Do you think spanish should not be taught in schools as a second language?

Question

I think it would be better if we had german, french or japanese...but not spanish.

Answer 1

i hear ya, for some reason they feel teaching spanish is better. maybe the other languages are harder to learn. spanish is more simpler to learn. get my meaning, simple minded.

Answer 2

I think we should offer a choice. Spanish, French and German would cover a large chunk of the world. Chinese would cover even more and Gujarati or Hindi would just about cover first and second languages for the whole world population.

I have conversational French, a little Danish (enough to make a holiday there more enjoyable) and am currently learning Spanish. My Latin is a bit rusty but I can have a go at most phrases. You can never speak too many languages.

Answer 3

Almost an entire continent, plus several other countries, speak Spanish as an official language. I think Spanish is nearly mandatory for those of us in a global economy. In the United States and abroad, how many opportunities will the average student have to use german, french, or japanese? They are all valuable languages, too, of course, but Spanish is such a critical one.

If you really wanted to make your point, you should have suggested Chinese, which is the most widely spoken language in the world.

Answer 4

The other language spoken in this continent is Spanish, not French or German. Americans are more likely to travel inside the continent than out of it. That's the reason they teach Spanish in schools, and also German, French, Chinese, etc. for those who want an alternative. Deal with it.

Answer 5

well in high school and middle school you can pick the language you can learn. But, in elementary you can not pick but you can pick the school. So if you do not want to do the immersion program you do not have to do it!! And with such a large number of Hispanics it would not hurt to learn Spanish. We do not have a large # of German, french or Japanese. But, I think Burmese would be another good language to learn since the United States is getting such a large number of people from Burma and Thailand.

Answer 6

In California, it would be beneficial to learn Spanish, since a large percentage of the population, specially here in Southern California, are Spanish-speakers. I do feel, however, that because English is the national language of the United States, people should be forced to learn English. I mean, if we visit France, they prefer that we understand the language.

Answer 7

I think people should have a choice of what secondary language they want to learn. While Spanish is definitely useful, the most commonly used languages in the world are Hindi (India and Bangladesh, which covers about 800 million people), Cantonese (about half of China, or 600 million people), Mandarin (the other half of China, another 600 million), and (surprise!) English.

As for South America, remember that about half of the population speaks PORTUGUESE, not Spanish, because of Brazil.

I happen to have taken 7 1/2 years of French in high school and college, and am fairly fluent in it (très bien, non?). I also took 2 1/2 years of Italian in college. I would like to learn Portuguese because one of my best friends is from Portugal. I myself am Korean, but never learned it, so I will one day learn my own language. And I've always wanted to learn Flemish (don't ask me why), so I would love to one day go to the Netherlands and Belgium to learn that. And I do happen to know enough Spanish to have a basic conversation.

But to say that I should HAVE to learn Spanish? Sorry, but this is America, this is MY COUNTRY, and in MY COUNTRY, we speak ENGLISH and if you don't want to learn it, then be prepared to have communication problems because NEWS FLASH, not everyone here speaks your language. What's next? Everyone will be REQUIRED to learn JAPANESE because the yen is out-pacing the dollar and soon all of America's corporations will be owned by the Japanese?

If you come to this country, you should learn English, because that is how we communicate here. If you move to Brazil, you should learn Portuguese, because that is how they communicate there. If you move to France, you should learn French, because that is how they communicate there. If you move to Russia, you should learn Russian, because that is how they communicate there... I can go on and on listing countries, but the simple fact is this: in America we speak English, so don't come here expecting that we will speak your language and then blame us for not knowing it.

Oh, and as a PS to siervocal, French IS spoken on our continent, it's the second OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of Canada. And while it's only mostly spoken in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, French is also the second OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of the United Nations. If you don't want people to discriminate against Spanish-speakers, then don't turn around and discriminate against French-speakers.

Answer 8

Yes actually I do think it should be taught as a second language. It's when it is taught as a first language I have a problem. If you live in a country you should learn and use the language of that country.

Answer 9

I don't care what they teach as a second language as long as everyone in America can speak English first! Learning English is a requirement of citizenship so why does the government insist on allowing other languages everywhere in public places? There should be NO other option ANYWHERE in America other than English. Press 2 for Spanish? No! Spanish menus available. No! You're in America now learn the language! The two "American" flags at the bottom of this page are a travesty of justice. One for English and one for Spanish??? WTF!
http://media.americancomedynetwork.com/FILES/MexTourism.swf

Answer 10

I think it should. I think in the southern region Spanish would be beneficial to Anglo kids to help compete in the job market. Plus it's good to learn a second language. In other regions there should be other languages available. Here in Maine, French is a popular 2nd language. Because of heritage and its proximity to French Canada. In larger cities there should be other languages like Chinese or Japanese, to keep up with the world markets. It shouldn't be mandatory but available.

Answer 11

I believe we should be able to choose our own second language, not have it chosen for us by illegal invaders. We had a program to teach Spanish to our younger students, but it got cancelled due to 'lack of funding' after only a few months. I wonder where those funds went? No I really don't. It went to providing free breakfast and lunch to all students because Hispanics make up the majority here.