Ever since I arrived in the US nearly thirty years ago, I have heard grumblings about immigrants not adhering to American ways. Exotic looks, clothes, foods, languages and religious practices raise many a native eyebrow. Of all these, the sound of a foreign language seems to be the biggest irritant. US immigration laws require all aspiring citizens to have a basic command of the English language. That is understandable and it is for the benefit and convenience of the new comer as well as the host nation.
In the last three decades, despite a proliferation of new immigrants from virtually every corner of the earth and a veritable Tower of Babel of languages within US shores, I see no threat to English being displaced as the official American language any time soon. Some older immigrants ("legal" and "illegal") or those who are employed in ethnically insular occupations never quite learn English. But their children who grow up here, invariably become fluent English speakers. Yet the specter of Americans losing their culture and language due to the influx of foreigners is raised repeatedly by paranoid nationalist fear mongers. The agenda of the right wing Tea Party makes no bones about the America of its dreams.
Not much in the Tea Party manifesto is new. The changes in current day American society are deemed undesirable by many Americans. To the chagrin of the purists, too many other Americans (especially the "libbrals") are too accommodating of the increasing ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity. In their opinion, government organizations, schools and hospitals are bending over backwards to make life easy for the "lazy" foreigners at the cost of our tax dollars. Recently, I had the following exchange with a friend and neighbor whose xenophobic tendencies I was always aware of but that has not interfered so far with our friendship:
She: Have you been to the mall lately?
Me: No, why?
She: You hear all this chatter in foreign languages around you. Sometimes it is hard to believe that we are in America.
Me: Are the speakers talking among themselves or are they trying to conduct business in their native languages?
She: Speaking among themselves.
Me: What's wrong with that?
She: Well, this is America. No one should be speaking a foreign language in public!
I was flabbergasted. It is one thing to expect that everyone in America should have some knowledge of English but quite another to demand that no other language should be used in public even in private conversations. I for one, tend to speak English most of the time, even with my family members. But if I happen to be with someone who speaks Bengali or an older relative, I would more likely than not, use an Indian language in my conversations. I do make sure that an "English only" speaker is not present in the group when I launch into my native tongue(s). I had no idea that the sound of people speaking a non-English language in private conversations can be so upsetting for some Americans. By the way, during my trip to Hawaii a year ago, I discovered that many Hawaiians do not speak English very well, some older ones, not at all. I dare anyone to call them un-American. I normally do not like to remind Euro-Americans that they too were immigrants once upon a time and not all their ancestors spoke English. But expressions of such unwarranted hostility deserve a retort like "Why fret about what America was like once upon a time? I don't see you smoking a peace pipe."
Ruchira, I have known some Americans who felt profoundly discomfited by furreners speaking other languages...when they were traveling in Central Asia! Which certainly left me wondering into the night. I realized that people who have led extremely insular lives have a very low tolerance for ambiguity. They aren't used to the idea that they don't always fully understand what's going on, quite apart from the issues of prejudice, imagined superiority, and nostalgia that are in the foreground with your neighbor.
Who knows? They might be talking about you!
Maybe with Halloween on the horizon, it's time to unpack my chador and get scary. :-)
Posted by: Zara | October 14, 2011 at 01:55 PM
Every once in a while we have to remind ourselves that we are a nation of indigenous peoples, immigrants, and descendants of slaves. I guess for some of our citizens it's not a reminder, but a surprise.
Posted by: Norman Costa | October 14, 2011 at 02:04 PM
This is a double-edged sword, talking in languages unknown to others present. What happens if comments are made that are understood by a silent listener who may not show any apparent comprehension?
(I will admit to having done that more than once. Oh, the joys of understanding more than just English and one's native tongue!)
Posted by: Sujatha | October 14, 2011 at 02:18 PM
The exquisite irony here is that because she is fond of me, it did not occur to my friend that she was complaining to a benighted multi-lingual immigrant who may very well chatter in a foreign language in public.
Posted by: Ruchira | October 14, 2011 at 03:40 PM
Wow, that's pretty bad. I'm not exactly surprised that someone would think that, but I am surprised that someone would say it.
