National Imperative

It is important in the United States to have a competitive workforce, and a great way to do that is to have a society of learners that can communicate with people of other cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Although there are efforts for teaching school children other languages, most programs are primitive at best, left to be forgotten before the skills reach the point of relevancy. Dual language programs should be established in the US wherever feasible to give parents, at the very least, the choice to expand the minds of their children. Recent years have seen the inclusion of voluntary language immersion programs in places such as Athens, Georgia, in which students are taught from Kindergarten in two languages. These are steps in the right

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.

In the article “America’s Foreign Language Deficit” by David Skorton explains how learning another language can have many effects. The author, David Skorton, claims that by having the next American generation learning a foreign language, it will prepare them for success in the future. This is a logical claim. First, as the author points out, “[America] need[s] diplomats, intelligence and foreign policy experts, politicians… who are proficient in languages other than English” (Skorton). For example, the military often needs people who can speak a different language for many different reasons, such as having an important meeting with another country. In addition, American businesses need to know how to communicate with other businesses outside

The benefits of learning a foreign language go beyond learning a different culture or being able to communicate with people of different backgrounds. It is essential that Americans speak languages other than English in order to compete internationally, keep the country safe, and prepare children to be world citizens. Several language organizations, educators, and policy makers have recommended the introduction of a second language at the elementary school level as a way of assuring a high level of language proficiency (Pufahl and Rhodes 273).

“Learning another language assists in the development of critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving and memory,” according to Connecticut State Department of Education. In fact, students who studied a second language have had higher scores on standardized test such as the ACT and/or SAT. Someone might ask why should we learn a new language we are Americans everyone should learn English. However, most people who speak English that learn to speak a second language have better listening skills and greater understanding of their native language.

Learning these languages early will prepare them for a better future, dual language programs show students a broader world view, whatever the foreign language of the student, and lead to greater opportunities for collaborative learning. Some jobs require a second language such as: Business Executives, Stenography Banking, and Finance International Operator Translator, Publishing, Teacher (K-12), Study Abroad, Coordinator, Textbook Author/Editor, Hotel and Restaurant Staff / Management Publisher of Tourist Literature Visitor, and Convention Bureaus. I believe that American students should be required to learn a second language. Learning a second language will enable American students an opportunity to better understand other cultures and languages this will result in our generation being better world citizens and continue our role as a global leader. 96% of the world's population lives outside of the United States. Countries that border our nation speak a language other than English; by learning a second language we will more effectively communicate with our neighbors. Employees of this new era must have the skills and ability to communicate fluently in several

Learning to speak another language other than English is a highly debated subject in regards to education. Language in itself is an essential tool to everyday living,from whimsical conversations to important business meetings. Words have the power to inspire and change the world, but not everybody can understand the same words. There are hundreds of languages spoken around the globe how do we know which to speak? We can’t be certain. Therefore, it is not advantageous for English speakers to learn another language, there are too many languages for one to be exceptionally useful, and other countries are quickly learning English.

In most other countries, children begin learning a second language very early in their schooling. Most American schools, however, do not begin foreign language instruction until middle or high school. It is clear to see the detrimental effects of this. If you ask anyone who took a foreign language class in high school, chances are that they have retained none of it, unless they continued to study it in college. This is because by the teenage years, it is much harder for the human brain to learn a second language. If more schools began teaching a second language in elementary schools, it is more likely that students will retain more language skills. As a result, more individuals will have the language skills required in this global market to succeed with international relations and

According to a study by the University of Phoenix Research Institute, “demand for American workers who speak foreign languages- particularly Spanish and Chinese- will rise over the next decade”(“Rising Demand for Bilingual Workers among Employers”). As the United States continues to diversify, being bilingual or multilingual is becoming a key part to be successful in life. A student’s school education, beginning at the first day of kindergarten, is supposed to build and prepare a student for the future, so why is properly learning a new language not a priority from the start? The teaching of a foreign language should begin elementary school because learning at an earlier age is optimum for an easier and effective learning process and provides significant benefits that can last a lifetime.

According to hegp.org ,a Harvard website, “Secondly, supporting children’s acquisition of multiple languages and retention of heritage language seems critical not only for their process of transculturation but also for strengthening democratic engagement in a globalized world.” This view takes more of an authoritative stand on the benefits of having more education

Around 6,000 to 7,000 languages are spoken daily around the world, but as time goes on the amount of people that know each language is decreasing. Schools should have foreign language class. Initially, students who are bilingual have a brighter future. At the same time, language class helps students overall in school. Following this, being fluent in more than one language may improve one’s appreciation and respect for others. At the same time, when considering learning a second language one may want to consider the few cons. Undeniably, if students study a foreign language,they will be better

The United States education system lacks a national foreign language education requirement, which has resulted in a decline of foreign language learning opportunities. (“Education,” 2010). Foreign language requirements and opportunities in the nation’s schools are decreasing due to budget cuts (Skorton & Altschuler, 2012). Out of the 50 states, only 10 states have a foreign language graduation requirement set for students (“Education,” 2010). From 1997 to 2008, the number of elementary schools offering a foreign language decreased from 31% to 25%, while the number of middle schools dropped from 75% to 58%. Foreign language opportunities in high schools remained the same at around 91%; however, from 1994 to 2010 the percent of colleges that required foreign language study dropped from 67.5% to 50.7% (Skorton & Altschuler, 2012). The result

Although there are approximately 7,097 languages spoken around the world, 75 percent of the United States of America’s population cannot speak a second language. Twenty-eight percent of Americans feel that they do not need to know a second language because everyone they know speaks English or they expect all those they encounter to speak English. Because such a large percentage of Americans are monolingual, they often struggle to communicate with those in foreign countries because they do not know the native languages. This is largely due to the lack of language classes offered through the American school system, and not starting languages early in education. The solution to help close language and cultural barriers for Americans is starting foreign languages earlier in schools around the United States.

In this world, all languages and dialects will be taken and woven together to produce a picture that's beauty is on a scale never before seen. It is my firm belief that to achieve this world of beauty, people in every corner of the Earth should push for the study of foreign language to be set in the mandatory curriculum for all students.

America is the boiling pot of the world. It is where people from all over the globe come to either visit short term or decide to take residence long term because of the freedoms that America makes possible due to the Constitution. Because of the vast amounts of immigrants that take refuge here in the states, on would think that many different languages are spoken everywhere in the US on a day to day basis. This, however, is not the case. Though English is understandably the most spoken language in the US, many Americans deem it “unnecessary” to learn any other country’s language. There are many reasons why America should jump on the proverbial bandwagon of bilingual and/or multilingual language learning. Firstly, I will give some background on bilingual education, then I will give my two main reasons that America should require language learning courses starting at a young age, which are that