Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think Spanish *and* another language should be mandatory, starting in the 1st grade.
Yes. This country shall now abandon the Spanish language entirely despite the fact that Latinos are a part of the country and contribute to the culture, and despite the fact that the US is connected to Latin America. Why? Because precious little In_Correct doesn't like it.
Where would you get the teachers? People who can learn a language well enough to teach it can usually make more money in a non-teaching position. There is already a shortage of foreign language teachers as it is. Our district is constantly recruiting FL teachers, to no avail.
Working knowledge of a foreign language is an incremental asset of a potentially productive educated person. It is a part of the aggregated matrix of what makes a person educated, knowledgeable and wise, and therefore useful broadly to the society and the economy, and narrowly to his own self-esteem and lifetime of fulfillment.
The fact that many people study a foreign language and fail or refuse to make it an integrated part of their knowledge base is not a justification to dispel the notion that it has potential value..
As for the practical issues raised above, any child can learn a language from any native speaker, no pedagogical post-graduate degrees required. In most of Africa and some countries like India, virtually everyone who has been to school at all is fluent in at least two languages, and often more. How do you suppose they learned them?
In my perfect, little world, Spanish and French would be taught starting in the first grade. Add German in middle school, then Latin and Mandarin in high school. Make one of the requirements of high school graduation be fluency in two languages, the student's native language and a foreign language, (one of the two being English).
Cliksder may not have spent much time in a school that serves the poorest of the poor, but there are indeed many students for whom even elementary foreign language is beyond them. Most of them are enrolled in regular education, not special ed, so they get no additional supports. And as far as removing math, our district had to find out the hard way that Algebra 2 is just too difficult for a large subset of our students. They finally removed it as a graduation requirement for the general diploma about five years ago. I see no reason why calculating the asymptotes of a hyperbola should be required for someone who aspires to be a hair stylist or house painter. It is asking enough that they can do basic algebra. I personally prefer our old math literacy test that was discarded after No Child Left Behind. It required students to demonstrate that they could perform basic calculations and compute paychecks with overtime and commissions, including deductions. It is important to be able to calculate prices with discounts and tax, but we no longer teach that because we no longer test it.
.
Gee, I wonder how that works in other countries where even the poorest of the poor are required starting in elementary school to learn a foreign language and somehow they all make it. Also, studies show that it helps students with their first language as well; many students would probably benefit from that, too. I believe while it might be the case that some students are unable to do it, they should just not be enrolled in regular education. I am sorry, but if learning the BASICS of one foreign language is too much for them, they probably shouldn't be in regular education - or maybe the curriculum used for them just sucks and should be adjusted.
In my perfect, little world, Spanish and French would be taught starting in the first grade. Add German in middle school, then Latin and Mandarin in high school. Make one of the requirements of high school graduation be fluency in two languages, the student's native language and a foreign language, (one of the two being English).
Move to Europe and you will almost get your perfect little language world in many countries. Well, at least learning 3 foreign languages is not uncommon.
I find it incredibly sad and telling that many feel American students wouldn't be able to learn another language. Start it when they're young, and it can be done. This is one huge issue I have with the American educational system. The kids are capable of so much more. (Yes, I've been to low income schools as I grew up going to them. Almost all the non white kids knew two languages fluently, so don't say it isn't possible.)
I'd be happy if 95% of the students graduated high school with the ability to read and write English. According to no end of studies, literacy remains a challenge for many. Over a third of community college applicants have to take remedial classes before they can start their welding and practical nursing courses. Yikes!
Since many students are already required to take a foreign language, guess I would favor Chinese. Seems like it would come in handy in the not so distant figure.
I find it incredibly sad and telling that many feel American students wouldn't be able to learn another language. Start it when they're young, and it can be done. This is one huge issue I have with the American educational system. The kids are capable of so much more. (Yes, I've been to low income schools as I grew up going to them. Almost all the non white kids knew two languages fluently, so don't say it isn't possible.)
Are you talking non-white as in African-American or non-white as in recent immigrants who have a language spoken at home by their parents/grandparents and then have English at school? I can guarantee that the vast majority of my (now former, I just retired) middle/upper middle class African American students in the DC suburbs aren't fluent in two languages. Hell, most of them (especially the boys) are at least 3 years below grade level in English. That's the smart ones. The dumb ones are illiterate by almost any standard.
What you guys not in education don't "get" when you compare the US to other countries, and this cuts across all subject areas, is that those countries track. Consistently, harshly and beginning early. We don't. We teach all the students the same basic, and not so basic, subjects. That's how you get cognitive disabled SPED kids in my (former) system taking Algebra II when they can't add 2+2 and get the same answer consistently.
Are you talking non-white as in African-American or non-white as in recent immigrants who have a language spoken at home by their parents/grandparents and then have English at school? I can guarantee that the vast majority of my (now former, I just retired) middle/upper middle class African American students in the DC suburbs aren't fluent in two languages. Hell, most of them (especially the boys) are at least 3 years below grade level in English. That's the smart ones. The dumb ones are illiterate by almost any standard.
What you guys not in education don't "get" when you compare the US to other countries, and this cuts across all subject areas, is that those countries track. Consistently, harshly and beginning early. We don't. We teach all the students the same basic, and not so basic, subjects. That's how you get cognitive disabled SPED kids in my (former) system taking Algebra II when they can't add 2+2 and get the same answer consistently.
I understand that, North. But do you think adjusting the classes/curriculum to the weakest students is the best solution? I do not. What about the average and smart students? Don't they also have a right to be acommodated, at least just as much as the weak students? Also, in the countries where I am familar with the school systems, students do not get tracked until 4th or 6th grade and they still have language classes starting in 1st or 3rd grade at the latest. So, seems like it can be done somehow or those countries wouldn't be doing it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
