Under globalization, people are getting more chances to encounter a new culture on a daily basis. No matter if it is a movie scene shot in a foreign land or a product that has foreign language on its package, there are more motivations for people to learn a new language. Also, with the increasing immigrant population, the bilingual population rises. Data show that the percentage of bilinguals in the U.S. has been increasing, from 10.68% in 1980 to 20.14% in 2016. It seems like bilingualism is the new trend and bilingual education in response would dominate. However, in reality, bilingual education in U.S. is going down hill and it is concerning.

Yet, when the rest of the world is embracing bilingual education, some lawmakers are trying to make sure English is the premier language by implementing laws replacing bilingual education programs with English-only immersion programs, according to “FYI: English isn’t the official language of the United States.” Because of the rhetoric “here in America, we speak English,” some people consider bilingualism as the invasion of a foreign culture and worried that the American culture would fade out in the washing of other cultures, especially as the immigrant population skyrockets. In a research, it is found that the immigrant population in U.S. has been growing rapidly, from 9.6 million in 1965 to 44.9 million in 2015.

Indeed, when all of these immigrants bring their native languages in, it would hugely diversify the language spoken in the U.S. Yet, it is not the whole story. The truth is, English as a global language still dominates and will not easily die out. In fact, it is more likely that the languages of immigrants die out before English does. Immigrants put in efforts to assimilate, including picking up English. As a result of adaptation, English will be the dominant language for immigrants and their children. It is rare that the next generations speak the native tongues of their parents or grandparents, and so, the foreign language “invasion” will only last at most one or two generations. 

Not to mention immigrants, even an international student like me feels the power of assimilation. Studying in the U.S. for one and a half years, I notice that I have been interchanging Chinese and English words more often when I video-called my family. Since I have been using English more than Chinese lately, I keep forgetting words in Chinese. Hence, bilingual education should not be eliminated because of the fear of cultural invasion. 

I believe bilingualism is not threatening the local culture. Instead, bilingualism provides paths to further promote the culture. Being bilingual allows us to communicate with people who have a different cultural background. It gives us the chance to understand others and to share our culture. For example, on Youtube channel MYBY, two bilingual YouTubers made a video about parenting in U.S. and U.K. in Chinese. By sharing personal experiences in Chinese, they share the parenting culture in their own country to people with a Chinese background. Therefore, in the cultural aspect, bilingual education should be encouraged.

Moreover, it is getting clearer that bilingualism is necessary in this global village nowadays. Not only are we meeting people from another country more often with advancing transportation, but companies are also having higher preferences to bilingual applicants. The New American Economy claims being bilingual make us more competitive in job applications. Employers in fields with high degree of interpersonal communication, like education, health care and social work, prefer bilingual employees. Meanwhile, it is reported two thirds of employers go for bilinguals over monolinguals and pay them more for their diverse mindsets and connectivity skills. I believe, it is true that being bilingual benefits us in the workplace as I often found dual languages as job requirement on employment websites.

On the other hand, “Should Every American be Bilingual?” argues that “bilingualism should not be mandated” in U.S. because the ability to speak another language is simply not necessary when Americans have high proficiency in speaking English. Concurrently, “Bilingual Education: Toss It and Teach Kids English” asserts that bilingual education is not necessary as English is already the global official language. Surely, English is largely used in communications in different fields, like academic and marketing etc. Nevertheless, the benefit of being bilingual is not limited to being able to say what you want to say in another language but also to understand others. As we learn a new language, more or less we learn the culture as well. With some knowledge about a foreign culture, we would understand others better. We would be able to recognize how culture drive an action and connect with others as a global citizen. Hence, it is worthy to put in efforts and be a bilingual.

Overall, bilingualism benefits us rather than does harm to us. In the aspects of work and culture, bilingualism should be promoted and more efforts should be put into encouraging bilingual education. It is never too late to take action and adapt to the global village.