Sitting around with my roommates one day back in the United States, discussion of Philly cheese steaks popped up and shortly thereafter we were on our way to Philadelphia to have ourselves a taste of the city's most famous meal. After a short drive, we parked the car and made our way to spend the next half hour standing in line, standing slave to the delicious smells of the kitchen. As the line moved, I took the chance to observe all the interesting pictures and signs that filled the windows of Geno's Steaks. One last sign stood as a warning to those about to order food: "This is America, when ordering, speak English." While such a phrase is an example is of an extreme nature, I still feel that a decent amount of Americans to some extent agree. It's almost as if the nickname the "melting pot" was given to the wrong country.
Leaving the melting pot, I headed for a country I expected to be in a similar if not homogeneous state. To my pleasant surprise, my coworkers proved me very wrong. Every single coworker of mine speaks very good English as well as Mandarin and at least another Chinese dialect or two. Even more surprising than this was the discussion with my fellow foreign roommates. The average language count in my apartment sits at around two fluent languages with some knowledge in another one or two. It would appear as if the United States is actually looking into the melting pot, but only from the outside, not wishing to take part.
In the process of discussing language with my fellow foreigners and coworkers, I have been led me to realize just how bad the state of foreign language in America is. Starting with six grade we were sat in front of a TV for video language lessons. The only things these videos managed to do was turn me away from foreign languages. Seventh and eighth grade didn't hold much promise either. A select few managed to find their way into the Spanish or French class but the majority of students were unable to begin progress on a second language. High school followed this theme and only required two years of language for college bound students. On the other hand, my coworkers and roommates are leaps and bounds ahead.
In my attempt to search for a means by which to conclude this post, I will take the lazy way out and present you with a request. Respect others, try and understand their culture and beliefs and where they come from. Listen to what they have to say, if you disagree, feel free to offer your own thoughts but please don't try and shove it down their throats. Let us do our best to live up to the reputation and be able to proudly claim that it's just a misunderstanding and we are in fact the melting pot.
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