is it such a horrible thing that students be required to learn another language?

Question

i was reading an immigration question and one guy was pissed that they were forcing kids to learn spanish in school. oh **** what a waste of class time. learning something in sschool that is actually useful. in most countries children learn english in their schools taught in their native language. actually in china teens are paying for outside tutoring in english. we should require students to learn a second language earlier then 7th grade. it should begin as early as possible. it will ne easier for them to learn as language is still developing for them.

Answer 1

I agree. It is very uncommon for any school to not require a second language, except in the US. In some countries, students have to learn 2 foreign languages.

But I'm not so sure about offering only Spanish. Unless the school is very small, they should make an effort to offer at least 2 foreign languages to choose from.

Answer 2

I think it really depends on what part of this small planet you live on. If you live in an area where there are multiple official languages, such as Canada, Switzerland and I think Belgium, then yes you should learn at least one of the other languages. I know a lot of Canadians disagree with me on this, but being bilingual works for me. If your country only has one language but has population areas where a foreign language is dominant, then it is an excellent idea to have that language skill if you will be in the area. Finally, if there is any chance that you will travel to a country that does not speak your language, then you should make the effort to be able to converse in their language. It will help you immensely at the border and with getting around in the country. As a truck driver, I often get unloaded a lot faster in Quebec than other Canadian and American drivers because I speak to them in French and, although I have very little Spanish, I have been unloaded in half the time of other equally loaded trucks in the USA simply because I asked where the bathroom was in Spanish. I think it helps to speak a foreign language.

Answer 3

They should learn at least one language and about other cultures in school. I can speak a second language fluently and have ability in a third. Living abroad now I see how important language really can be in the new global world we live in. More people travel nowadays for work and pleasure. Foreigners have an advantage over Americans in many ways. Americans need to learn about the rest of the world. If Americans were as worldly as most educated people around the world, the war in Iraq would never have happened. It's time for America to get with it and join the rest of the world.

Answer 4

Why Spanish?

Why not Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, French, or any of a host of other languages?? Why would they be forced to learn a certain foreign language?

It shouldn't be till at least the high school level that a foreign language is taught, and then, it should only be offered, not required. There's too many other things to teach young children without adding a second language at that young age.
College and high school students have a choice what foreign language they take, as should be.

Answer 5

A second language is a good thing to learn but why Spanish. Japanese or German would be far more helpful in the business world.

I believe that the language of schools should be English. A choice of an additional language should be available and be compulsory for at least up to grade 9.

Answer 6

I have no problem giving the choice to learn a second language. You might have noticed I said choice. There are people that chooses not to learn a second language. Again give the choice to the student. make the language available to learn if they chose to learn it. Why would you force only Spanish as the second language. Why not French, Chinese, Japanese, etc ? I would suggest that our schools spend more time mastering the teaching of our children in the English language first. It is obvious that mastering ones own language far outweighs the need to learn two languages only partially.

Answer 7

Being taught a second language is not a bad thing, BUT (and it has been put on these boards) that teachers have been fired for not teaching in Spanish.

Even though English is not Americas official language it is what is spoken, and it is the first language that should be taught.

And when something if being forced through then we have a problem with that.

Answer 8

Not only should Spanish not be taught to children who are not interested, bilingual education should be totally eradicated. Many hispanic kids cannot speak English. My friend has a 13 year old daughter who cannot speak English, and she has attended school for years in a South Texas town.

Languages should be offered in school, but the language of the parent choice. If Floridians sit back and allow this then it is their problem. I plan to learn Spanish, but I encourage others to learn the language of their choice.

Did you know Cuban Americans have the highest dropout rate of all hispanics in the USA? I wonder why?

Answer 9

It is great to learn a new language but why does it have to be Spanish?Where is the freedom of choice?Perhaps the kids would like to learn the language of their own ansceters.Or something else.
Here in Hungary and in many other countries in Europe, the kids as young as pre-school age are learning English and other languages. I often hear their parents speaking to them in two or three languages at once to get them used to hearing it.

Answer 10

What I DON'T get is that we can require our students to learn another language for graduation, but we can't require them to speak English. What's the deal there?

I'm all for teaching languages in the schools. I'd love to see our students learning 2 or more in school. I just don't get the logic on this other.