they do, they go to London or Paris, maybe Rome. Those on more expansive budgets perhaps relax at a resort in Phuket (Thailand) or in Bali (Indonesia) where western food is served alongside western beds, western toilets, western people and western consumer-oriented service. Americans leave relaxed but totally ignorant about Thai or Indonesian language and culture.

Americans need to stop waiting for everyone else to learn English and learn about our country—we need to be proactive. Among the more than 14 million American students studying at a post-secondary school level, fewer than 10 percent study a foreign language. It seems that almost every European I have met has spoken at least passable English. In today’s global society, nations and peoples are interdependent as never before; area studies and foreign language study are crucial for national security and economic competition. Moreover, knowledge of a foreign language facilitates communication, increases knowledge and understanding of other cultures, allows insight into the nature of language and culture and permits participation in multilingual communities both in America and abroad.

American complacency towards the rest of the world is shocking. We cannot expect to join and progress with the international community in isolation and ignorance. It should no longer be a surprise that I know Italy is shaped like a boot or that it is possible for me to master Chinese. As a member of the international community, it is my duty.