The Benefits--and Joys--of Bilingualism

Trump and immigration, a combination that goes together as readily as oil and water; a combination as harmless as the effect of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on arctic ice. Yesterday, the obnoxious portavoz-porte-voix of the present let’s-hope-soon-to-be-ancien regime, announced in a press conference new immigration guidelines, which includes a provision to favor those who already speak English.  A reporter asked whether this was what Emma Lazarus had in mind, and whether this evinces discrimination against non-English speaking would-be immigrants; this drove Trump’s representative, Stephen Miller, into a tirade that was, well, more than a few steps across the border from the World of Reason into the realm of La La Land-crazy.

I read that in high school, hearing students speak Spanish sent little Steven Miller into a rage against the apparent affront to his native tongue.  He has become even worse.  The covert anti-Hispanic element in the new policy is obvious, but in this article I’d like to ask a more general question: Is the desire to continue to speak another language a threat to the identity and well-being of the United States? I think not; if I said this to Stephen Miller during a press conference, the next word I would be able to get in would come many, many of his fatuous words later.  My computer, however, accepts what I write without an ampersand of hysteria, so I decided to defend bilingualism, or better yet, multilingualism, in this little article;  it is an attempt to encourage monolinguists—the majority of Americans—to stimulate the language centers of their brains, which is just as important as exercising the body.

"Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von seiner eigenen.” (“If you don’t know foreign languages, you don’t know your own.” Notice the plural!)           

                          --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We who live in the United States have a distinct advantage:we speak the most important language in the world.  True, there are more speakers of Chinese, but nothing can compare with the universality of English.  Among non-English speakers, English is the first choice for foreign language study virtually everywhere in the world.  You just can’t consider yourself educated in many non-English-speaking countries in Europe and elsewhere if you don’t know English along with your native language.  Most scientific research, moreover, appears in English, whether the scientist hales from Denmark or Egypt.  It is truly the world language.  If you want to get ahead internationally, English will undoubtedly make your journey easier,

Learning English is not only practical; it is a beautiful language as well.  Literature written in English is astoundingly rich.  It amazes me that a small country produced so many great authors: Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Austin, etc. etc, and so many fine poets as well: Keats, Shelley, Pope, Dryden, Manley Hopkins, etc etc. English-speaking countries, such as the United States, continue to increase the number of great writers in the language: Melville, Dickinson, Frost, Roth, Whitman, etc. etc.  In addition, English is so wonderfully idiomatic, malleable, and musical, making translation very difficult.  For instance, how would you translate, “What if a much of a which of a wind/gives the truth to summer’s lie/..." Bob Dylan’s “The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind” has been translated into German as “Die Antwort, mein Freund,/Weiss ganz allein der Wind”--the  original is indeed much superior. In addition,writers from all over the world continue to enrich literature in English, e.g. many authors from India choose to write in English; many foreign directors direct films in my beautiful native language as well.  What better way to obtain an international audience?   

Native English-speakers, however, also have a considerable disadvantage.  It is acceptable for an intellectual whose native language is English to know only that language; if you're Dutch, however, you can’t consider yourself educated if you don’t know English.  (The Dutch often know French and German as well.) Those whose mother tongue is not English, therefore, compose the vast majority of those who reap the considerable cognitive benefits of knowing more than one language.

Although foreign language instruction in the U.S. is said to be improving, I haven’t seen much results.  As a pediatrician, I picked up enough Spanish to be able to communicate with those who only spoke Spanish. I asked one of the medical assistants to tell a Spanish-speaking family in an examination room that I would be in to see them soon.  (She had told me previously that she had taken four years of high-school Spanish.)  She refused to inform the family--I was shocked to discover that just about the only thing she was able tp say was Hola!

Another example, Nancy Pelosi, the Italian-American politician, told a group of pundits that “We must improve the world mano a mano".  Not one of the highly-educated pundits in the room knew what she meant.

Why is it important to know another language? Let me count some of the ways.

Research shows that the brains of bi- or multi-lingual individuals are larger: this includes not only the language areas of the brain, but the hippocampus as well, which is essential for memory and quick thinking.  Research shows that if a bilingual person is going to develop Alzheimer’s, the onset of that dreadful disease is delayed five to seven years. Additional research strongly indicates that bilingualism, along with ballroom dancing, reading, playing a musical instrument, and social engagement, keeps the brain young.  Being bilingual also increases one’s attention, one’s ability to multitask, and even helps one to develop more empathy.

Learning languages is an enriching experience; more than that, it’s fun.  If you keep at it, it’s not at all difficult. I love to switch from language to language—I speak four; multilingualism has given me an international perspective as well.  I think I know a lot more about the situation in Venezuela, for instance, by listening to the news in Spanish every evening. I read novels in English, French, and German.  I’m not bragging; I am not a linguist.  Your interests might lie elsewhere, but it wouldn’t be difficult for you to speak at least one language in addition to your own.

Anthropologists believe that humans evolved speaking more than one language, as they learned to communicate with others.  The European Union advised all inhabitants to speak two languages in addition to their own. We Americans have a long way to go so that we don’t go young.

Many Americans, like Stephen Miller, get angry when they hear a foreign language, usually Spanish, spoken. YouTube contains many clips of people yelling at others for daring to speak another language.  This is America!  Speak English!  Go back to where you came from!  I am pleased that the equanimity that comes with age doesn't permit me to get a frisson of Schadenfreude by the realization that such people are much more likely to get Alzheimer’s; I just would like it if they behaved more like human beings.

This is why I welcome Spanish-speakers into our country—yes, there have to be some legal restrictions on immigration, but hardly the draconian measures Trump has taken. Every night on Spanish news I am confronted by the deportation of a family member who has been in this country for years and who has committed no crime.  Frequently, one family member is deported while the rest of the family, here legally, remain. The deported individual, who often has been in America for decades, who more often than not works and pays taxes, is forced to return to a land that is foreign to him, even though that person was born there--This might be legal, but it is still, in my book, a crime. Government-sponsored breaking up of families--is this the American way?

We should be happy that there are many Spanish-speaking people in this country.  (They learn English, don’t worry.)  They make learning Spanish much easier, a proven way to enlarge our brains and to keep them fit. 

(By the way, pace Trump, Hispanics are not taking American jobs away in any significant number.  Instead of scapegoating them, we should be addressing real problems: increasing automation, inadequate education, and the absence of a New-Deal-like program to put people to work, for instance. Building a wall we don't need while so many of our bridges are on the verge of collapse is, well, ridiculous).

Learning another language is a no-brainer grow-brainer; it is a proven way, like exercise and eating vegetables, to live a longer and better life.  

Por favor, ¡no espere más!