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Should foreign language/s be required learning in American schools?

Should foreign language/s be required in Am. school?


  • Total voters
    38
We should learn the languages that would make us most able to deal with the world around us. For example, Scandinavians all learn English, because simply put the world's most powerful economy speaks English. To Scandinavians it's not a big deal...it's just good common sense. Likewise I think we should teach our children Spanish and of course Mandarin.

You are correct about Scandinavia - my grandfather did not learn English in school, he learned German, because at that time, Germany was more influential to Sweden than England/USA. Nowadays, very few Swedes learn German but every person in the country can speak English.

In fact, if you're a Swede living in Sweden and you speak poor English, other Swedes will think you're stupid or some kind of dinosaur. Can you imagine if we had such an attitude here in the USA? People like me, who can speak 3 languages, would think most of my peers were a bunch of idiots!
 
I think that if it is to be required, it should be computer stuff. Let languages be electives. As I said before, most of the kids that take them never use them. I know hundreds of kids that took french when I was in high school, not a one of them has ever been nor will ever go there, or anywhere that it is spoken. Wasted time.

So why not require Spanish?

Not everyone is going to use computer languages either. Not to mention that computer languages change.
 
Lame attack. I still stand by my 'hell no!' in terms of forcing people to learn spanish. You get all the immigrants to learn english first, then we can talk.

It wasn't attack. I was just offering a suggestion to help you cope...
 
Which is why it's so impressive to me that so many Chinese people can speak English. Not to mention the Japanese. It must be just as difficult for them to learn English as it is for us to learn Japanese, yet nearly the entire country is at least somewhat proficient.

Hm, maybe Asian languages are indeed more complex than English, so it's easier for them to learn English than for us to learn Chinese or Japanese? I don't know. But I noticed many East Asiens have seriously troubles with the pronunciation of European languages, even when they're very good on grammar and vocabulary.

I've always been interested in learning German. It's somewhat similar to Swedish, so I think it would be easier to learn, however you have more verb tenses and genders to remember. Swedish is more simple, as I think Swedish people are more simple in general.

Then I have always wanted to learn French, because there is a language that is easy in every way a language can possibly be easy. I already speak Spanish, so I know a Latin language, plus English.... so I basically already have the entire French vocabulary in my brain, it's just to learn the syntax.

Yes! =) I know this from my experience with Dutch, which is really very similar to German. But that similarity can be treacherous ... I've spent a lot of time in the Netherlands and with my Dutch friends, so I understand most of what they're saying in Dutch, but whenever I try to speak a little, I do it totally wrong and basically just speak German with a Dutch accent, *just because* it seems so similar ... but actually is more different. ;)

I image that can happen too when you speak Spanish and learn French ... easy to mix it up when it's too similar.

It's my plan to learn Spanish eventually ... due to my knowledge of French, I understand a lot of it when I see it written, but it's much more difficult for me to understand spoken Spanish.

I think Chinese would be such a huge investment, that unless I plan to move to China for some reason, I don't think I will able to do it.

Yeah, same for me ... or Arabic. Horribly difficult, because they don't write vowels in their written language, but most of the grammar depends on vowels. And even if you manage that, you have the problem that hardly any Arab actually speaks "high Arabic"... oh my. ;)

So no, I guess my next project would be Spanish. Or maybe getting into the Polish a language a little more, after I had a *very* basic introduction at college (for a European language, it's ridiculously complex, IMO).
 
Not everyone is going to use computer languages either. Not to mention that computer languages change.

The basics have remained the same. And the odd's of it being useful later in life are far greater.

It wasn't attack. I was just offering a suggestion to help you cope...

Oh BS, it was a lame attempt at an attack. It is noted you do not address things said, merely attack.
 
dp is not such a site l think

True, but it's a good place to practice! If there were a DP in French or Italian, I would participate, just to learn. Sometimes it seems like everything on the internet is in English.
 
The basics have remained the same. And the odd's of it being useful later in life are far greater.



Oh BS, it was a lame attempt at an attack. It is noted you do not address things said, merely attack.

Odds, not odd's.

Point in case.

Why do you suppose everyone would need to know how to write computer programs?
 
Why do you suppose everyone would need to know how to write computer programs?

I did not say that, I said that the chances that it would be useful later in life are greater than that of a language.
 
Foreign languages should not be required subject in k-12 education. Most people will not leave the US and if they do it will be for vacation,so they have no use for it.
 
I have no problem with a semester or two of foreign language being taken, and a variety being offered, but I do have a problem with Spanish being required in the employment field.
 
