Analysis Of If Only We All Spoke Two Language

In the article, If Only We All Spoke Two Language, Doufman shares his opinion that America should become multilingual instead of remaining monolingual. Most of the American people support their language because most of the countries around the world are turning towards English. They claim that English is the best language and is used in every aspect of the exchanges between societies. This was manifested in the California referendum where most people rejected adoption of a second language. The essay will “remind” them how it benefited them. It is intended to make people who experienced bilingual education to wake up and advocate the bilingual education.

Doufman begins the article by mentioning “Ever since I came to settle in the United States

He writes about how He did not speak Spanish for 10 years. “That experience turned me into a savagely monolingual child, an all-American kid, desperate to differentiate himself from Ricky Ricardo and Chiquita Banana.” This was what Doufman said in effort to receive sympathy from readers. Sympathy is being used here as a tool to persuade readers. Also the use of the word “savagely” indicates that he was new to the entire concept. Cavemen were savages and didn’t speak any language. Similarly he is implying that he was one of the savages as he didn’t speak the language as well as the common

“Writers and speakers also bring their previous lives, work, and reputations to the table when they make an argument”. That’s what Ariel Doufman did to persuade readers. His essay was supported mainly by his personal experience.

Doufman compares languages and utilizing them to using dominant hands. When he claims, “I have developed a linguistic ambidexterity” it is a form of metaphor as ambidexterity means being able to use both hand equally and not have a dominant hand. What he is implying with this metaphor is, just like being an ambidextrous where you can use both hands equally, he is able to speak both the languages with the same fluency in both and doesn’t prefer one to the other.

Doufman presents questions in front of his readers to make the think about possibilities the education system should use regarding this bilingual situation. He asks questions such as “What if every English-speaking toddler were to start learning a foreign language at an early age, maybe in kindergarten?” and “What if these children were to learn Spanish, for instance, the language already spoken by millions of American citizens, but also by so many neighbors to the South?” Since earlier in the article he mentions how most Americans don’t agree to the system of bilingual language, but by asking these questions, Doufman is giving them alternatives to make learning two languages easier by learning it at an early