The problem with little white girls (and boys)

[Igel]

25. Depends where you live.

Language use is driven by usefulness. Rarely is it driven by some high-minded pretense at being a world-citizen or preserving culture.

Usefulness is what's perceived. If you're in a European country your English might be great if you're in a city where you use English and need it for work, or if you admire English speakers in some way and want to have access to their culture and writings or media for some reason.

Otherwise it's mostly a perceived waste of time.

In US high-schools you wind up having Spanish, French, German, and other languages taught. All are equally good languages for all the cognitive benefits. Spanish gets pushed because of domestic politics and ideology--to show solidarity and empathy, perhaps. In some areas it's a useful language; but most English speakers don't find it to be prestigious and if they learn it at all they acquire a sort of creole or restricted code that's good enough for being a shopkeeper or installing HVAC. Some heritage speakers learn it to stay in touch with "their" culture, even as their actual cultures shift and diverge from that of their parents and grandparents and those of other Spanish-speaking immigrants or native born.

Then again, culture and language are distinct.