Carpe Diem? More Like Carpe Lingua

I took Latin in both middle and high school. Six whole years of conjugating, translating, and rarely speaking a very (and I mean very) dead language. This of course was not my choice. What 12 year old, if given the option, would choose Latin?

If my parents had their way, they would have started my classical training in elementary school. Well, why did they make me suffer through learning a language for which I had no interest and no talent whatsoever, you may be asking? That is a question I myself am still trying to sort out. Here are my hypotheses so far:

1. They believed learning Latin would incite in me a passion in medicine or law (it did not)

2. They thought it would be really cool if their kid could sound like a witch from the 17th century

Some brief insight as to what latin classes felt like

So I learned Latin. Kind of. My scope of knowledge is limited to being able to pick out a few words here and there in art museums and reciting state mottos. Six years of classes and occasional Latin Club events on the weekends, and I can just barely make out a sentence.

My experience with foreign language in secondary school is what I believe to be the outcome of most American foreign language programs. US schools comparatively do not teach foreign languages well. According to a survey, only 25 percent of Americans know enough of a foreign language to hold a conversation. This is due in part to lack of school funding, and curriculum standards that do not require foreign language at any grade level.

According to the Pew Research Center, in almost every country in Europe, students begin studying their first foreign language as a required school subject between the ages of 6 and 9. Furthermore, it is even required for students to study a second foreign language for at least one year

This distinction between Europe and the United States becomes evident when making observations in the workplace. My time spent at my internship placement was unlike any other work environment I had ever experienced. Languages would switch instantaneously in a conversation, with my co-workers choosing a language which better suited a word or idea they needed in that moment. Never in my life had I heard that many languages spoken in one place, and the ease at which they were able to switch as they pleased was one of the things I most enjoyed observing.

Upon my first arrival to the office, I remember being asked “what other languages I spoke”. This phrasing shocked me a bit. In the United States, it would be an added bonus if you spoke an additional language. It was not something that was expected of you, nor would it be a determining factor as to whether or not you got the job. In Europe, Belgium specifically, this ability would be desired as it was so prevalent.

The good news for me? I likely will not be working in a European office in the near future. However, the value of being able to communicate through different languages is something that I believe needs to be reinforced in the United States. I think prevalently there is this American mentality that English is the only language that is spoken in our country, and that if people would like to do business with us, then they need to do so in ‘our language’. I truly believe we need to invest in our schools and provide children with the means necessary to succeed in fostering language.

Overall, my time spent at my internship really made me appreciate and desire to learn a language. Just maybe not Latin.