Happy 4th of July

In its honor, an ode to what makes me love my country, and what makes me miss it while I'm gone--diversity.

In that vein, I'd like to share a brief post on English acquisition by foreign-born individuals. Pretty concise.

As one who has traveled through more than a couple of countries, openly as an American, it really grinds my gear to hear Americans scoff "Learn to speak English!" Generally, they'll say this of people who a) already speak English, but with a noticeable accent, b) can't understand their own dialectic English, or c) look brown.

Having traveled in other countries, I've found almost every region outside th U.S. to be quite encouraging of foreigners (especially Americans) who try to speak their native tongues. In Spanish-speaking countries, every person is a Spanish teacher. What's more, they'll laugh *with* you, rather than sneering about your choppy textbook grammar.

Moreover, having worked alongside a number of immigrants (especially Spanish-speakers and Asians), I can tell you that most of them are trying hard to learn English, but may have limited time (2 or more jobs) or resources (frequently minimum wage) to take formal classes. Often, they learn English from their children.

I find it somewhat ironic that in a nation characterized by its diversity, we can be so uptight about our language. This wrongheaded notion of a great "melting pot" leads to a devaluation of what makes our nation truly impressive--that so many cultures can coexist, pretty much as one.

Anyway, this graph is a nice exposition on why ignorant people shouldn't make assumptions about people's ability to speak English or efforts toward learning it.