My family forgot, over the course of 2-3 generations, how to speak German (Swiss Basel dialect and Pennsylvania Dutch), Irish, Welsh, and Scottish. My wife’s family forgot how to speak Russian, French, and German. In the place where I live (Minnesota, USA), they forgot Ojibwe, Lakota, and Menominee, along with a countless number of European, Asian, African, and South American languages. (I have a coworker who personally forgot how to speak Aymara and Quechua.)
They didn’t simply “forget,” though. They were forced to forget. US society forces families and communities to forget. From the physical punishment of African slaves and Native American boarding school students, to the shaming peer-pressure of the modern suburban Middle School, our society squeezes the languages out of communities. Our society makes plain that to be one of “us,” your speech cannot betray any trace of the “Old World.”
Historically, languages come to the US to die. German once was spoken by half the US population, and is now nearly gone except among some Amish groups. Huge populations of Jews, Swedes, and Dutch used to speak their language across the US, but not any more. We could be the most multi-lingual population in world, except we lost this knowledge. An assumption has trickled down that Americans are monolingual. If we change this assumption, however, languages will thrive in the US.
When it comes to the Somali language in Minnesota, both Somalis and non-Somalis seem to agree on one idea: the Somali language is for Somalis. This attitude will result in language death and we will see Somali go the way of Yiddish in the US. Disappearance of this language is not inevitable, though, because once both sides recognize a new paradigm in which everyone will benefit if everyone knows Somali, then Somali will continue to thrive for generations; rather than die, this new language will flourish and enrich US culture.
I have been in dialogue with Somalis interested in Somali language education, but they are mostly concerned with ensuring their children do not forget the language. This fear comes for good reason. If we look at the Russian immigrants in this area, a good number have children who cannot speak Russian, which indicates that the grandchildren will have forgotten Russian altogether. Russians work hard to keep their language alive, but it has taken a lot of effort and the effort is still losing ground. Somalis should be aware, too, that simply offering their language, even if they manage high quality education in the schools, does not ensure victory in this losing battle.
As the children of Somali immigrants grow up in the US, they see themselves as Americans, and adopt the attitude I just described. The Somali language belongs to their parents–foreigners–but not them. The US is their country, and they’ve been surrounded by the English language every day of their lives. At best they may teach their children some phrases or songs out of nostalgia for their own childhood, but their children will be as American and monolingual as any Swedish-, German-, or Czech-American who can trace their family back three to four generations here in Minnesota.
“To be American is to be multilingual.” This counter-intuitive, perhaps never-heard-before phrase represents a paradigm shift that will end language death. Once native-born Americans see foreign-language study as a duty, a trait of a patriotic American to connect with neighbors and fellow-citizens from all over the world, then the next generation of Somali children will see that their Somali language is a benefit towards their being American, not a hindrance against it. They would grow up as good Americans from the cradle.
The first step towards shifting this paradigm requires language-study for all–and not just basic knowledge; every American must learn to speak a language fluently. In Minnesota, Spanish and Somali are obvious candidates, as fluency could be achieved in 3-4 years if the languages were taught in the schools with thorough community engagement. Once non-Somalis are regularly learning the Somali language, it would follow logically that Somali kids would continue to learn Somali at home in order to succeed in school.
I am pursuing enriching language education so that new and native-born Americans can reap the benefits of multilingualism. As multilingualism is the norm, each wave of immigrants would enrich our culture and language offerings rather than dooming their native language. The US would cultivate the linguistic seed that these newcomers bring, helping the next generation of Americans, whatever their origin.
What do we need to do to implement this new paradigm, American as multilingual?