If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?
There’s a joke that I’m far too fond of reciting to friends and family. It goes like this:
“If you speak three languages, you’re trilingual. If you speak two languages, you’re bilingual. If you speak only one language, you’re American.”
Sad but true.
If I had the power to change one law in my country, it would be to make mandatory that every American elementary and high school student be taught at least one non-English language. It’s an important skill, especially in a world that is growing more interconnected with every passing year.
English may be the lingua franca of today’s society, and your average English-speaker may be able to travel to nearly any country expecting someone to cater to his limited lingual skills, but that won’t last forever, will it? And besides, just because someone can speak English doesn’t mean they’ll humor you. And they can say mean things about you that you can’t understand.
Alright, cynicism and paranoia aside, besides the practical uses of speaking multiple language is the joy of learning and fluency. It opens doors, it draws people together and, quite frankly, it makes life a little easier if you’re not hobbled by ignorance of what others are saying.
America is a very cosmopolitan place. Lots of ethnicities and cultures exist here. And learning to speak Spanish or Mandarin or Arabic or French when you’re a kid is a lot easier than when you’re an adult.
Someday, I imagine, English won’t be a language that other countries’ students are required to learn. There ought to be a law that thinks that far ahead, and that’s the law I’d like to make: Students must become fluent in another language.
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My latest book, The Trickster’s Lament, is currently available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format.
“Hermes is not having the best time. He walks a fine line, and his duty as messenger of Olympus weighs heavily on him. Being a god in the modern age means living in a world that no longer believes in gods. How much can one deity accomplish when no one respects him anymore? And why do his instincts tell him that he, the son of Zeus, is losing favor with his own family?
Tensions abound. The upstart Young Gods play dangerous games using entire cities as their boards. Formless monsters strike from the nighttime shadows, terrorizing hapless mortals. Agents of rival pantheons scheme to thwart Olympus’ designs. In the thick of it all, Hermes does what he does best: trick, lie, and cheat his way to victory.“
Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.
Jake W. Powell 