A Foreign Language Course : Beneficial For College Students

In the soup cauldron scene of Night, Wiesel uses figurative language like metaphors, irony, and synecdoche to underscore the human tendency to regress to atavistic behavior during moments of great dehumanization. During the scene, all prisoners were ordered to stay put inside their blocks or else they would get shot. In the middle of the road, were two cauldrons of soup left unattended for anyone to grab. One of the prisoners is tempted and attempts to get himself another ration of soup. As the prisoner succeeds in reaching the first cauldron, Elie says, "Jealousy devoured us, consumed us."

One of the most common things that America is known for is having a combination of so many cultures and languages. Although spanish is the second language people think of being spoken in the United States, languages such as german, chinese, japanese, french, and russian are commonly spoken as well. It is important that all US high school and college students are required to learn at least two years of a foreign language so that teens can be more open to travel, can compete for jobs, and are able to expand their knowledge about the world.

Over the next few years, more than a million military service members are expected to transition to the general population and some challenges are expected such as finding a good job to sustain their way of living (GAO, 2014). To assist service men and women during the process of transition, the Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program (SFL-TAP) previously known as the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) was put in place. This is a program that has been in existence since 1990 after the congress passed a law targeting its establishment. This mandatory program was designed by the Department of the Army to help ease the burden of Military and Department of the Army employees experiencing career transition. The program was established to assist not only military personnel but also their family members with transitioning. It was founded as an answer to the problems associated mostly with job acquisition, school admission and rehabilitation of military personnel into

Should college required students to take a foreign language? That’s the question many college students are debating over. One such student, a high school junior from connecticut wrote “studying a language in college should depend on your interests” and she argues that taking a foreign class should vary upon the student's interest, previous study and whatever a career path required it. Berdan build up her credibility by providing a little bit of her background and personal interest, citing convincing fact and emotional appeal.

This memo is to discuss commonalities and differences among two scholarly articles relating to the field of public relations, found in the Journal of Public Relations Society of America. The purpose is to inform those in the communication field, moreover; those with a concentration in public relations to the use of language, format, and target audience of presentation in current research studies. The following articles Corporate Social Responsibility and the Nonprofit Sector: Assessing the Thoughts and Practices Across Three Nonprofit Subsectors, written by Richard D. Waters, Ph.D. and Holly K. Ott, M.S. and Examining Modern Media Relations: An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Twitter on the Public Relations – Journalist Relationship by Drew Wilson, MA and Dustin W. Supa, Ph.D, showcase the current practice in presentation that will be beneficial in this field.

People can also participate in study abroad programs as a way to improve their ability with a foreign language. Two such programs that are being offered to Spanish 300 and 400 students is the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica or Spain. There are several reasons as to why participating in a study abroad program is more advantageous than simply studying in a classroom. The largest advantage that participating in a study abroad program is that by being in a foreign country where the language you are learning is the primary language is that since you are immersed in the language, one’s proficiency in using the language will increase more quickly when compared to those that are only attending a class for their foreign language simply due to the fact one must use that language all of the time. Study abroad programs also have the added benefit of improving one’s knowledge about a particular country’s culture and traditions. Lastly, study abroad programs allow one to become friends with many new people and make many new friends. It is for these reasons of improving language proficiency, learning more about a country’s culture, and meeting new people and making new friends that I am interested in participating in a study abroad program in the

A survey done by the Center for Applied Linguistics in 2008 found that "The findings indicate a serious disconnect between the national call to educate world citizens with high-level language skills and the current state of foreign language instruction in schools across the country"(Cal:Research). This is concerning as all of the competition for the U.S. is gaining a step and we 're doing nothing . If the U.S. expects to continue to be competitive in the global market we need to have bilingual citizens. In order to ensure this, we must require a foreign language be learned in high school.

