Bilingualism isn’t a sign of community decay

Bilingualism from a BC perspective by Henry Yu – English and Asian languages. Resentment by English speakers with other languages remains an issue; being able to recognize that people live in both and the opportunities for exchanges and getting to know each other remain:

One of those legacies is the odd belief that it is better that we all speak only English for the benefit of those who can only speak English, rather than allowing those who can speak both English and other languages to be respected and even rewarded for being able to speak many languages. English is extremely useful as a lingua franca, a language used in common by many people who can also speak other languages. That is fundamentally different than saying we should all speak only English all the time.

In this city, almost all those under the age of 25 who can speak Chinese can also speak English. They have the wonderful ability to speak multiple languages.

Those Cantonese-speaking youngsters on the bus likely use English most of the time at school and work. Why be angry at them for being able to also carry on a conversation in another language?

Guest column: Bilingualism isn’t a sign of community decay.