In short: By the time a person is 18, they must effectively be able to communicate and understand conversationally in 2 languages and casually use them in daily life…, if not become completely fluent…
Other than that, any language goes (whether it is a locally-known one, or a popular one worldwide),
The only thing I hope to gain from this, is to rid the world of /Monolingual Betas/
Seriously though, has this been a policy before? Because I haven’t heard of such one…
I think this can especially be used for citizenship…
Edit: I don’t necessarily have any other presupposed requirements besides bilingualism, though we may have certain notions of such in this main goal
Edit II: In furthering this venture, I have realized that my liberalism may slightly poisoned my lens…
And for clarification…
Minimum dual language system:
Main national language + other language (likely another related language, but foreign ones are fine)
I think a large part of why people in the anglo sphere only speak one language is that the school system doesn’t do a great job of teaching it
I remember my french teacher would call us ignorant bigots for not speaking french - it’s like you literally only taught us the word for pen
saying people must be bilingual is like saying people must be literate. Everyone agrees it would be a good thing to be bilingual but not everyone is educated in speaking multiple languages. I also think there is an element of classism in looking down on the monolingual as unless they come from a bilingual household the only bilingual people I’ve known had recieved private education for it
I personally would love to speak a second language but it wasn’t something I was given the opportunity for as a child and learning one as an adult is hard work
Oh … I haven’t exactly considered it, ok… I stand by my point, but yeah, I think people have to grasp the language through natural exposure rather than rely necessarily on the school system… besides, I believe bilingualism, with enough state support, can help open economic and social opportunities and cultural bonds as well.
Key word though: ‘enough state support’ (Austerity would have a word with that)…
well that’s nice but it’s also not cheap. Going to live in another country to pick up the language is not something that a lot of people can just do
it very much does seem here that you are looking down on people for not knowing what they were never educated to know. You can live a full life only exposed to English there just isn’t any real exposure to other languages. Hell even when you speak to foreigners they all want to practice their English
Yeah, I’ll admit, I look down upon those who know only one language, I guess it’s the fact that I have the zeal of a convert, (as a previous one), so I apologize for my harshness
Just for context and clarification, we’re in the post-Industrial Globalized era, specifically one defined by multipolarity yet crises, and I guess during such times, bilingualism during this time feels more like a necessity, when our economies and societies feel more interconnected than usual and communication is quite important
I think you’re proving my point, I mean, for example, in my city, there seems to be a lot more Middle-Eastern, South Asian, and East Asian migrants who speak English yet still retain a bit of their native tongue…
That being said, if you want open yourself up more to the world, learning just a 2nd language is one of those keys…
well we are and we aren’t. A lot of major corporations insist on doing all international business in English and most people aren’t travelling the world and will just work in the one country where they have roots and where their job is
Being bilingual would be good but it’s hardly a necessity