Take me For example. Last year, I have been to Boston for studying Language. Although They focus on English improvement program, the language school also want to integrate international students with the domestic students. They arrange a conversation class every Friday. They encouraged people who came different countries interact with native speakers. They divided the group into a small segment and made sure that they advanced their options sufficiently. “International students who enroll in courses that include content addressing issues of the race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, or sexual orientation report more personal and social development.” (Glass & Westmont, 2014, p. 109). We really engaged into the meaningful class. Not only did we practice the English speaking, but we also understood much interesting knowledge from different countries. At first, I expected that I could make lots of new friends by engaging the meaningful class. However, the relationship was just in the class. It’s difficult to keep connecting with each other after class neither international nor domestic student. We were still familiar with our group. It’s surprising that we do not move our belongingness to new friends. We still feel a sense of belongingness in our same-country group. According to my observance, there are two main reasons. First, both international and domestic were mandatory to attend

This results in few friends and international students tending to isolate themselves or keeping to a group of the same language. Depression comes into effect for those that cannot find peers of the same language. Therefore being forced to have very or no friend which leads to loneliness and depression. The barrier between international students and English speaking students create obstacles that impede the building of interpersonal relationships with fellow students. International students not fluent with the English language experience difficulties that students who are fluent do not. They difficulties include needing extra time to read assigned reading, difficulties understanding class lectures and discussions, and difficulties communicating concerns and view points (Tam. K, Donghyuck. L, & Huang. L, 2007) International students tend to disconnect from their previous social life and find new connections to develop new social Support networks in their new host country (Tam. K, Donghyuck. L, & Huang. L, 2007). Pedersen (1991), point out that a loss of social support as an impact on the psychological well-being of an international student. The unpleasant experience of forming new support networks in host country leads to feeling of disappointment and discontent. Overtime, these feeling lead to social isolation (Mallinckrodt and Leong 1992).

Foreign languages help students compete to be accepted into top schools. Many colleges require a foreign language for admission, but more than that it teaches students important study skills needed to be accepted to and excel in college. The memory is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Learning a foreign language exercises the memory, thus making it easier to remember facts from other classes. Students who study a foreign language also find their English improves. By learning a language, students learn English grammar, sentence construction and parts of speech, helping them excel in English and other classes that require writing.

Therefore, I propose that a new foreign language opens paths such as increasing students’ social lives beyond representation. Angela M. Locks, Sylvia Hurtado, Nicholas A. Bowman, and Leticia Oseguera  states [5], “the outcomes of participating in programs like intergroup relations and taking courses related to diversity… students of color and White students will be more likely to have positive interactions with diverse peers.” Basically, Locks is saying that students devoting themselves to classes that not only represent them, yet make them think differently is ideal for cultural awareness. I am convinced students can socialize outside the classrooms, their ethnic groups, and colleges. I trust a foreign language course will ensure that students learn culture and language creating a comfortable environment for their peers. Students can meet new people such as international students and help with their transition to this country while learning about international students’ experience. Some students on our campus are already bilingual, so increasing the quantity of language would result in a diverse campus where an accepting awaits. Students social development leads to effective communication with people on campus, off

In high school, you are required to have two credit hours of a foreign language. Coming from a small school, my options were limited to Spanish, French, and German. I ended up taking Spanish which was an experience all in itself. Also in high school, you are required to have four credit hours in a Language Arts/English. In the end taking these classes affected how I perceive things in the world and also how I react to things. But when I was a Freshman, I also took a trip to Haiti where I learned phrases in their language that I still use and remember today.

Bilingualism will someday be a skill that is necessary to succeed in life. Already, most colleges in the United States expect incoming freshmen to have studied a foreign language for three or more years. High school students are sometimes surprised by these requirements because it is difficult to master a foreign language that they have only begun to study in their teenage years. Foreign language education is important worldwide today because it improves children’s growth patterns and helps children understand cultural aspects of the foreign language.

The foreign language deficit in America serves to be inimical to the future of American society. America’s foreign language curriculum displays a more than lackluster approach in relation to those upheld in other countries. Unlike our European counterparts, most American school systems only require that students acquire two foreign language credits to graduate. Most of the time, these courses are either taught by some athletic coach who could really care less if you know how to conjugate the verb “ir” correctly, or by an overly passionate foreigner who spends the class time intensively explaining said conjugations to a class full of seniors who just want to graduate. In some states, this requirement is even nonexistent.

Some students would argue that taking a foreign language class in high school would not benefit them after graduation, as they plan to study a major in which being multilingual is not essential. This may seem reasonable as some majors, such as cosmetology or psychology may not ever use a foreign language nor require further study of a foreign language. However, studies have shown that studying a foreign language builds more skills than just language. Memorization, critical thinking and interpretation skills improve immensely in those students who take a foreign language class in high school (“Benefits and Opportunities” 1). Students can then use these skills to improve academic performance in other areas, improving overall college success.