why or why not?
Should schools require students to learn a foreign language at an early age?
I don't think it's absolutely neccessary but I do think it's an important skill to have. I was so terrified of learning a second language that I put it off til my senior year of college and I wish I wouldn't have because I really enjoy learning it (Spanish). I definitely think it should be part of elementary school curriculums because that's when it's easiest to learn a language, brain-functioning-wise.
Yes and yes! Such a great skill to have! I wish I would have taken my foreign language classes in high school more seriously and continured it into college. I would love to be fluent in another language....I feel like I would be so much more of an ideal candidate for jobs.
yes I think it's important lol. I can understand five languages, including English, and I find it's quite helpful.
Sounds like this thread needs a poll. :)
My answer is YES! I think it's vitally important!
I think its important; I grew up trilingual at home; then learned Spanish in school. Definitely helps when I travel!
I do think it's nice to know a foreign language. I also think it's important to teach it young. Young children seem to pick up languages faster than older children and adults. My goddaughter grew up watching Diego and being around Latin American soccer players and knows way more Spanish than I do. I took three years of German in high school and only remember the things that one would yell in a traffic. I took two semesters of French in college and studied French for a trip to Paris, but find that I can only read and write (at a very low level). I can't speak or comprehend spoken French at all. I blame this on learning it from a computer program and books.
One problem I see is the choice of languages offered. I went to a tiny H.S. that offered only Spanish and German. The neighboring schools only offered Spanish. While I think Spanish is a useful language (I just didn't like the teacher), it would have been nice to have other choices. And for that matter, which version of Spanish is being offered? Latin American? European? I understand that the school I went to is now offering Japanese as a distance learning option, which, for me, would cause the same problem I have with understanding the spoken form of the language.
yes! It is extremely important to learn at least 2 languages if not more. I am currently getting my masters degree in spanish and I am working on my french and my arabic.
@MrsRuby: Yes and Yes! Not only is it benefiical for traveling and communication purposes, but it is also highly marketable in the job market and it actually further develops the human brain (sorry, I was a nueroscience major). By learning a second language, it actual strengthens the language network nuerons and buffers against the effects of stroke.
In terms of optimal learning of second languages, the ideal time period is between 6-10 years old. It is a critical window for brain and language development. Yes, you can and should learn languages if you missed the critical period, but it is much easier during that time.
I speak English, Spanish, know sign language and I am learning French. My current position actually paid me $5,000 more at hiring because I spoke Spanish!
Yes, unless you live under a government that will not allow you to travel.
It's a whole planet out there we have been born into and I for one am going to make the most of it. Communicating with other people I meet is important to me, I don't like to be the typical, ignorant tourist. I want to understand other views, learn new ways of thinking. I can't do that all in English. I am working on learning several languages.
Yes yes yes! I got my bachelors in Spanish and I'm currently in grad school for secondary education to teach middle/high school Spanish. It is so helpful in daily life, not to mention that learning a second langauge increases the ability to learn and remember other subjects.
I think it should be mandatory. I also think foreign travel should be mandatory. So many of our issues in America could be solved with a better understanding of the world around us!
@MrsRuby: Depends on where you are. I always resented learning French in school (I'm in Canada) but it ended up being one of my better courses and helped me get into university. It would also help me get a job that requires you to be bilingual (pretty much any job w. the feds here), and it helped me when I went to Paris. I think the process of learning a new language can help you with grammar in your own language. It's a good skill to have even if you don't ever use it or become fluent.
ETA: I suppose though if you're in a country where there's only one main language, it's not as necessary, but still good IMO.
I think it's important even if you can't remember how to speak it later because it teaches you how language shapes thought. I have learned both Spanish and American sign language, both of them have very different syntaxes from English. When people talk about things differently they also think about them differently. I sometimes wonder how countries that speak romance lanuages which gender everything are ever going to be able to move away from sexism because it is somewhat inherent in their language.
Oh man, YES! I wish I had been required starting at a much younger age because kids pick up new languages so much faster and easier than adults. We weren't required to take a foreign language until high school and even then, only 2 years. I ended up taking 3 years of Spanish and wish I had stuck with it.
Yes. Because learning a language allows you to also learn a culture. With that comes a bigger/better perspective of the world, and leads to less narrow-mindedness.
It should be mandatory. My school started kids with English in second grade, and french in third grade. That continued until you finished highschool. Unfortunately for me, I finished HS and later Uni. in the US so although I perfected my english, I totally lost French. Although I do speak 3 languages, so that's not bad...
Yes, I do think it's important and not just for the aspect of being able to communicate in two or more languages. I think it is a good way to further develop and utilize your brain. I wish I had been exposed to a 2nd language earlier in life.
I took French in high school for 4 years and then took it in college for another 3 years with various courses on culture and theater. My only regret was not taking the one or two classes needed to have it as my minor in college and not using it now more often. My fiance knows Spanish pretty well and has an amazing ability to recall it on a moment's notice to speak with others. We plan on teaching our kids a 2nd language as early as we can.
I think it's good. I think knowing more than one language is cool. I was pretty damn good at French in junior high and high school and I loved it, but I didn't have time to take it in university so I have forgotten most of it. If my elementary schools had offered it maybe it would have been easier to retain since younger kids learn languages more easily.
Yes, I think we should require at least 1. But the more the merrier in my opinion!
I had French for 3 years in HS and then another 2 years in college. I had 1 year of German. I don't remember much German, but I still remember a decent amount of French (8 years after the last time I took any courses). I can read quite a few other languages with help from dictionaries but I can't speak those. I always enjoyed learning languages!
