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High School Bilingual Education

Decent Essays

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. There are three main types of foreign language programs: Foreign Language Experience/Exploratory (FLEX), Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES), and immersion/dual-language programs. …show more content…

National reports about elementary school foreign language programs suggest “Language learning began in the elementary school and continue throughout a student’s schooling” (Dahlberg). Already seven states have mandates for this recommendation, but considering the fact that there are fifty states, seven is not a large number. It is more beneficial to start a foreign language program with elementary school students because if it is started in middle school, curricula would have to be completely changed. This is because the students are in the middle of a change between high school and elementary school, a very critical change that does not leave any room to start learning a new language. If a program started in high school, the students’ minds would already be mostly developed and it would be really hard for them to take in another language …show more content…

It improves many skills that are important to succeed in life such as academic gains, strong social skills, stronger creativity, and success in reaching adulthood and finding a fitting career (Selling, 19). Also, right now, the United States is in the minority regarding bilingual education, so if this change does happen, this country would be more in line with other western countries. In addition, these programs would provide the children with cultural benefits, and future benefits in life in general. But, this program has to start in elementary school in order for it to be productive. Finally, bilingualism is important for the world and would produce better developed children

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