To The Editor: 

Bénédicte de Montlaur, in “Do You Speak My Language? You Should,” addresses the decline of language education in America, arguing that the U.S. lags behind the rest of the world in linguistic competency at a time when knowing a foreign language has become increasingly important. The effects of this deficit, she says, will be felt for generations to come. What Montlaur neglects to take into account is the politics that accompany language education. How does the language curriculum privilege certain kinds of knowledge while pushing others to the side? We need to rethink language education while examining how educational curricula signal an unspoken hierarchy in what should and shouldn’t be taught. 

In the world as described by Montlaur, educational institutions are lacking both funding and interest, which has caused language curriculum to suffer from a utilitarian approach. This scarcity of resources means universities and schools must choose what languages are taught based on how many people speak the language and how relevant it is rather than satisfying the hunger of curious language-learners. More “niche” languages, from Japanese to American Sign Language, are often only options at the post-secondary level, and even then, suffer from small department sizes, receive less funding, and enjoy fewer course offerings. Departments that teach French or Spanish, although modest in size, still receive more resources and attract higher numbers of students than departments that fall outside the canon of Western languages. 

Why learn a language? Because someone said you should? Or because you genuinely want to access and understand a culture other than your own? Only in the latter does it make sense for you to speak someone else’s language.