Exposing Monolingual Hypocrisy

You know what's hypocritical? We pat ourselves on the back for being inclusive toward other cultures yet we don't learn the basics of the languages being spoken all around us.

We accommodate people who are more comfortable speaking Spanish than English, but we don't embrace them. It's not just a matter of actively accepting people with different speaking and writing abilities because that doesn't address the implicit ways that we exclude them (No shade, just tea).

Statistics show there are about 41 million native Spanish speakers in the United States, as well as 12 million who are bilingual Spanish speakers. For comparison, the next most widely spoken languages are Chinese, at 2.9 million, and French, at 2 million.

What do these numbers mean?

First of all, if you add the amount of people who learned Spanish as a secondary language, there are more Spanish speakers living here than there are in Colombia or Spain.

Second of all, people who speak Spanish are usually stereotyped as incapable of integrating into society because of language barrier issues. This becomes problematic for those who speak English comfortably and are still put into this box that alienates them. Bilingual Spanish speakers are treated as other by people with the same level of fluency. This isn't to say that those who are not so fluent deserve to be alienated either, but there is no reason to alienate anyone simply because they speak another language and may speak English with an accent.

Yes, languages like Spanish are taught at most schools and students are given the opportunity to learn them. And quite a few people take what they learn from language classes into the real world and utilize their skills. But if that's the case, why are most of our conversations held in English? And why do the majority of students forget everything they've learned in a language after high school or college? We have normalized the idea that since English is our official language that it must be the default for conveying information in school, around friends, in public transportation, at stores, at work, and on social media.

I have read plenty of research arguing that learning another language heightens empathy. This concept has been studied in experiments where a subject has to decipher meaning to determine another participant's intent. But we don't have to repeat the experiments to observe this. If you have some knowledge of another language you can experience it for yourself. The respondent is bound to utter a word that you haven't learned yet, or even a whole sentence that doesn't make sense. In this case, the learner has to look past the actual words and feel for the person's intentions and motives. You may not know the meaning of the word but the physical emphasis and tonality that they put onto the word might allow you to piece together the meaning.

By extension, To be in a predominantly English-speaking space and to have your native language spoken makes an interaction more intimate. To put it one way, if you only speak your native language with your family, when someone else has picked it up and speaks it to you, it will subconsciously give you the feeling of talking to a family member.

(Side note: As someone who was raised speaking English, I don't know this experience firsthand, but I have had the feeling described to me by friends and colleagues.)

We need empathy to fully understand oppression's impact on ethnic minorities. This includes refugees and immigrants who are marginalized in every facet of society.

Not to mention, empathy is needed to understand and effect policies that regulate their integration. No matter which side of the debate you are on, it's no secret that politicians generally do not empathize with refugees and undocumented immigrants. Most Congress members, left and right, are cognizant of the families being split up from deportations. Many are bombarded with the image of children being yanked from their parent's arms in discourse, but they are able to look past the emotional weight of the story by responding apathetically. The law is used as an "objective" counter to forgiving those who fled here out of necessity, and the phrase "if you want to come here then do it legally" is nothing new to the conversation. We tend to look at it from an insider perspective, neglecting other factors that make people leave their home country in the first place.

We all have a responsibility to put ourselves in other people's shoes because to be blunt, individualism is what permitted so many voters to cast their vote for Trump. Trump voters were for the most part oblivious to how his rhetoric impacts other demographics.

If you have children, let them watch movies in other languages with English subtitles. And don't stop there; check in with them to make sure they comprehend the motives and intentions, and have them make predictions about what each character will do next.

If you're an adult, living your adult life, and you tell yourself that your adult life is what's restricting you from learning a language, maybe you should challenge yourself. Take it in strides and teach yourself a little bit of that language each day. Incorporate it into your schedule so it will feel like a part of your routine.

How long will it take for us to truly transform from a 'melting pot' society into a 'salad bowl'? Let's start now.