This enriches each language and helps those living near both gain an appreciation of the others' culture. Developing an appreciation for the limits of one's own language, as well as for other cultures, tongues, and people is increasingly necessary in today's world, she said, because trade isn't the only thing that is being globalized. The fact of modern life is that it's a multilingual space. Sommer, who will be on leave next year, plans to spend the time writing a book on the topic. Sommer hopes that by naming the phenomenon and presenting it as desirable, it will become something of a cultural movement of appreciation that will head off racism and xenophobia.
Teaching is about developing taste, which is to say desire.
Though most of her efforts so far have been aimed at academia, Sommer is broadening her scope. Serrano discussed his views about the benefits of bilingualism in a video that he taped for Sommer to use in her classes and to include on a Web site she is planning on bilingual arts. The site will be linked to Sommer's Harvard page and the Web page of the Hemispheric Institute on Performance and Politics at New York University. The Congressman was very receptive to the idea. Beyond politics, Sommer said the impact of a bilingual upbringing on a society really reaches quite broadly.