Why people of some countries don´t get interest in learning any foreign language?

Question

It´s said that people from some countries are mono-linguistic because they (or the government) are not interested in discovering the richness of other cultures. Why?

Answer 1

I would frame it in another way.... it is well known that in America (North and South) there are basically mono-linguistic countries (with a few exceptions).

On the contrary, most European countries are multi-linguistic ones. I think that this is related to the density of languages: in Europa you have many, many different languages in a relatively small surface. Hence, people NEED to learn more than one language to communicate with their neighbours. A typical example is Switzerland, with FOUR (4), yes four official languages (German, French, Italian and Romanche) in a surface slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey!!!

Answer 2

I would say because they don't have to. Most countries that are "multi-linguistic" are countries that either have very diverse populations or have neighboring countries that speak different languages.

Also to the person that said that english is THE most spoken language I think you are mistaken, it might be the most common second language but hardly the most spoken, don't forget that there is a ton of people in Asia (2 billion just between China and India alone!) who don't speak english.

Answer 3

People use language in the way they do because it gives them more power or status. Right now, English is a very powerful language around the world. Therefore, people who are native speakers of English might not feel the need to learn less-powerful langauges; they are already in the top linguistic position. I think it's a shame that people aren't necessarily interested in learning.

Answer 4

I don't think they are not interested in discovering others languages..its always have a reason for it and as u said perhaps the gov system or else and else for example if now I'm in Dubai and I've trying 2 learn french, wow is completely wrong place cos they are not a navite french and I should to live in where is the language i was into and do u agree?

Answer 5

because they feel that their language is enough if speaking about the english language. English is one of THE most spoken languages on the planet so some countries dont feel the need to speak what already works for them.

Answer 6

As a lazy American, I don't have to learn another language, so I can devote my time to other things, such as learning more of my own language so that I can use it to better manipulate people and situations to my advantage ;)



James

http://www.thesmartass.info

Answer 7

Because they are proud of their cultures and language ... as you can see soem countries in africa have forgettoen their native languages becuase of influence on english in thos countries.

Answer 8

caz they dont know(r dont want to know) there r places in the world other than their own(eg. americans,just kidding guys)