Article and Photography by Mai Ann Healy ’09.5
T
SPANISH. UPON completion of the mandatory five year study at my high school, I gleefully eluded linguistic classes my senior year. Nevertheless, graduation day included a brief conversation with my seventh grade professor who, when learning I was off to Middlebury, enviously predicted I would encounter infinite opportunities on and off campus to continue my study of the Spanish
skill of all during this era of globalization is that of linguistic acquisition.
HE TRUTH IS I HATED
language. “It is sure you will study in Spain,” she said while I smiled politely but thought, “Buh-bye Spanish! Hasta la vista!” Three years later I must admit defeat as I find myself pursuing a degree in International Studies with a focus in Spanish. I write to you from Valparaíso, Chile, already having spent spring semester at Middlebury’s program in Madrid, Spain. And in the end, my time in the European Union, as well as in Latin America, has taught me that perhaps the greatest
The European Union (EU) is a region void of custom barriers, permitting goods and Capital to flow without restriction between multiple countries and languages. There, multilingualism is a necessity, not an option as viewed by many Americans who have the geopolitical advantage of speaking the most widely used language in the world. Overseas, the union of twenty seven countries officially recognizes and functions in twenty three languages, and though English is the most prominently controlled language, recent studies have showed that less than half of the EU’s population can actually speak it well. My time abroad has exposed me to hoards of monolingual travelers, more often than not Americans, who exert frustration when language barriers impede their ability to complete ordinary tasks such as ordering food, buying clothing, or making hostel arrangements. But rather than looking inward, many of these travelers place the blame on the native, incredulously muttering disbelief that someone hasn’t taken the time to learn English, yet every time such a tourist was present, there was almost always a European or Latino American behind them in line, ready to converse in at least two, oftentimes more, languages. It should be of political and economic concern that the U.S., unlike the EU or even Chile, does not encourage foreign language acquisition in its basic educational system. In Brussels, EU officials have discussed the instillation of a 2 +/- 1 policy in that all children should be taught in the native language of their country, English, and one more, in preparation for a world where international movement and communication is becoming seamless and
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