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Why it is important to learn another language
Why it is important to learn another language
Why it is important to learn another language
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I grew up in a small country where learning and speaking foreign languages has been a custom, but since coming to the United States it came apparent that our culture’s values are different. When I first met the soccer team at South Alabama we all had to say facts about ourselves to get to know each other better. I told others that I can speak four languages and the reactions were: “Wow, you can speak 4 languages? Really? I wish I could speak another language!” To be honest, this surprised me because in Estonia over 69% people can speak two or more languages; however, people here consider it as a talent or some sort of a superpower to be able to speak that many languages, perhaps, because only 18% of the population of the United States is at …show more content…
I found an article written by David Skorton and Glenn Altschuler for the Forbes entitled “America’s Foreign Language Deficit”. The authors agree with the U.S. Secretary of Education A. Duncan that Americans need to read, speak and understand other languages in order to grow economically and improve relations with countries all over the world. However, Skorton and Altschuler pointed out some facts about foreign language education in U.S. schools, saying “The percentage of all middle schools offering foreign language instruction decreased from 75 to 58 percent. In 2009-2010, only 50.7 percent of higher education institutions required foreign language study for a baccalaureate, compared to 67.5 percent in 1994-1995. Many colleges and universities have reduced or eliminated instructional offerings in “less popular” languages.” Thus, if foreign language learning is less required by schools and not seen as a necessity by the government, the students and youth do not find it important either. This is why people I meet keep telling me that it is a rarity to know more than one
In this country, we live in a mix culture and a mix race. When we walk out in the street, the first thing we notice is people from different ethnicities. The United States has always been the country where we come to make our dreams come true. Yet we never forget the country we came from. The languages is one thing we do not forget about our country but we should also know the English language. In this country it is essential for a person to know 2 or more languages. Regardless of how many languages we know, we all have a language we prefer over the other.
When a baby is born, he/she comes into this world eager to learn. Always taking in information and absorbing it like a new computer. Every experience he/she encounters could possibly stick in that baby’s mind. However, some of the things that a child hears or perceives can either benefit or corrupt their learning. Teaching a child a second language has the same concept as putting in new software in a computer. Many advantages come with a safe and powerful computer and the same would come with knowing a second language. If a child was not taught a second language in their early years, that child might be at a disadvantage in their future, and as that child grows up not knowing a second language could potentially hold him/her back with grades and obtaining a job. Knowing a second language can benefit from those things and can also help with keeping strong ties with their family, culture, community, and even music.
Americans have hidden behind the excuse that everybody important knows English for too long. The United States is the only country in the world where a student can graduate from college without ever having learned a foreign language. Most countries start foreign language instruction at ten years of age or younger. It is time we did something ourselves and stopped letting everyone else do the work. One credit of foreign language instruction should be required in order for graduation from high school in Laramie County School District Number One.
Policy in the United States towards foreign languages has long been a complicated process. The nation was founded by polyglot immigrants and welcomed, to varying degrees, many subsequent waves of immigrants speaking languages familiar and foreign. Most immigrants learned English and despite efforts to maintain their mother tongue, the “permissiveness and apathy” of American society towards second languages allowed the gradual erosion of many mother tongues. English, although the common language in schools, the courts, government, and the business community in the United States, is not the official language of our country. This fact juxtaposes paradoxically with the necessity of speaking English for success in our society, and the dying out of many languages native to immigrants after the third generation. Since no official policy at the federal level governs the official language of the United States, nor the teaching of foreign languages until after the Second World War, language education in the U.S. remained a patchwork of local policies.
In the United States, it is important for a person to speak English fluently because it is the official language in America and everybody communicates in English. Many people believe that English should be the only language in America and that sometimes people may face prejudice when they speak English with an accent. For some parents, the fear of prejudice makes them decided not to teach their children their native tongue. On the other hand, there are many other reasons why some parents want to teach their children their native tongue. Gabriela Kuntz explains in My Spanish Standoff why she did not allow her children to speak Spanish at home. Kuntz’s explanations are acceptable, but some research studies reveal that most young children can learn two or more languages. Also, many researchers say that children can learn a second language faster than adults.
