The Paradox of Language: America v. Europe

English at Home and Abroad

I want to start off by saying that I have a deep respect for languages. I have a strong interest in learning as many as possible and about learning about the cultures that correspond with language. I am a strong supporter of having a multilingual population. But despite my fascination with language, I have to admit that we have a problem, both here in the United States and across the pond in Europe. In America we do not have enough respect for our language, but in Europe language is so strongly bound culturally that if you travel far from your home, few people are likely to be able to understand you.

America: i luv u see u @ home tmrw

American English has really deteriorated over time. I find that in general, Americans do not like to write or speak in complete sentences and often say things that do not make sense. Some of my favorites are "I seen it" "I axed him a question" or "I am going to watch there dog this week" But in all seriousness, we have to admit that as a society we do not place much respect on our language here. The blame for this probably lies somewhere between our lackluster public education system and social media, but rather than pointing fingers, I feel that we should look for a solution so that Americans can begin to speak properly again.

Europe: Ich kann das nicht verstehen! 

Europeans place such emphasis on speaking properly and for that, I think that Americans owe them a lot of respect. But at the same time, the wide variety of languages spoken across the continent can cause so much confusion for people. Even within countries there are often so many dialects of a single language that traveling 50 kilometers can cause a linguistic nightmare.

This map is completely overwhelming to me. It shows the various languages that are dominant in any given part of Europe. Notice again that the colors of language groups do not neatly fit within national borders. This can cause political and administrative nightmares for the people of Europe. Languages and dialects are so important to Europeans, but they are so specific that they cause problems. 

Now What? 

I think that America and Europe both have an opportunity to learn from one another. First I want to point out that in Europe, about 51% of the population are proficient with English. According to the New York Times, in America, only 20% of people can hold a conversation in a language other than English. I believe that these two numbers point towards a solution. 

In Europe we can say that most people are at least proficiently bilingual. My idea is to further expand English education throughout Europe alongside a country or regions native language. If almost all europeans could communicate in English as well as in their native language, europeans could communicate easily with one another regardless of where they reside. Rather than countries fighting internally and externally over official languages, if everyone learned English many of the problems would be solved. Take Spain for example. There is a huge battle being waged now between the blue of Spanish speaking Spain and the darker blue color on the East coast of Catalan speaking Spain. These two areas struggle to communicate and are battling over language, but if both regions could speak English, it would detoxify their current struggle.

In America most people cannot speak a foreign language because it is not strongly emphasized in school. If we are a society were forced to learn more about languages from a young age, we may place more value and respect on English. Not to mention the fact that having knowledge of more than one language helps to piece together grammar rules themselves. 

If America and Europe can learn a bit from one another the world could become a much less confusing place!

Reasons to Travel to Europe

For most of my life I have wanted to travel to Europe. My desire stems from studying maps and learning about history as a kid. I remember being fascinated by Greek and Roman history and learning about many various european cultures. For most of my life this remained a dream, but this winter I may finally have a chance to spend a few weeks abroad. Here are some reasons you (and I) should spend some time exploring Europe.

It's Cheaper than you Think: Round trip flights to Europe from the United States can be found for less than $800 if you plan far enough in advance. I am looking for tickets from Boston to London for December, during the holidays, and tickets are still less than $900, (about the cost of 9 nice sweaters). Once you arrive in Europe, it becomes extremely cheap to stay. According to Hostels.com/europe, many cities have hostels with great reviews for $5 - $10 per night! If you can stay for more than a week, the expensive flight can quickly be offset by room expenses.

Gain a New Perspective: Often people spend most of their lives in one country or even one small region of a country, New England in my case. While the area you live in my be comfortable and pleasant, other areas can offer extremely different experiences. Most people become accustomed to their own culture and way of life and can gain so much from learning the customs of people who live differently. This sense of discovery can foster an appreciation for diversity as well as of one's own cultural identity.

Travelling in a foreign country is a way to challenge your own perspective on life and gain new ideas. If you stay in one place for your whole life, you may not develop a full sense of happiness because you have nothing to compare it to. While travelling you may discover that you want to relocate to a new place or you may develop a newfound love for your home country or city.

Gain a Sense of Independence: Having the opportunity to travel, especially to a country where you are unfamiliar with the language, provides a pathway to becoming more independent. Being somewhere totally new will force you to think in ways you may never have thought and use skills that you may not have used before. Interacting with locals and making your way through a foreign land without help can make you proud and feel capable of accomplishing more than you thought possible of yourself.

Carpe Diem: If you are thinking about travelling, whether it be to Europe or elsewhere in the world, my advice is just to do it. Life only comes once and if you have an opportunity to go somewhere you have always wanted to go, just do it. I realized recently that when I am much older and look back on my life, I want to know that I did all of the things that I always wanted to do and so I am trying to live by my own advice. Sure, it may be expensive, but there are ways to save money. People tend to enjoy experiences more than their material belongings. Besides, who needs all of those sweaters anyways?

Exposing The Leisure Gap: Time vs. Money

We all know the stereotype of lawyers and high-level executives working six or seven day weeks, often for ten or more hours per day. But we also know that prestigious positions come with high salaries and lots of benefits. On the other hand consider those who work lower level positions. These employees are often paid hourly and are not encouraged to work more than 40 hours per week. The result of this matrix is that the rich end up with lots of money but no time to spend it, while the poor have lots of time but no money to spend. We will now examine whether this is truly a stereotype, or whether it is actually true.

First let us consider the fact that the United States differs sharply from other western nations. In Europe, most employees get more than four weeks of vacation per year, in the United States, the average employee gets 12 days off per year. Interestingly enough, Americans, like the Japanese, do not use all of their vacation days. Note the photo below that shows the difference between America and Europe. Fifty years ago, this tendency for Americans to work more than Europeans did not exist.

Now it is important to look at the differences that exist within America, comparing those at the top of the earning pyramid with those at the bottom.

Between 1985 and 2007, total leisure time for the most educated Americans, who typically earn the most money, declined by 1.2 hours to 33 hours per week. During the same period, leisure for the least educated Americans increased by 2.5 hours to 39 hours per week. Not only is there a significant difference between the highest and lowest earners, but this difference has increased rather than decreased over time. 

This difference may reflect the tendency for salaried employees to feel pressured into working longer hours as they obtain extra responsibilities. Employers try to squeeze as much work out of these high level employees as possible because they are a high fixed cost; working 40 or 80 hours per week makes no difference to the payout from the employer.

The wage gap may also be partially explained by this same phenomenon. The difference between the highest and lowest quintiles of wage earners in America is now greater than ever before. Companies wish to save money by hiring the fewest number of high salary wage earners. For example, a company needs 80 hours of work per week for a particularly challenging job. They could either higher two executives at $150,000 per year for 40 hours per week, or they could force one person to complete the work of two people over 80 hours and pay $250,000. The company sees an annual $50,000 cost savings theoretically without a decrease in quality. Because this is a standard practice, the employee takes the job with the high salary and becomes overworked.

Meanwhile, lower-level employees wages have risen only slightly over the past 30 or so years. During this time, gains in technology and education have allowed these employees to become much more productive. Some of the productivity gains are seen by salary increases, while others are forwarded to employees in the form of fewer working hours. Employers for hourly workers have no desire to work these employees for more than 40 hours per week because they will have to pay overtime. 

Will this trend continue over time, or will employers begin to reduce the working hours of the highest earners, therefore reducing the wage gap? Stay tuned for a post about why working more than 40 hours per week is actually less productive.