True, but it's a good place to practice! If there were a DP in French or Italian, I would participate, just to learn. Sometimes it seems like everything on the internet is in English.

if you dont know how to speak italian ,you are right!

tu parli italiano ?
 
No, kids aren't doing all that well with English. Potentially, I could see teaching some basic Spanish given how much it is becoming an American language in some regions.
 
Hm, maybe Asian languages are indeed more complex than English, so it's easier for them to learn English than for us to learn Chinese or Japanese? I don't know. But I noticed many East Asiens have seriously troubles with the pronunciation of European languages, even when they're very good on grammar and vocabulary.



Yes! =) I know this from my experience with Dutch, which is really very similar to German. But that similarity can be treacherous ... I've spent a lot of time in the Netherlands and with my Dutch friends, so I understand most of what they're saying in Dutch, but whenever I try to speak a little, I do it totally wrong and basically just speak German with a Dutch accent, *just because* it seems so similar ... but actually is more different. ;)

I image that can happen too when you speak Spanish and learn French ... easy to mix it up when it's too similar.

It's my plan to learn Spanish eventually ... due to my knowledge of French, I understand a lot of it when I see it written, but it's much more difficult for me to understand spoken Spanish.



Yeah, same for me ... or Arabic. Horribly difficult, because they don't write vowels in their written language, but most of the grammar depends on vowels. And even if you manage that, you have the problem that hardly any Arab actually speaks "high Arabic"... oh my. ;)

So no, I guess my next project would be Spanish. Or maybe getting into the Polish a language a little more, after I had a *very* basic introduction at college (for a European language, it's ridiculously complex, IMO).

You're probably right - not all languages are equally complicated, and the Asian languages might just be more difficult. You're also right that Japanese and Chinese speakers of English generally struggle and make more errors than their European counterparts, and that is probably due to the fact that it's a bigger change for them.

Speaking of complicated languages, Russian is a language I would really like to learn. Beautiful women, fascinating culture, fascinating history, intelligent people, great literature/art, and a country that is all but guaranteed to rise in the future.
 
I have no problem with a semester or two of foreign language being taken, and a variety being offered, but I do have a problem with Spanish being required in the employment field.

Why do you have a problem with that? In parts of California, Texas, and Florida, it's already a reality. There are literally jobs you cannot get if you don't speak Spanish, both in the public and private sector.

We have probably 30 million native Spanish-speakers in the United States. Those people are customers/citizens/employees/etc/etc/etc. In some positions, we need to have people who can communicate with this large population subset.
 
No, kids aren't doing all that well with English. Potentially, I could see teaching some basic Spanish given how much it is becoming an American language in some regions.

Well, I can't argue with that. Some people can't even speak their first and only language correctly. Sad.
 
Why do you have a problem with that? In parts of California, Texas, and Florida, it's already a reality. There are literally jobs you cannot get if you don't speak Spanish, both in the public and private sector.

We have probably 30 million native Spanish-speakers in the United States. Those people are customers/citizens/employees/etc/etc/etc. In some positions, we need to have people who can communicate with this large population subset.

Why is the emphasis not on them learning to speak English?
 
Every hour spent teaching one thing is an hour something else is not taught.

SO... the question is what do you want NOT taught if learning a foreign language is required?
 
Foreign languages should not be required subject in k-12 education. Most people will not leave the US and if they do it will be for vacation,so they have no use for it.

Why do we require American History? I'm never going to need to know the names of the founding fathers, right?

Why do we require algebra? How many people actually use it, if you honestly think about it?
 
Why is the emphasis not on them learning to speak English?

Not one person has suggested not teaching English.

In regions where a sizable percentage of people speak another language, it is a usable education for children to have a minimal basic understanding of that language. However, there is no need to be proficient at it.
 
Why do we require American History? I'm never going to need to know the names of the founding fathers, right?

Why do we require algebra? How many people actually use it, if you honestly think about it?

Teaching history is important, particularly in a Democracy. I agree that advanced mathematics should not be required for high school graduation. High school should teach basic usable knowledge. That should be the (only) requirement to graduate. Advanced education is what colleges, universities, tech-school, military etc are for.

3,000,000 teens drop out of school every year.


Something's wrong with the system. The required standardized testing or else a student cannot advance or graduate - and with schools punished for bad testing results - leads to not only students dropping out seeing no point to continue, but also is huge incentive for schools to tacitly want students doing poorly to dropout so they are not counted in the test results.
 
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