“Only One Language?”—The Classic American Joke Revisited

Language Joke or Just a Myth?

It goes like this…

What do you call a person who knows 3 languages?
Trilingual

What do you call a person who knows 2 languages?
Bilingual

What do you call a person who only speaks 1 language?
Hmm… American?

Funny? Maybe. True? Not quite!

Even though it’s a popular joke, the truth is a little different. More than 30 million Americans speak another language at home—Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and French are just a few examples! In fact, the United States is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.

America is also home to some of the top language universities and world-famous linguists, like Noam Chomsky, who helped people understand how language really works in our brains.

So, while it might be fun to laugh at this joke, it’s even more fun to celebrate how many Americans really do speak (and love learning) other languages!

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