I think the more languages you know, the more wordly and intelligent you are overall. That said, I think some languages are more useful than others.
Unfortunately, I've never been very good at languages. Because I am from Quebec, I can speak French (Or at least Quebecois haha) but every time I've tried to learn a new language I just can't seem to wrap my brain around it. I really wish I could learn Italian so that I could read Dante's Divine Comedy in it's original form. I would also love to learn Greek and Hebrew for Bible study purposes.
It's great for young developing brains. I speak Spanish pretty well and it's soooo nice to be able to speak with Hispanic people in their own language, let alone travel in Latin America and understand what's going on!
i think it is great to learn more than one lanuage.
it's great on your resume.
@MrsRuby: It's a very important skill to have. Additionally, the bilingual schools (10/90 or 50/50) are showing students with overall higher academic success and higher graduation rates. It's much easier to learn a second language at a young age than when you start as a teenager or adult.
Yes and Yes. I grew up with three languages (incl. English) and now I am learning a fourth. I really think learning languages has helped me in other areas of my life, and made me more confident overall. Plus, in this increasingly globalized environment, I think knowing an extra language or two will become almost essential in the future. Some parents require their children to learn a musical instrument, but when i have kids I will require them to learn a foreign language.
I think it's an incredibly important skill that isn't emphasized enough in our school system. With each day we're becoming increasingly more global and in huge portions of the world not being bi- or multilingual literally prevents you from even securing employment. That being said, my job depends on me knowing another language so every day I see first-hand how important this skill is. And this goes not just for me but for others that have non-language employment. Their knowledge of another language is still a valuable asset even if their job doesn't require them to translate anything officially.
Yes, absolutely. It's embarrassing how far behind the U.S. is in this area compared to other countries.
I speak 5 languages (English, Russian, Spanish, Polish, French & I can read Ukrainian & Italian pretty well) because of my career, and I still am jealous of many of my European colleagues/friends who speak so many more.
I think it's important to know more than one language and that kids should be started in elementary school. I only took three years of French in high school and wish I took it more seriously. I can read French, but I tend to get lost when spoken. The work I do is international and we have translators, but my goal is to catch onto Portuguese. That would rule.
@claireos, @BagsnBooks, @bmo88: I totally agree that languages should be taught at a younger age. Americans are way behind on this. I think the problem with this is that school boards or the government would have to agree on a second language (since classes aren't split up in elementary school) and it doesn't seem like that will ever happen!
What second language does everyone think elementary aged Americans should learn? I think Spanish is a good choice because of our proximity to Mexico and Central and South America, but it seems like a lot of people are afraid of Spanish becoming too commonly spoken the US.
Yes and Yes! Learning a second language and maybe third or fourth is absolutely necessary. In fact, there are studies that prove that learning a second language decreases the risk of dementia later in life. I'm a big supporter of dual language programs that foster the development of academic language in two languages not just social language.
It's absolutely important, and I wish US schools would make it mandatory at the lower levels. Europe generally has their students learning multiple languages in school starting at a young age, and I think the US should follow suit.
My Swedish aunt learned Swedish at home, and English, French, and German in school, and when she moved to the US as an adult, she learned Spanish. She's pretty badass. And her employment opportunities are so much better too. Plus, it's great for travel.
Yes, and the younger the better. Younger brains are wired to pick up languages much more easily than older brains. I teach English to 5th and 6th graders in Japan, and I wish it was required for younger kids too.
Having just gotten back from France, yes!! I know very little French but everyone appreciated my efforts. I find it sad that in every other country out there the kids are taught at least two languages and here in the US of A we expect everyone in the world to speak English. I wish I had been taught tagalog(language of the Phillipines) when I was younger!
I wish I could speak other languages! Most especially, Spanish. Theres this really sweet, adorable old hispanic guy thats a customer. He's sweet as can be, but his English is awful. He really tries, bless his heart, but I can rarely understand what he's saying. I'd love to be able to actually communicate with him.
And also just in general, it would come in handy. Especially with my job. When someone comes in and they dont 100% speak English and I need to tell them something, like their card is declined or a pump is broke, it gets so frustrating.
@jbridea: You should learn Polish! It's an interesting language and it wasn't that hard to learn.
@MrsRuby: I grew up completly bilingual speaking english and italian and studied french from age 4 and spanish from age 7. I also lived in spain for a year and spent my summers working in france during my last two years of school.
It is a very important skill. To me a language is one of the biggest expressions of a culture and speaking multiple languages well shows that you have an interest in other cultures and are not just wraped up in your own world.
I think in Italy this has become a real problem since english and other languages are taught very badly in school so most young people barely have to tools to travel let alone ever move anywhere other than their own country. It's sad they miss out on a lot.
@baletrina: I don't understand why american's alays think that in europe people all speak two or three languages. It really is only true in some country but for most of southern europe it sadly isn't true.
The worst thing is that people often think they speak a foreign language when actually they are barely an A1 or A2 level. Most italians will tell you they speak english and spanish because they studied it in school but actually the level taught in schools here is extremly basic.
My first language is English and my second is French (although I grew up speaking and learning a French dialect in school more than proper French). I also read and write in Spanish, can understand about 50% of spoken Spanish and can speak (but not terribly well), and I speak and understand basic Kinyarwanda and Swahili. Languages are so, so important. I wouldn't have worked where I've worked and had the opportunities I've had if I only spoke English.
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