The latest issue of American Libraries (November 2007) arrived in my inbox. It's a professional publication I scan to find out what's happening in libraries. Actually, AL's format is very readable, and it has a lot of color photos of people and places. The other journals I read are not only stodgy in content but stingy with the color photos and eye-catching layout. AL's great for short-attention spans. I don't have the time to pour over professional journals as I once did. Maybe it's because I know it all already, or I've at least heard it all once.

This issue contains editor Leonard Kniffel's article "English only is English Lonely."

First, a joke:

"What do you call a person who speaks more than two languages? Multi-lingual.

What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual.

What do you call a person who speaks one language? American."

Leonard recounts the debate in some libraries with supplying Spanish-language materials to patrons. Some argue that doing so prevents them from learning English.

Leonard notes: "The American Library Association position on this matter is clear. 'Guidelines for Services to Hispanics,' adopted in 1988, notes that 'persons in the Hispanic communities in the United States do not all speak and read only Spanish; they do not all speak and read only English, nor are they all bilingual. The members of these communities have diverse needs and are entitled to access to materials diverse enough to meet those needs.' "

Right on.

Leonard then talks about Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue and has this to say about it:

"In this wildly entertaining history of English, Bryson says that perhaps a more pressing concern that the threat to the language posed by Hispanics and other ethnic groups should be 'the quality of English used in America generally.' I would add that the lack of interest most Americans display in learning foreign languages is even more unfortunate.

Debate over bilingual education and companion library collections is healthy, but we should also be asking ourselves why so many children grow up in America speaking only one language. We should all be learning English--and Spanish, and Chinese and Arabic as well. The capacity for children to become not only bilingual but multilingual diminishes with each passing year of their education."

I couldn't agree more with Kniffel on his assessment of the quality of Standard English these days! I've formally studied linguistics for over 23 years now, and informally, accents and attitudes about language almost my entire life (52 years). Most Americans would rather the world learn English than try to learn another language. "It's too hard" they lament.

Some of my friends eschewed the non-English languages spoken in their homes as children. Now, they lament the fact that they could have easily learned Polish, Chinese, or the Syrian dialect of Arabic in addition to English. A couple of them are in adult schools now to learn.

I would have LOVED to have had a bilingual or multilingual home growing up. I've been interested in languages almost my entire life.

SECRET! Anyone remember the "Happy Hollisters?" It was a series of mystery stories aimed at ages 8+. Pete, Pam, Ricky, Holly, and Sue, residents of Shoreham, Any State, were juvenile sleuths on the prowl to uncover treasures, mysteries, and secrets in and around Shoreham. They also traveled quite a bit with their parents (I forgot what Dad Hollister did, but he must have made bucks to take the wife and kids to Europe several times!). I used to copy down all of the foreign language phrases (French and German, mostly) and practice them on the dog.

Go ahead and laugh - but I'm serious! I can trace my fascination with languages to this one series. From that day on, I paid careful attention to the way people spoke. First with Midwest English, then Southern English, Black English, Hebrew, Arabic, Dutch...the list goes on.

Learning another language is a window to another world of customs, thought, traditions, and knowledge.

Learning another language is bridge to other cultures.

Learning another language keeps the brain engaged and activated, and likely slows down or entirely mitigates dementia.

And it's FUN.