Should This Grandpa Learn English Or His Kids Learn Spanish? Viral Tweet Sparks Discussion

December 28, 2018

Learning another language is hard! There are lots of things that influence the level of success you are likely to have, and it turns out that some people’s brains are simply not wired for linguistic excellence. Your education, family background, self-confidence and the difficulty of the target language are obviously going to have an effect too. Jose Hernandez went on Twitter and shared the heartbreaking story of a grandpa who just wasn’t able to take the step of learning English, and it cost him the ability to communicate with his own family.

Image credits: mrhernandezz31

In the modern world, where people travel and migrate much more frequently than they used to, the importance of being multi-lingual has grown. For one reason or another, the value of being able to communicate in another language has never quite been recognized in mainstream American culture and is more likely to be viewed with suspicion rather than admiration in some areas. This family, with Latin American heritage, have obviously integrated well into life in the United States and have become accustomed to speaking English, and only English, with each other. This sad, but surprisingly common story prompted some really interesting reactions, revealing what life is like growing up in an immigrant household and the importance of language to one’s identity. It also showed the difference in people’s opinions on where the blame lies for this problem. What do you think?