Language

美國語言

What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? An American.

你如何稱呼能說三種語言的人？三聲帶。能講兩種語言的人又如何稱呼？雙聲帶。那么，只會一種語言的人呢？美國人。

To people in many countries, being bilingual or even trilingual is a way of life. But since the mother tongue of most Americans is English-a language widely spoken around the world-they often don\'t feel the need to learn a foreign language. Moreover, people who live in the heartland of America have little contact with other linguistic groups, making foreign language skills irrelevant.

對許多國家的人而言，說兩種或三種語言，是家常便飯。但在美國，由于大多數人的母語為英語--一個世界上廣泛通用的語言--因此美國人都不覺得有必要學習外語。此外，居住于美國大陸內地的人，較少與其它語言族群接觸，因此外語能力更顯得無關緊要。

Actually, though, this "land of immigrants" has always had people of many different nationalities-and languages. The 1990 census indicates that almost 14% of Americans speak a non-English language at home. Yet only 3% reported that they spoke English "not well" or "not at all." That means that slightly more than one out of 10 Americans could be considered bilingual. Besides that, many high school and college students-and even some elementary school students-are required to take a foreign language as a part of their curriculum. In addition to old standbys like Spanish, German and French, more and more students are opting for Eastern European and Asian languages. Of course, not all students keep up their foreign language abilities. As the old saying goes, "If you don\'t use it, you lose it." But still, a growing number of Americans are coming to appreciate the benefits of being multilingual.

事實上，在美國這塊「移民之地」，一直住著來自不同國籍、說不同語言的人口。一九九○年的人口普查顯示，幾乎百分之十四的美國人，在家里不講英語。只有百分之三的人宣稱他們英語「說得不好」或「根本不會說」。這表示十分之一強的美國人可視為雙聲帶。此外，許多中學生、大學生，甚至小學生在校的學科都必須加修一門外語。除了西班牙文、德文與法文等常選的第二語言外，愈來愈多的學生選修東歐和亞洲語言。當然，并非所有學生都能夠學以致用。套句老話：「不用就會丟掉。」盡管如此，愈來愈多的美國人已經開始意識到會說多種語言的好處。

Ethnic enclaves, found particularly in major metropolitan centers, have preserved the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can function quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. Regions such as southern Florida and the Southwest have numerous Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. In fact, Spanish speakers-numbering over 17 million-compose the largest non-English linguistic group in America. But Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish and many other ethnic groups add to the linguistic flavor of America. Foreign languages are so commonly used in some ethnic neighborhoods that visitors might think they are in another country!

Language

美國語言

What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? An American.

你如何稱呼能說三種語言的人？三聲帶。能講兩種語言的人又如何稱呼？雙聲帶。那么，只會一種語言的人呢？美國人。

To people in many countries, being bilingual or even trilingual is a way of life. But since the mother tongue of most Americans is English-a language widely spoken around the world-they often don\'t feel the need to learn a foreign language. Moreover, people who live in the heartland of America have little contact with other linguistic groups, making foreign language skills irrelevant.

對許多國家的人而言，說兩種或三種語言，是家常便飯。但在美國，由于大多數人的母語為英語--一個世界上廣泛通用的語言--因此美國人都不覺得有必要學習外語。此外，居住于美國大陸內地的人，較少與其它語言族群接觸，因此外語能力更顯得無關緊要。

Actually, though, this "land of immigrants" has always had people of many different nationalities-and languages. The 1990 census indicates that almost 14% of Americans speak a non-English language at home. Yet only 3% reported that they spoke English "not well" or "not at all." That means that slightly more than one out of 10 Americans could be considered bilingual. Besides that, many high school and college students-and even some elementary school students-are required to take a foreign language as a part of their curriculum. In addition to old standbys like Spanish, German and French, more and more students are opting for Eastern European and Asian languages. Of course, not all students keep up their foreign language abilities. As the old saying goes, "If you don\'t use it, you lose it." But still, a growing number of Americans are coming to appreciate the benefits of being multilingual.

事實上，在美國這塊「移民之地」，一直住著來自不同國籍、說不同語言的人口。一九九○年的人口普查顯示，幾乎百分之十四的美國人，在家里不講英語。只有百分之三的人宣稱他們英語「說得不好」或「根本不會說」。這表示十分之一強的美國人可視為雙聲帶。此外，許多中學生、大學生，甚至小學生在校的學科都必須加修一門外語。除了西班牙文、德文與法文等常選的第二語言外，愈來愈多的學生選修東歐和亞洲語言。當然，并非所有學生都能夠學以致用。套句老話：「不用就會丟掉。」盡管如此，愈來愈多的美國人已經開始意識到會說多種語言的好處。

Ethnic enclaves, found particularly in major metropolitan centers, have preserved the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can function quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. Regions such as southern Florida and the Southwest have numerous Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. In fact, Spanish speakers-numbering over 17 million-compose the largest non-English linguistic group in America. But Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish and many other ethnic groups add to the linguistic flavor of America. Foreign languages are so commonly used in some ethnic neighborhoods that visitors might think they are in another country!