I saw a poll recently that says Georgians aren’t very interested in learning languages. I don’t know what your excuse is but I’m still trying to master the language we already have. When I get who vs. whom figured out, you will be the first to know.
Test Prep Insight, an organization that works with students to get them ready for enrolling in a GRE prep course or learning a second language, commissioned a survey that says the Great State of Georgia is among the least bilingual states in America. Less than a quarter of us can converse in another language. That places us 35th among the 50 states.
As usual, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas rank behind us, but I was surprised to find that the least multilingual states in the country according to the survey are Iowa, Idaho, Maine, and Delaware. While no explanation is offered, I can only assume that in the case of Iowa, Idaho, and Maine, it’s because it snows there all the time, and knowing how to speak Portuguese isn’t going to change that fact.
As for Delaware, that’s the home of noted linguist Joe Biden, who told a crowd at the White House that he was the nation’s first senator from that state. He meant president. He introduced Vice President Kamala Harris as president and said there are 54 states in the U.S., which I assume would include Delaware. There are also 7,151 languages on Planet Earth. He wouldn’t make sense in one of them.
So, you may be asking, where are the most multilingual states? I’m glad you asked. (Frankly, I’m glad you’ve read this far.) They are Rhode Island, New Mexico, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and California. What good that does them, I have no idea. I guess if you are from Rhode Island, you can say, “Sure, we are the teeniest state in the nation, but I’ll bet you don’t know Swahili. Kula Moyo Wako Nje!”
The survey indicates that many of us don’t see the need to learn a second language, even if we travel overseas. I wouldn’t classify myself as a world traveler but between my corporate life and my time as a managing director of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, I visited a bunch of countries and don’t remember a one where the locals didn’t speak fluent English – though some tried to hide the fact.
I remember one small gathering with the Chinese minister of sport before the Games. We asked him questions that his interpreter passed along in Chinese. The minister replied in Chinese and the interpreter translated his comments in English.
All went well until the end of the dinner when the interpreter provided us an answer to one of our questions. The minister quickly responded in perfect English, “That’s not what I said.”
He had been aware of everything we had said all evening and it made me wonder if, in the conversations between them, they were talking about us in Chinese. (“Boss, I’ve decided that Yarbrough fellow is dumber than a rock.” “I agree, minion. He ate his rice with a spoon and stirred his tea with chopsticks. What a dork.”) If folks living in other countries have mastered English, why can’t those coming to live in our country learn to speak our language as well? Why all the “Aqui se Habla Espanol” signs? Why not, “English is spoken here. Deal with it.”
Even the English language can be multilingual. It depends on where you reside. North of the Mason-You-know-Who line, fixing means you intend to fix something, like repairing a leaky faucet. Around here if you say fixing, it means you are about to, as in, “Hon, I’m fixin’ to call Pete the plumber about this dang leaky faucet while you fix dinner.”
I will admit I am among the majority of Georgians that the survey says do not see the need to be multilingual. However, I might want to rethink that idea. I had a reader last week suggest that as far as writing columns go, I give it up, along with my “incessant drivel.” I am wondering if he would like my column if I incessantly driveled it in another language. But I’m not fixing to ask him. He just might tell me. In English.
Sacre Bleu!
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139