Virgins and White Raisins

Those of us who have studied ancient Middle Eastern languages know how difficult it is to arrive at an exact translation of ancient texts.  There are several words in the Hebrew Bible which are used only once and which have no modern counterpart.  Even after making such efforts as comparing them to Akkadian, or examining numerical clues, they remain a puzzle.

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Why Everyone in the World Speaks English

When my family first considered moving, I was concerned that we didn't speak a word of Arabic. "Don't worry," I was told. "Everyone there speaks English." And in fact, wherever one roams throughout the wide world, they will find that it isn't that hard to get along. For many, many people of all nations speak English. In fact, I've noticed that Americans can get quite cocky about that fact. Our pride tells us that we are the leaders of the free world and that people of other countries speak our language because they know of our great influence. Or perhaps because they admire us so much! Well, I have finally realized why it is that so many people speak English. Americans' influence doesn't originate in Washington, D.C., or in New York. No, it all comes from Hollywood.


The people of the world learn English so they can watch American T.V.!


I've long been ashamed of Americans' attitude toward language. In European countries, people rub shoulders with others of different nationalities and languages frequently. Because the countries are small and the borders are porous, everyone learns to speak competently in several languages. Even here where it's more difficult to enter the country, people speak Arabic, English, French, and often another language or two. I watch people on the bus greet each other, and finding they don't speak the same language, switch back and forth until they find a language they have in common.

In the United States there has lately been a fervor over immigrants learning to speak English. "If they want to live here, they should learn to speak English," you'll hear stridently proclaimed. Well, yes. They will. And their children will. But learning a language doesn't come in two weeks. I've been working on my Arabic for over a month now, concentratedly. And I have an aptitude for languages. And I still don't know much more than greetings, counting to ten, and part of the alphabet.

How much more human we would be if we all learned as much of other languages as we could. For those who live in the US: how many of us speak adequate Spanish? The likelihood of encountering a Spanish-speaker is great at this period in our history. Do we know how to ask someone their name, to show them how to fill out a form, to give basic directions in the Spanish language?

I love the way that many Mormons all over the world can speak foreign languages because they served missions. On missions, we actively meet people, we have a message to share, we have a motivation to learn the language. But in our daily life we have little motivation to learn so that we can communicate with the world's people.

How would our motivation change if all television programs came into our homes in different languages?