Posted by: Joe | October 15, 2011 at 11:57 AM
the only i think it's rude to speak a foreign language (non-english) in public is when the switch is pretty obviously motivated by wanting to talk about something around people who you wouldnou're 't want to knowing what you're talking about. it's rude in part because everyone sees the mannerisnms, and knows you're talking shit. otherwise, ppl need to get over themselves.
Posted by: razib | October 15, 2011 at 02:19 PM
I wonder what your friend would have made of the following response to her comment on "Well, this is America. No one should be speaking a foreign language in public!"
"Well, this is America, Land of the Free. Why shouldn't anyone not speak in their language in public?"
Posted by: Sujatha | October 15, 2011 at 03:45 PM
i think the easiest thing is to wonder what language american tourists should speak in public in other countries....
Posted by: razib | October 15, 2011 at 06:35 PM
Razib, see Zara's comment. She says that American tourists sometimes complain about natives speaking their own language in their own country! Perhaps, that is a bit of a rarity but I can see some really closed minded ones inadvertently getting irritated by something they don't understand, quite forgetting that "they" are in a "foreign" country.
Anyway, speaking of language, your previous comment was somewhat riddled with mistakes and I know you are a meticulous speller and grammarian. What happened? Were you typing with one finger and eyes closed?
Posted by: Ruchira | October 15, 2011 at 06:51 PM
I wonder if some part of your friend's response is related to the phenomenon of cell-phone irritation. We know that people react much more negatively to cell-phone conversations (where only one half is heard) than they do hearing two-person conversations at the same volume. Basically people dislike hearing thoughts they know to be intelligible but can't understand, and for a non-speaker that's what a language is.
In other words, most people feel some sense of irritation at not being able to make sense of a conversation. The less ethnically enlightened transfer that irritation to a sense of rage at groups they already are predisposed to dislike.
Posted by: prasad | October 16, 2011 at 12:19 PM
For a time, I had two clients -- they were French, and he was less adaptive as an anglophone than she. Quite often, very low and fast, she would translate, to keep him in the picture -- business was conducted in English. My very rusty French was not up to making that our business language -- alas. Had it been, I would have been able to stay on top of a problem that emerged: she always mistranslated crucially for him, so that he never knew the real score. He knew only what she told him. Neither of them had any idea my French was up to more arduous tasks than reading a menu, although I told them very intently that I understood better than they knew. This sad situation gave me a superb view of how duplicitous and controlling she was -- lying IS about control, after all -- and I was able to usher them both out of my business life without misgivings. I have always wondered whether, had my French been good enough to use rather than spy with, the same deceptiveness would have manifested in another "hidden in plain sight" place. What a fine post on the presumption that language is a complete cloak.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | October 17, 2011 at 02:28 PM
That's so interesting, Elatia. I thought your French (and Italian) is rather good.
Speaking of languages, I have signed up for a Spanish class. Let's see how far that takes me into being able to spy on some people at the mall. That is, if I ever go there.
Posted by: Ruchira | October 17, 2011 at 03:41 PM
Ruchira, my accent is good in several languages -- that had more brain-stickiness than grammar and vocabulary. I could still get out of or into an emergency in those languages, however. For me, fluency follows need. Spanish????? Something to take to Ladakh....
Posted by: Elatia Harris | October 17, 2011 at 06:58 PM
I think it's a weird thing with the way the brain adapts to learning different languages. Spoken fluency is best achieved when younger, but comprehension takes the major part of the cake when older. Ruchira, like Elatia and her French, you might find that you will follow Spanish and understand it way better than you are willing to speak it. Several movies later,I can say the same about my understanding of colloquial Bengali now.
Posted by: Sujatha | October 18, 2011 at 05:31 AM
Sujatha, I suspect exactly the same thing - that I will probably do quite well with vocabulary and comprehension quite quickly. But I have doubts about becoming fluent in the language in the near future. I am hoping that being in Houston where Spanish is the first language of a large portion of the population, may help. Although she didn't say, I suspect that the "chatter" in the mall that my friend objected to is mostly Spanish.
Yes, I should also begin watching more Spanish language movies. Not hard to do, thanks to Netflix.
Posted by: Ruchira | October 18, 2011 at 10:05 AM