America is often referred to as the “Great Melting Pot” where many people of various ethnicities, cultures, etc. have made their home. However, the primary language spoken in America is English, and most Americans believe that speaking English should be a requirement. Foreign students, whose primary language is not English, are usually automatically placed into bilingual educational programs. Bilingual education programs are used to educate students in the English language while they slowly transition from their native tongue into the American educational system. Sometimes these automatic placements have a negative effect on the students: the foreign students often do not receive the same amount of exposure of learning in one uniform language as other American students do.
To start, a second language should be mandatory in American schools because it makes employees more marketable.For example, 4 out of 5 new jobs in the US are created by foreign trade; therefore, foreign language is imperative for the future (Latimer). Also, when applying for a job position a person is more likely to get a job if he has previous foreign language skills because this makes him a more valuable employee to their potential
A society with no education cannot compete in the modern world. We as a society need to fight to keep Bilingual education as a teaching tool in the schooling system.
It has become common knowledge that the United States is falling behind the rest of the world. Economically, Industrially, and educationally, the rest of the world pushes forward and welcomes change while the United States clings to what it has known for decades. One of the largest gaps between the US and the rest of the world is its policy about second languages, and it puts the US at a disadvantage. Those who oppose change believe the US can better itself without making secondary language learning mandatory; they argue that it will cost more money, “turn students off” to learning a second language entirely, and that the benefits are not worth the costs. Unless a change is made in the United States’ language education, the country will continue to fall behind. Making learning a second language mandatory not only helps students, but the country as a whole by “raising the bar” and improving the country’s competitiveness with the rest of the world.
In today’s society, especially in the United States, most people are monolingual English speakers. As a result, these monolingual speakers are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who speak more than one language fluently. This disadvantage is crucial to realize since it is important to learn how individuals and the nation can be enhanced. Multilingual speakers have an advantage in global affairs that involve countries that speak different languages. Speaking multiple languages makes it easier to communicate with people when involved in foreign affairs. Those who speak multiple languages are also more aware of other cultures in society. Monolingual speakers are not as exposed to other cultures and have difficulty understanding or even recognizing them. Furthermore, being multilingual increases your
America is known for its very diverse population. This is why it is called the “melting pot” of the world. in a research article Census shows, “There are 323 different languages spoken in the United states today (Mujica 47). With so many languages being used in the nation, it causes that almost everything from instructions to documents be in multiple languages, so that it is comprehendible to everyone. The amount of money spent each year from being a bilingual country is an astronomical amount.
Most Americans learn a second language in adulthood. Many public schools do not begin teaching second languages until high school, and all college students must study a foreign language in order to graduate from the university. Another population within the United States that is learning a second language are those immigrating from other countries, particularly Mexico. Most of these immigrants who are learning are adults, their children will not have to deal with learning a second language because they will most likely learn two languages, English and Spanish.
Of course, opponents of mandatory foreign language courses will say that immigrants and naturalized citizens should learn and speak the "de facto" official language of the United States--English. It is a valid point, but misses the bigger picture. People who speak English as a second language are already bilingual, while American-born students typically are not. Language is the most fundamental aspect of a culture. Students who learn the not-so-foreign language of the predominant minority group in their region of the country will gain at least some insight into the different cultures of their neighbors and perhaps have a better understanding of them at the personal level.
At this juncture, the importance of learning a second language becomes compulsory. Hence, learning a second language helps you to communicate across the world to conduct business, learning education, exporting and importing things from one nation to another nation. In addition to that, the importance of second language learning emphasized everyday when we see the diversity of world cultures that make up all human beings as global communication.
In 2009, teachers of a New Jersey school banned foreign languages and stated, “any language other than English will not be tolerated" (Debaron 1). This situation was soon no longer allowed. While over ten percent of the total adolescent education systems contain emergent bilinguals, a whopping sixty percent of those students are educated in only English (Bale). Maria Estela Brisk, a Boston College Education professor, believes, “schools has wasted much energy in the search for a "perfect" model and the best way to learn English” when they could just focus on proving “quality education” to every student in the system (1). Teacher’s main priority should consist of effectively teaching their students to prepare them for the future, but currently there are a lack of certified bilingual education teachers. When students are taught more in different ways, they can educationally benefit their cognitive abilities, involving the brain with “mathematics, problem solving, logic and memory”, can be improved to create an overall better student. Even by learning another language at a earlier age can contribute to __________. Learning another language will be