Why don’t more people speak 2 languages?

We asked 85 people to explain why they never became fluent in another language other than English.

Here are the top reasons that people don’t learn another language
(full list below)

• No time
• Fear of failure
• Don’t think I’d be able to this late in my life
• Don’t think I need to
• Seems too hard
• Don’t have anyone to teach me (or to practice with)

1. Although I did learn German as a mandatory subject at school, I never particularly enjoyed this and would dread lessons. As an adult on several occasions I have looked at learning new languages (specifically Turkish and Spanish) due to family connections; however, I have never followed through with this. I find the motivation to learn a second language is not there, and see the time commitment to do this properly as too great. Being a native English speaker, I feel like it is easy to get by in other countries (as so many other people have English as a second or third language.)
2. Ever since I was a child I was raised with people of my own language. And I wanted to learn Spanish because of a relationship I had with a Venezuelan but I only learned the basics.
3. Growing up in Canada, I took many years of French, but I do not feel that I actually learned a second language. Sure, I know a few words and phrases, I can pick out some words on our bilingual cereal boxes, but I cannot converse. I think the best way to be able to learn a second language is to be completely submerged in it, speak it at home or socially. I never had the time
4. Having spent almost three decades speaking only one language, I feel like it’s too late to try and rewire my brain to understand another language. It’s easy to learn another language when you’re a kid, but as an adult with a job, responsibilities, and prior commitments, it’s hard to find the time to do something that ultimately won’t help you with your current career or future goals. Sure, if I ever get the itch to travel I might pick up a phrase book or two, but I’m content where I am doing what I’m doing and only knowing and speaking English.
5. I am not interested in learning a second language, as I am comfortable with my language.
6. I believe the main reason why I have not learned a second language is that my family does not speak a second language, and I was not exposed to a second language while growing up. Secondly, even though I took foreign language studies in school, I believe I was not encouraged to seriously learn a second language. And finally, I believe I have never taken the time, nor have I ever put forth the effort to learn a second language.
7. I can manage my daily affairs without needing to learn any other language. I am self-sufficient and can fulfill my needs with my present language. I don’t feel the second language can help me quickly perform the tasks I need to perform. At the moment, I don’t exactly know how a second language would benefit me.
8. I can only speak English. I never learned another language because I didn’t think it would be important. I regret this decision now.
9. I did take Spanish in high school but never understood much that my teacher said (as she had such a heavy accent). Truthfully, I was too lazy to try and learn the language when I was young and dumb. Now, I wish I would have learned Spanish.
10. I don’t feel like I’ve needed to learn a second language because a lot of people already speak English. I also don’t travel to other countries and have never had a language barrier.
11. I don’t think that it’s important to me. I’m in the United States, so knowing just English is fine for me.
12. I enjoyed learning other languages for the first 2 years (4 semesters) of college, but after that, I started to forget some of what I had already learned, and that is somewhat frustrating. I studied Russian and German at the college level, Spanish in junior high, and a 10-week course in conversational Greek. I was always told I had good intonation, but I never worked at that. I remember more German than anything, despite only having 1 semester of German, because I lived in Germany for 3 years and was able to practice it daily.
13. I had attempted to learn another language when I was in school. I retained little of the language. English is a difficult language and it is hard to translate other languages in ways that I can understand.
14. I had been learning German but found that the only good way to comprehend the language is by practicing in a real situation. Going to the doctor, to school, to local authorities and facing situations in real life.
15. I have been living in the same place from birth.
16. I have never been able to learn another language. There were mandatory French lessons in elementary school, but they never really clicked. The languages I did have an interest in learning never had any teachers near me, and I learn a lot better when I can practice. I still hope to learn Japanese one day.
17. I have never learned a second language because, during my education, the classes we were taught were very basic and did not provide much comprehension beyond the basics of French. Additionally, I did not have much of an interest in learning the French language and did not pursue it in my free time. Another reason for not learning is not getting the opportunity to learn the languages I wanted to when I had the time, such as Slovak.
18. I have never learned a second language because I was always preoccupied with electronics as a kid. As I already speak English my native tongue, it felt there was no need for me to learn another language. Today, I regret not learning a new language but I may try some day.
