Someone Who Speaks Only One Language

Here’s a joke from Thailand …

What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Answer: Bilingual.

What do you call a person who speaks only one language? Answer: American.

A young woman who works with the Thai churches told us that, and then she laughed. And it’s true, of course. In this part of the world everyone speaks several languages. People here routinely speak three. I met someone who speaks seven languages–Tagalog, two other Philippine languages, English, Chinese, and two other dialects. She just shrugged her shoulders when we asked how she did it.

That’s one way to spot an American overseas. They speak only English.