A Diversity that Promotes Multilingualism is a Privilege. Cherish It

It has been several months since the end of the Euro 2024 soccer tournament, but I still remember the sheer visual diversity that the event illustrated. As part of partaking in the once-every-four-years event, the Maltese government set up several "fan zones" in major towns across the island. Each offered a giant projection screen, plenty of seats in the shade, and food and drink stalls, bringing together several thousand revelers each time a match was broadcast live. The sheer passion of the cheering fans, loud enough to echo through several blocks contrasted with the fact that Malta has never played in a Euro Cup.

Why the enthusiasm then? Taking a quick peek at the people at the fan zones was enough to know. Malta is already plentily diverse, with its large population of migrant workers from Africa and Asia. But at the fan zone, for the first time, I witnessed just how diverse the visually homogenous white population of the island is. Across the matches, I saw face paints and flags of every participating nation situated between England and Serbia, a visual reminder that many white people living on the island are also a microcosm of the European continent.

At the fan zone, there was no segregation, physically or linguistically. Between matches and half-time breaks, people waving different flags casually chatted up another in English, with all sorts of accents, but still laughing together over beers and a shared love of the beautiful game. With different nationalities at rough numerical parity, no group was dominant over the others, and no one attempted to claim home-field advantage on an island where practically all of them were either tourists or temporary residents. The general equality of the place is not replicable even in larger states known for mass immigration.

It is in this environment of relative equality that multilingualism thrives. While English acts as the lingua franca among fans of different nationalities, no one thought anything less of others speaking a language they do not understand. Rather, many are just as willing to try their hand at practicing other languages they hear in the fan zone. Recalling what they learned from high school French or Spanish classes is much easier when you see cohorts of Frenchmen and Spaniards waving national flags and getting drunk at the table next to yours.

This scene of true international communication came to my mind as I read articles about the struggle of Japan (among other culturally and linguistically homogenous countries with relatively few foreign residents) to implement bilingual education. Too many argue that the lack of foreigners living among the local population makes it unnecessary for foreign languages to be learned and impractical for the learning to be practiced in real life. These sentiments are logical but ignoring diversity can be sought out even in the more homogenous-looking places.

Despite the diversity at the fan zones, Malta remains a majority Maltese place, and without the visual representation of the fan zones, the whites look homogenous in their daily lives. Those facts are enough of a justification for those unmotivated to learn a language to stay unmotivated. But just as Malta has its fan zones, Japan, and any country not entirely closed off to foreigners, would have pockets of diversity that enable multilingualism to thrive, even if only within those pockets. Promoting multilingualism can be possible if those pockets are actively sought out.

Once those pockets are found, one will realize that, for all the technical difficulties of a foreign language, the cultural barrier presents the biggest hurdle to actually opening one's mouth and speaking it. The prospect of jokes falling flat and an innocuous comment leading to hostile misunderstanding can dampen the enthusiasm for speaking in a not-so-fluent language. Yet, the interactions at the fan zones illustrate that the camaraderie of common interest and the power of alcohol is often enough to overcome those mental hurdles, if at least temporarily.

Japan's struggle with the bilingual situation is a wholesale dismissal and suppression of such diverse pockets of multilingualism. Rather than leaving only individuals in the know to participate, the state can coopt ready-to-serve spots for educational purposes. Partnerships with the increasing number of foreign residents in the country to communicate in various languages, even if fleeting and piecemeal, can help overcome the perception that there are some sort of fundamental differences that make Japanese culture unattainable in another language, and vice versa.