19. I have never learned a second language because, in American school systems, they do not teach it early enough (and in high school, it is just too late to learn it). I think it should be taught in first grade to all students. I feel cheated.
20. I have never learned a second language because it wasn’t offered at the school I went to. I haven’t decided to pursue it further myself, because as an adult I think it would be much harder to absorb now.
21. I have never learned a second language because there is no need for me to learn a second language.
22. I have never learned a second language since I don’t find it necessary where I live.
23. I have never learned a second language, but I once tried. I went to a Spanish class in high school, but for some reason, I could never get the hang of it. I would like to try again now that I am an adult, though. It seems easier to focus on it than when I was a teen in school.
24. I have never learned another language because I feel that I am too old (29 years) to learn a new language. Also, I have never tried to learn another because I am afraid that I don’t have enough time to dedicate to it, and I feel that if I fail it might make me feel terrible.
25. I have never learned another language because it seems very hard. Learning other languages also takes time, and that same to be something I don’t have a lot of.
26. I have never learned any other language because I am always attached to my mother tongue. I want to promote my own language more and more. I try to tell others about my language.
27. I have not learned a second language because I never really wanted to learn another language really, and in school, I just thought it would be too difficult to learn. I have not learned a second language because I just didn’t have the time, energy and money to put into learning a new language.
28. I have not learned mother language because I have not needed to and I don’t think I have the money to afford lessons. Other than that, no reason.
29. I have only taken language classes in high school and college. I do not remember more than the basics and I do not use a second language in my daily life. Where I live and the job I have does not require me to speak more than English. Thus, I am not motived to learn a second language fluently.
30. I have taken many Spanish classes over the years both in high school and in college. I remember each time attaining some small command over the language where I could probably have a basic and friendly conversation with a latin friend at home about their family and life. Each time though, after not using the language over a long period of time, I lost all my skills. Now again today I visit Mexico frequently and continue on my Espanol language learning experience. It’s easier being in-country than learning outside of the same culture.
31. I have thought about learning Spanish for years. Spanish was one of my favorite subjects in high school and for me, it was easier to learn than French. Not having anyone to speak Spanish with is why I chose not to learn this language.
32. I have tried learning French for many years as it is one of the two national languages of my country. Although I have struggled because of what I believe to be a low-quality French language program in the public schools in which I attended growing up.
33. I have tried several times to learn Spanish but I just can’t seem to get the pronunciation right. Then I get frustrated and quit. I took German in high school. That was an epic fail. I have to say German is a hard language.
34. I have tried to learn a second language but never stuck to it as it was very difficult for me and I lost interest quickly. I think if I was a lot younger when I started, I would’ve maybe been more interested and it would’ve come easier.
35. I have tried to learn a second language. And tried. And tried. I have yet to learn French. Learning a second language is difficult for me due to my dyslexia. It requires that I be immersed in the language and I have not yet had that opportunity.
36. I haven’t chosen to learn a second language even though I’d love to learn Spanish. My 16-year-old daughter is learning Japanese currently and doing really well with it though. In some ways, I’m envious because I think that in this day and age it’s really helpful to be bilingual. I honestly don’t have the time as I work at a homeless shelter twice a week, do freelance writing, am in school for my masters in social work, and in my “free” time I make scarves and soaps for the homeless outreach my boyfriend does. I’m a single mom and my daughter is homeschooled. Quite honestly, there’s only so much of me to go around so maybe someday after I get my masters I’ll learn Spanish.
37. I learned a second language in Junior High and High School. I had a lot of friends that spoke Spanish and I thought it a good idea to help them as well as the foreign exchange students that I helped with. I have to admit the first year was hard to understand, but I had a very good teacher. My teacher would help us with learning the language by making it applicable to our everyday life. I think that is what makes learning a foreign language hard is you are just learning words and you aren’t using this daily. She would make us order our lunches using the foreign language, as well as talk to each other and answer questions in her class. We also did all class work in Spanish to include reports that we spoke and then presented in front of the class all in Spanish. This made grasping the language a lot easier. Thankful for a great teacher. Unfortunately, it’s hard to keep up with it and you lose it quickly.
38. I learned French and German at school – the former for five years and the latter for two. I do not feel that I achieved any level of proficiency in either. Partly this is because I am not naturally good with languages but also partly because I do not feel that the standard of teaching was very high.
