is so little use for it unless you are going to France or one of its neighbors to visit or maybe a few African countries. And you can generally get by in English pretty well. Italian is even more ridiculous. Why aren't schools pushing Chinese? You would be more likely to need that in the future to talk to people from China or even a lot of the wealthy Chinese in South East Asia. There are a lot of other langauges that would be a lot more useful to make our kids ready for this century.
2007-03-13 09:54:47 · 9 answers · asked by Love Shepherd 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
How is this insulting to anyone? Look at the list of places below that French is spoken. How much business do we do with them? China is becoming a huge power. You have to be short sighted not to see that. And any language can get your mind working -- why not teach one that would be useful.
2007-03-13 10:14:07 · update #1
Times change.
French used to be the language of business, diplomacy etc. Then the English colonised one-third of the world and today English is the dominant language for cross border communications. Spanish has become more popular because, I think, of the increasing importance of Latin America in economic and geo-political spheres.
But why should we phase out the teaching of a language simply because you can get by in English? There are other good reasons to learn French. Remember, it still is an important language in major international agencies like the UN and EU.
Many of these agencies, especially humanitarian ones, have to work in developing countries where French is the native language. What if there were few people who communicate with persons in these countries? This could potentially hamper humanitarian work as well as work to support economic development in countries that need it the most.They should not be neglected because they are not economic powerhouses.
Fluency in french can open up a lot of doors and opportunities for kids. Opportunities to live and work in french speaking countries in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and have exciting new experiences.
You would think that people should be learning more Chinese (which one btw??), because of their rapid and continuing economic rise. Maybe. But don't forget India- 1 billion people, a reasonable stable democratic government, a growing middle class etc, in fact most of the key components for development. And China's rival for the post of "next world super-power".
Between those two countries there are literally hundreds of different languages and dialects. Right now they teach their kids English so they can have greater opportunities for work. How can we be sure that 20 years from now it won't French again? Or Spanish? Or Dutch? Or Croat?
No language is useless.
2007-03-13 10:35:30 · answer #1 · answered by lokai1701 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It is estimated that anywhere from 175 million to 300 million speak French today. Which is the primary or secondary language of France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Senegal, Haiti, Lebanon, Martinique, Vietnam, Central African Republic, Chad, Madagascar, Cameroon, and Gabon. I think French is a very valuable language to learn, however, I do agree the schools should be teaching Mandarin.
2007-03-13 10:01:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
There are a lot of other languages that kids should learn. But it doesn't seem like most school boards will change it.
Most schools accept the credit from local chinese schools. Its just the whether kids actually want spend half of their saturdays at school again.
2007-03-13 11:32:35 · answer #3 · answered by sellatieeat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
schools dont normally push french, they push for spanish. China is a mega power right now, but France has been established longer and is our oldest allie.
2007-03-13 10:00:15 · answer #4 · answered by anonymous 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The same reason math is still taught, in a world of computers. To keep your brain active, lest we become mindless and take orders from the machines
2007-03-13 10:06:16 · answer #5 · answered by wthealer 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
And Canada.. and the various tropical islands that speak it natively...
Chinese? That's probably the stupidest thing. More so than French and Italian. Where do they speak that other than China?
2007-03-13 10:00:20 · answer #6 · answered by NONAME 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
You obviously don't live near Quebec. In fact, I'm not going to further justify such an insult with a response.
2007-03-13 10:03:01 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Foreign languages..all of them..are being taught to us so that when the USA gets unindated with people from other countries, illegal or otherwise, we should know how to speak whatever language is appropriate when we're forced out of our own country and have to find somewhere else to live.
2007-03-13 10:02:58 · answer #8 · answered by Barbi T 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
dont know,but its about time it was abolished
2007-03-13 10:06:21 · answer #9 · answered by rabby 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