Overview

"How can Americans make our country stronger, kinder, smarter? By marshaling our enviable can-do ethic and learning another language. We can do it, no matter what our age: author Steve Leveen chose Spanish as his adopted language in midlife. America's Bilingual Century is filled with tips for learning a language, some mechanical-like changing your phone and laptop settings to your adopted language-and some philosophical. For instance, start by having a place in your life where you'll use the language, Steve says. The ""where"" makes the ""how"" more attainable. And recognize that, as with any adoption, you do it for love, and for life--so don't fret when you're not fluent in five months. If you have kids, start them young. You'll be glad you did when you read about the explosive growth of dual language schools across the country and the significant, measurable advantages they give our young people. Steve also takes us to the top summer language immersion camps, for both children and adults. And he shares his findings from leading language scholars, teachers, sociolinguists, app creators, and bilinguals of all stripes that he discovered during his dozen years of research. Then he topples 12 myths about Americans and languages that no longer hold in this century. Like thinking the whole world speaks English (it doesn't), that being monolingual is natural (it isn't), and that Americans suck at language (quite the opposite, as he demonstrates). Here and now in the 21st century, America is embracing its many ethnic and cultural heritages. How natural, then, that we enfold the many languages that these heritages thrive on as part of that quintessentially American pursuit of happiness. If you've never thought of bilingualism as being a patriotic act, America's Bilingual Century may persuade you otherwise. Knowing a second language changes the way we perceive the world, and the way the world perceives us. ""English is what unites us,"" Steve says. ""Our other languages are what define and strengthen us."" And even if becoming bilingual leans more toward aspiration than arrival, that's okay. The journey is as rewarding as the destination. Thank you for supporting an important cause! All proceeds from book sales fund language grants that the America the Bilingual Project awards."

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9781733937528

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"""A well-written, attention-grabbing journey into polyglot life."" --Kirkus Reviews ""Full of wit, powerful stories, and genuinely helpful tips, this highly readable book could not be more timely. Read this book and be transformed!"" --Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations ""An inspiring and enlightening exploration of bilingualism, asking and answering all the right questions. Also, it reads like a charm."" --Gaston Dorren, author of Lingo and Babel ""I love this book. It is personal and also highly practical. It is well-informed and also slyly humorous. It equips individuals for a richer, more satisfying life--and is a guide for communities to do the same. This is a book I hope people of all generations read."" --James Fallows, coauthor of the bestselling Our Towns and writer for The Atlantic ""Curl up with America's Bilingual Century to get answers to the questions people REALLY have about language. How can you really learn another one? How hard will it be? Do I really need to? And why? Leveen ladles out wise and witty answers to all of these and many more, as someone who decided to shed his monolingualism in middle age and hasn't stopped since."" --John McWhorter, Columbia University professor of linguistics, Lexicon Valley podcast host, and author of 10 books on language ""Steve Leveen won't make you bilingual. But he will make you wish you were, appreciate the reasons you should be, and figure out how to adopt that second (third, or fourth) language. There may be no better gift than an alternate identity -- unless it's a nimbler brain, an expanded horizon, a rich vein of surprise, or a double helping of empathy. A warm, winning book from the most motivated--and motivating--of students."" --Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Great Improvisation and Cleopatra ""At Duolingo, we see teaching languages as an incredibly powerful way to change lives and change the world. Steve's got the right idea: learning a language should not be a chore, but a source of joy and connection. Steve's book can help language learners get over their shyness and succeed on their own bilingual journeys."" --Luis von Ahn, CEO and cofounder of Duolingo, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, MacArthur Fellow"

A well-written, attention-grabbing journey into polyglot life. --Kirkus Reviews Full of wit, powerful stories, and genuinely helpful tips, this highly readable book could not be more timely. Read this book and be transformed! --Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations An inspiring and enlightening exploration of bilingualism, asking and answering all the right questions. Also, it reads like a charm. --Gaston Dorren, author of Lingo and Babel I love this book. It is personal and also highly practical. It is well-informed and also slyly humorous. It equips individuals for a richer, more satisfying life--and is a guide for communities to do the same. This is a book I hope people of all generations read. --James Fallows, coauthor of the bestselling Our Towns and writer for The Atlantic Curl up with America's Bilingual Century to get answers to the questions people REALLY have about language. How can you really learn another one? How hard will it be? Do I really need to? And why? Leveen ladles out wise and witty answers to all of these and many more, as someone who decided to shed his monolingualism in middle age and hasn't stopped since. --John McWhorter, Columbia University professor of linguistics, Lexicon Valley podcast host, and author of 10 books on language Steve Leveen won't make you bilingual. But he will make you wish you were, appreciate the reasons you should be, and figure out how to adopt that second (third, or fourth) language. There may be no better gift than an alternate identity -- unless it's a nimbler brain, an expanded horizon, a rich vein of surprise, or a double helping of empathy. A warm, winning book from the most motivated--and motivating--of students. --Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Great Improvisation and Cleopatra At Duolingo, we see teaching languages as an incredibly powerful way to change lives and change the world. Steve's got the right idea: learning a language should not be a chore, but a source of joy and connection. Steve's book can help language learners get over their shyness and succeed on their own bilingual journeys. --Luis von Ahn, CEO and cofounder of Duolingo, Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, MacArthur Fellow

Author Information

Steve Leveen's writing life has mirrored his professional life-and they, in turn, have reflected his personal passions. He wrote his first book, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, in 2005, when he was CEO of the company he and his wife founded, Levenger. His vision shaped the company into a purveyor of products for reading and writing, and a specialty publisher (Levenger Press) of limited-edition books that have become collector's items. Steve wrote his second book, Holding Dear, when he was sensing a personal growth shift. A few years later, it blossomed into a fervent desire in midlife to become bilingual. And something more: to champion bilingualism as a path to a stronger and healthier America. He founded the America the Bilingual project as a way to invite other Americans to join him in this endeavor. And they don't have to be bilingual to be part of this growing community. And so he wrote his third book, America's Bilingual Century, published by America the Bilingual Press in 2021. Steve would like to share with his readers one of the many rewards he's found by adopting another language-Spanish-at this point in his life: Adults become aspiring bilinguals when they make long-term commitments to their own personal development. In adopting another language, they learn how to see the world differently, they gain empathy as they are forced to be somewhat childlike again in learning things they don't know, and they appreciate what other language learners confront. But once on their inner journey, they can step into their outer journey. They have the opportunity to serve and uplift new people and new communities beyond their first community. This is why I cherish being an emerging bilingual, and why I wrote 'America's Bilingual Century.'

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