39. I learned some Spanish when I was in high school, but I don’t speak it fluently or understand much of it anymore. I was required to take 2 years of Spanish in order to graduate, but I took 3 years since I excelled at it. It’s unfortunate that I’ve lost touch with it over the years, but I still appreciate that I spent the time to try and learn another language besides my own. Beyond that, I learned how to read Hebrew, but I never learned the meaning behind the words.
40. I learned Spanish in high school for a total of 4 years. Additionally, I took another year of it in college. I did well, always got an A, but could not actually speak it.
41. I never had the ambition in school to learn another language. And now I wish I did, but feel like I don’t have the time to put into learning one.
42. I never learn a second language because I never thought it was important. However, I wish I did. I never learn to speak a second language because I have always spoken English. Unfortunately, nobody has ever tried to teach me a second language.
43. I never learned a second language because: 1. My business life didn’t require that. 2. My personal life didn’t require that. 3. My personal interests in another language were never specific enough to focus on one language.
44. I never learned a second language because I never had the need to speak any language other than English. If I traveled to another country or lived in another country I would learn their language, I would not expect them to use English for me.
45. I never learned a second language because I never had the time or the money to do so. I also felt like learning a second language would be too difficult for me to grasp. Plus I never felt like learning another language was necessary.
46. I never learned a second language because it was not necessary to do so in the town I grew up in. I never took a foreign language class in school; however, I wish I did.
47. I never learned a second language because there was never a necessity for it. Growing up my grandparents and other relatives had no knowledge of any language other than English. My career, thus far, hasn’t had a need to know anything other than English. I feel I’m too old to learn, at this point.
48. I never learned another language because I speak English well, and English is the only language I need to use. Also, learning another language takes too much time and effort.
49. I never learned another language because it was not emphasized much when I was younger. We were not as diversified when I was in school so English was the main language to speak. In other words, there wasn’t much of a reason to learn another language. Plus, for me at the time, I really didn’t care to learn another language and never pursued it.
50. I never learned Spanish because the letters are confusing. The sound of the words is confusing. The pronunciation of the word is confusing.
51. I never thought I would need a second language. Everyone in my area speaks English, and the career field I want uses English as a standard. If I really need to understand another language in the future, I can use google translate or hire a translator.
52. I started taking Spanish classes in 7th grade and I continued taking them until I was in 12th grade. Surprisingly, after 6 years worth of Spanish classes, I did retain much of the language. I really enjoyed making the Spanish dishes and pinatas. I think if the classes used more verbal techniques I would have retained more of the language. The tests were on paper and they did not help with the pronunciation of the words.
53. I started learning a second language in Kindergarten. I haven’t been speaking it as much as I used to, having had lessons until sophomore year of college. It comes back if someone begins speaking to me in Spanish, or I listen to a film or song.
54. I started to learn Spanish a long time ago when I was in middle school and then a few years back I learned a little when my son was learning it. I forget most of what I did learn and I really just don’t feel I have the time to learn a new language because I think it would be very time consuming and difficult.
55. I think learning a new language other than the mother tongue is very difficult. I always find it hard to learn the accent of the second language. A lot of time is required to learn a new language, and I don’t have it.
56. I took a few different language classes in school, but none of them stuck with me because I did not practice them regularly. As an adult, I have tried to learn more Spanish and become fluent, but again I have not stuck with it. I would like to learn lots of other languages, but it is something you must practice every day.
57. I took a French class throughout middle school and high school. In high school, I was the president of my French club because I enjoyed learning the language. But, I was not fluent until I volunteered for the Peace Corps and end up teaching high school science entirely in French. French is a great language to learn!.
58. I took German in high school. I remember it was tricky learning all the different articles. My German came in handy when I found myself asking for directions in Austria.
59. I tried to learn Spanish in High School but it just never seemed to click. At the time we just didn’t have anywhere or anyone to practice it with. I now wish I had been able to pick it up and practice it because we have a growing Hispanic population and congregation of people that I work with.
60. I wanted to learn another language but I wanted to learn a different one than most other students were learning. Most of my peers were learning Spanish and I chose French class. My parents would not get me a tape player so I had a difficult time learning pronunciation. My reading and writing skills progressed but I was not going to pass without pronunciation so I dropped the class.
