WHAT WE CALL A LANGUAGE
INFORMALLY IS REALLY A 
SPECIFIC VARIETY OF A VERY
GENERAL CLASS OF SYSTEMS. 
AN OBSERVER WOULD SAY YOU AND I
ARE SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE,
BUT IF ANYONE WERE TO LOOK
CLOSELY, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES. 
NOT DIFFERENCES SUFFICIENT TO
INTERFERE WITH OUR 
MUTUAL COMPREHENSION FOR THE
MOST PART,
BUT NEVERTHELESS, DIFFERENCES
AND THAT'S TRUE, 
TWO IDENTICAL TWINS WITH THE 
SAME EXPERIENCE.
AS THE DIFFERENCES GET MORE
SIGNIFICANT, 
THEY DO LEAD TO DIFFICULTIES IN
COMMUNICATION, 
WHICH ARE SOMETIMES IMPOSSIBLE
TO OVERCOME.
AND AT THAT POINT, WE START
CALLING THEM DIFFERENT 
LANGUAGES.
BUT THESE ARE JUST INFORMAL
TERMS.
SO HOW MANY LANGUAGES THERE ARE
DEPENDS ON HOW SHARP 
THE CRITERIA YOU'RE USING TO
DIFFERENTIATE THEM.
THE VARIETY OF LANGUAGES IN THE
UNITED STATES HAS, IN FACT,
DECLINED VERY SHARPLY IN THE
LAST COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS.
AND WHEN THE FIRST COLONISTS
CAME HERE FROM EUROPE, 
THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF
LANGUAGES.
I MEAN, YOU MENTIONED LOS
ANGELES AND SOUTHERN 
CALIFORNIA ALONE; THERE WERE
PROBABLY HUNDREDS OR 
MAYBE THOUSANDS OF LANGUAGES.
AND ACROSS THE CONTINENT, WE
DON'T KNOW HOW MANY.
BUT THE POPULATION WAS MOSTLY
EXTERMINATED, AND SO THEREFORE,
WE HAVE THE SENSE OF A
HOMOGENEOUS LINGUISTIC REGION
IN THE UNITED STATES.
IF YOU TAKE EVEN MUCH SMALLER
REGIONS IN EUROPE, LET'S SAY,
AND YOU HAVE MUTUALLY
INCOMPREHENSIBLE LANGUAGES
ITALY, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS LOTS AND
LOTS OF LANGUAGES 
WHICH ARE MUTUALLY
INCOMPREHENSIBLE.
THAT'S ACTUALLY DECLINING DUE TO
THE FORMATION OF THE 
NATIONAL STATE, NATIONAL RADIO
AND TELEVISION AND 
COMMON EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS AND
SO ON.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE IN
ITALY WHO CAN'T TALK TO 
THEIR GRANDMOTHER. 
BUT IN THE UNITED STATES, YOU
DON'T HAVE THAT VARIETY. 
IT'S MORE HOMOGENEOUS BECAUSE IN
EUROPE, 
THE POPULATIONS WERE NOT
EXTERMINATED, 
SO THEY REMAIN AND SO YOU HAVE
THE VARIETY OF LANGUAGES.
IN THE UNITED STATES OF COURSE,
THIS IS AN IMMIGRANT SOCIETY.
ENTIRELY, IN FACT, ALMOST.
BUT SO THAT MEANS PEOPLE WERE
COMING WITH THEIR OWN 
LANGUAGES AND THEY'VE MOSTLY
ASSIMILATED INTO A MORE 
OR LESS COMMON LANGUAGE, BUT
THERE IS A CONSTANT,
IMMIGRATION'S CONSTANTLY
BRINGING IN MORE VARIETY. 
RECENTLY, LIKE MY PARENTS, FOR
EXAMPLE, WERE EASTERN 
EUROPE AND THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE
WAS NOT ENGLISH, OF COURSE. 
I MEAN, I GREW UP SPEAKING
ENGLISH, MY NATIVE LANGUAGE 
IS ENGLISH AND THAT'S A STEP
TOWARDS HOMOGENEITY IN 
THE SYSTEM. 
ON THE OTHER HAND, MANY LATINO
IMMIGRANTS ARE 
MAINTAINING THEIR OWN LANGUAGE
AND THE SAME IS TRUE OF SOME
OTHER IMMIGRANT SOCIETIES. 
SO THERE'S A CERTAIN VARIETY AND
YOU HAVE THE 
SITUATION OF MULTILINGUAL
TEACHING IN SCHOOLS AND HOW 
TO DEAL WITH IT AND SO ON AND SO
FORTH.
THAT'S BEEN A CONSTANT ISSUE ALL
THROUGH AMERICAN HISTORY. 
MY CHILDHOOD, FOR EXAMPLE, IT
WAS TRUE, EXCEPT IT WAS 
TAKEN FOR GRANTED THEN THAT IT'S
ALL GOING TO BE IN 
ENGLISH NO MATTER WHAT YOUR
NATIVE LANGUAGE WAS.
