TRAN: Students should consider learning 2nd language
Column: Hung Up
Any given American is likely to be monolingual. In 2019, approximately 3 out of 4 people in the U.S. were only able to speak English. Of the remaining population, approximately 20 percent can speak another language. While that number has almost tripled in the past 40 years, it still lags far behind other countries.
In the European Union, the country with the lowest number of foreign language speakers, Ireland, still has approximately 40 percent of the population able to speak an additional language. The United Kingdom also has approximately 35 percent of its population able to speak a second language. Additionally, in Canada, approximately 33 percent of individuals are bilingual, and another 7 percent are trilingual.
The U.S.'s multilingual ability is lacking despite the large proportion of immigrants in the melting pot. In contrast, the aforementioned countries are generally smaller and have a somewhat closer proximity to countries that speak another language. For example, Italy is bordered by four countries that speak other languages, and Canada is an officially bilingual country. But the U.S. also hosts a significant number of non-English speakers, with Spanish being the most prominent language other than English.
As of 2022, 13 percent of the U.S. population speaks Spanish natively. In New Jersey specifically, the number is slightly higher at 17.5 percent for people aged 18 to 64, but in New Brunswick, that number reaches more than 43 percent.
Being able to understand a second language is intrinsically beneficial. Because such a large portion of the U.S. speaks a language other than English, being unable to communicate with them exhibits a significant downside of monolingualism. Of course, much of the multilingual population in the U.S. is able to speak English to some degree, but approximately 8.2 percent speak English less than "less than very well."
Properly communicating important messages would surely require a translator, which is inconvenient and can potentially be inaccurate to the speaker's true intended meaning.
Being able to communicate effectively brings a host of advantages in that area and helps avoid many other complications that may arise. It could also be important in international travel or business by neutralizing the need for translators and creating a sense of respect for the listener.
The increasing effectiveness of real-time translation, which will perhaps be even further enhanced by constantly improving artificial intelligence, may make it seem like learning a second language is unnecessary, especially as an adult. After all, learning an entirely new language takes serious time and effort, even for languages that are similar to English.
At a minimum and with a commitment akin to a full-time job, the process would generally require approximately a third of a year. Still, it should be considered a worthwhile task, even if done at more realistic levels like a few minutes each day.
Beyond the relatively obvious benefits of facilitated communication and understanding, learning a second language stimulates the brain with clear and significant long-term benefits.
For instance, it can increase academic performance in other core academic areas and testing ability, even in completely unrelated fields. It also helps foster cultural awareness and improves employment competitiveness and political interests. More abstractly, knowing a second language is associated with better memory association and retrieval and delayed cognitive decline.
This idea seems to be supported by anatomical changes as well. Bilingual adults have denser gray matter and increased white matter integrity, which supports connections between brain regions and overall processing functions.
In other words, being bilingual simply improves your brain.
Now, there are many resources that enable learning a second language. In New Jersey public schools, students are required to have regular instruction in a world language at least until high school.
Furthermore, some colleges and universities have foreign language requirements. Even the College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers—Camden has a one- or two-semester requirement, depending on the student's initial placement in the program.
Rutgers offers plenty of opportunities to study many foreign languages from around the world, presenting the chance to dedicate time to learning one whilst simultaneously receiving elective credits. Adding a foreign language requirement to the graduation or core requirements would most likely be unpopular but should nevertheless be considered.
Naturally, one or two semesters are not sufficient to learn a language, but the experience can be a meaningful start to a useful endeavor.
Tyler Tran is a sophomore in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and minoring in Economics. His column, "Hung Up," runs on alternative Mondays.
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