I have learned today, courtesy of a regular e-mail from Georgetown University, that I am no longer a native speaker of English. No, I am now a “heritage speaker.”

Are you looking to advance your career in government or business? Build up the communication skills you need to succeed in today’s workplace.

The English for Heritage Language Speakers (EHLS) Program at Georgetown University is the first of its kind to offer professional language skills for advanced English speakers. It is designed for adults who are fully proficient, fluent, and effective in their chosen profession in their native language (heritage language), and want to improve their English skills to a professional level. In 2006, the program will primarily serve speakers of Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

Come to our Open House on December 16 to get immediate answers on the
program and full scholarships available.

I’m not quite sure what a “professional level” here is. Nor do I understand quite why “native” is no longer a good word, save the implication that someone, somewhere, isn’t. (I’m not offended by being a non-native — ‘scuse me, non-heritage — speaker of Arabic.) There’s something more than a little sinister about this, and about the constant expansion of “professional” education into every nook and cranny of our already far-too-regimented lives. Why would someone who is already “fully proficient, fluent, and effective in their chosen profession” in whatever language(s) they speak, read and write need to pay for this anyway?

The Best of Charles H. Featherstone