I live in a bi-linqual country and really appreciate that we have two national languages even if I don't speak French very well. I live in English Canada but I like to watch French television now and then just to try to absorb as much as I can. I only wish we recognized our indigenous languages the same way. As it is now they are rapidly disappearing. The Aboriginal Peoples Network will have programs in Cree and a few other of the major language groups represented so that does help preserve those language some.

We also have Chinese television and Punjab television so immigrants from those languages can preserve some of their culture too. I think it is important for any immigrant to an English speaking country to learn English but I also think it is important to value their native languages. I know many 3rd generation Italians for example who wishes they had learned their family language but in those days it just wasn't done for fear of social ridicule. Because of how much of the world economy is centred around China and India now and in the future those are now the most popular second languages of choice for many university students today.

I travelled a lot in Europe and the Middle East as well as South America back in the day and I was surprised how easy it was to get by with English and a bit of French. I lived in Israel and Turkey for a time and went to language school but I wasn't very good at it so it sure made life easier for me knowing I could get by on English while trying to learn the language. And I gotta tell you it was comforting to my homesickness when I could find a BBC program on the TV now and then. Now of course there is CNN broadcasting in English all over the world so it would be less homesick for English speakers.

I get why it can be irritating though because I run into it now and then too when it is difficult to understand a new immigrant at the drive thru window but at the same time a like to embrace diversity and really wish I had more of a capacity for languages. I would love to be multi-lingual and surprise one of them with a conversation in their first language.

And yea.... I have a Polish friend and sometimes in front of me she would speak Polish to her daughter and it did seem rude. Like whispering but outload cuz it doesn't matter if I hear them since I don't understand Polish. I told her how I felt and they don't do it in front of me as much anymore. She wasn't offended. She hadn't even realized she was doing it because it is part of how she ensures she passed the language to her daughter. They actually do a lot of mixing up the two languages in one conversations. Quite amuzing. But not nearly so amuzing as when she has a house full of her friends over. I think they just are so excited to be able to speak Polish they forget there is a none speaker in the room. Of course if I approached them in English they would switch for me but often I was content to just sit back and enjoy the cross cultural experience.

We both learned something that day. Her daughter now speaks 5 different languages. They say if you grow up learning 2 languages you have a much better capacity for learning more. In a global economy that can be a real advantage for people.

oppss..... got pretty rambly there.