61. I work as a cook and have learned bits and pieces of Spanish. When working high volume low hours I can string a few words together. After only a day or so, I forget 90% of what I knew. Its hard to find the time to practice regularly, which is what I think that I would need to do.
62. I’m currently trying to learn German – I am having much difficulty as I feel my brain is not taking any new information. I feel I know words but then we I speak it, I get flustered. I try to listen and understand someone speaking German but only can pick up a few words here and there. Frustrating!
63. I’ve always tried to learn another language. I fondly think of the time I’ll take in the future gradually getting better. I envision Japanese people appreciating my acquisition of their language. I read about the plateau when learning languages, and there I stay.
64. I’ve attempted to fluently learn a second language, as I took French in High School and throughout college. I was adamant that the career benefits, as well as cultural immersion aspects, would be well worth it. However, I did not continue with my studies but have great respect for those that speak multiple languages. As an American English speaker, I personally believe it is only for ones benefit, that they attempt to learn another language or languages.
65. I’ve attempted to, but it’s just too hard. The amount of effort and studying required to learn a second language is tremendous and requires a lot of time and dedication. It’s only really worth it if you have a lot of family members that speak the language or you’re planning to move to a country where that is the native language spoken or your job relates to that language.
66. I’ve tried to learn a second language which was American Sign Language. If you ask me to communicate through that language now I wouldn’t know how to. I can only spell in ASL. I wish I had taken Spanish because that’s the second language here in Florida.
67. I’ve learned Spanish as a second language. I found this both difficult and easy at times, due to never being exposed to another language. I found it easy because the language has many cognates.
68. I’ve never found the need to. I live in the USA and have never needed to speak another language. I’m not against it, but there are other uses of my time that are either more productive or more fun.
69. I’ve never learned a second language because I wanted to learn it naturally, not through forced classroom mechanisms. Many people in high school took Spanish or French, but spoken languages never really intrigued me because I never thought I was getting a full, immersive experience in the language. It didn’t seem useful.
70. I’ve never learned a second language because I’ve never had the need. Although I would find learning Russian interesting considering current events.
71. I’ve never learned a second language because I’ve never needed to or been offered the chance of learning a second language. I also believe It’s far to time demanding and will interfere with my life or job.
72. I’ve never learned a second language because my school didn’t offer that option and after school, I hadn’t any free time to acquire such skills.
73. I’ve never learned another language. I was raised in an English speaking family. I studied French in school but only for three years. I recall very little of what I learned.
74. I’ve never seriously taken interest in learning a second language fully. I’ve tried to learn a little bit of tagalong from my wife, however, it’s very difficult for me personally to grasp more than just a few words.
75. In high school, I tried to learn Spanish but only remember a few words. I never learned a second language because it proved to be difficult when all my friends and family spoke English, my primary language. Outside of school work I had nowhere to practice. I went on a trip to Mexico twice and both times most people I came into contact with spoke English, so there was not a large need.
76. Learning a new language can be very difficult especially when native speakers talk at a fast pace. I was trying to learn Spanish and learned that it is easier to read and write rather than speak. The sentence structure is also sometimes hard because in English we do not use feminine and masculine nouns.
77. Learning a second language was much more daunting than I realized. I purchased Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin) and began using the software, but was never motivated enough to complete it.
78. Learning your second language is difficult. The sentence structure is different. Only what was taught to you by your environment since you were born comes naturally. The second language has to be studied in detail.
79. My family moved a lot across the country during my grade and high school years. We seemed to out-moved language classes and never stayed long enough in one location to complete learning a second language.
80. The easiest way to learn a language is to travel to the country where you can be more exposed and engaged with a native speaker, but this is expensive!
81. The main factor for not learning a second language is time. I just don’t have the time and motivation for it. Also, I am not good at remembering things. It does not make much sense for me to learn a new language and not really use it.
82. There are a few reasons why I did not fully grasp a second language although I took it in school. Two of those reasons are that I did not have enough practice outside of school, and that it did not feel right speaking it. Practicing with friends who speak the language would be the best way to learn.
83. There was no second language in my school curriculum.
84. There were just not the classes available that I wanted to take at the time I was in school.
85. We live in a rural area. I would love to learn a second or even a third language. But there is no place that we learn another language. Sad. We wish we could.

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