The Benefits Of Foreign Language

Author Douglas McGray, in his article “Lost in America,” fights for the expansion of foreign language education in schools by focusing on the present and potential future effects the issue will have on the state of America’s world relations and world business market. To efficiently communicate his message for expansion, McGray publishes his article in Foreign Policy Magazine—a publication known for its political demographic. He publishes his article there with the intent to persuade his intended audience, lawmakers, to pass additional policies and laws expanding foreign language in schools. McGray compiles evidence from history, research, and some of his own thoughts on global education in America. He includes several rhetorical choices such as historical references, statistics, urgency in tone, and analogies which he utilizes to highlight his point to lawmakers that foreign language is fundamentally important in America’s school system.

Many kids in today’s world are not learning enough to be able to live in the global economy and according to David Boren, the former U.S. Senator, “Not training our kids to be able to work and live in an international environment is like leaving them illiterate” (182). The best way to learn a culture is to study the language and devote time where the language is important. Learning a foreign language rises, brain growth, yet fewer American schools offer it. To

America’s educational system is home to an increasing number of English language learners. Some research indicates that by the year 2030, over 40% of elementary and secondary students served by schools in the United States will come from homes where a language other than English is spoken (Thomas & Collier, 2001). In an effort to accommodate these students, the United States has adopted policies at both the federal and state levels. Generally, the direction taken to meet the needs of English language learners has depended on the climate of the nation. During times of peace and prosperity, policies reflect the nation’s tolerance of other languages and cultures. However, during times of war or conflict, policies have reflected

As time progresses, foreign languages are being abandoned in English-speaking countries. This is because English is becoming a dominant language in international affairs. A common question has arisen because of this situation as Americans are left wondering what will become of foreign languages in the future. At this present time, monolingual English speakers are at a disadvantage. Being multilingual offers better opportunities in the working field and improves brain flexibility. On the other hand, it is understandable that it can be useless as English is becoming an international language and it is expected that people who live in America should know English already.

In the “Advantages of Being Multilingual” Mendez stresses the importance of being bilingual, Mendez provides a numerous amount of evidence to back up her argument. The author also includes disadvantages, and provides those in the beginning, by doing this Mendez hopes that the reader knows that there will be a few obstacles. Mendez targets mostly teenagers, but also parents that are looking forward to teaching their children a second language. Following that, Mendez provides a list of the benefits that an individual will gain or have if you are bilingual, “…cognitive flexibility, higher chance in job employment, and improved communication.” Providing advantages give a good impression to the reader, therefore, the readers challenge themselves to learn another language.

As America is one of the world’s largest and most powerful countries, a crucially important reason to bolster language education is in regards to international relations. Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” (Okpomo, 1). America needs politicians, ambassadors, and diplomats who can connect to leaders of other nations on that level; business leaders to promote American interests abroad; and soldiers who can relate to the common people that they are fighting to protect. All of these endeavors require multilingualism.

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.

The United States is first in imports and second in exports, where in 2015, 2.16 trillion dollars’ worth of products were imported into the country, and 1.38 trillion dollars’ of American products were exported (Simones). Even in the United States knowing a foreign language can give an individual many experiences that only knowing English cannot provide. One can imagine walking through Manhattan neighborhoods, where Spanish can be heard from the Dominican barrio of Washington Heights, or Mandarin from the vibrant Chinatown. The experience would be completely different for a monolingual person compared to a bilingual or trilingual person. Three possible solutions to improve world language education in the United States is to offer more foreign languages to teach, such as Arabic or Chinese, require three or four years to graduate from high school and be admitted into a college or trade school, and to teach foreign

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.

Throughout our ever developing world, a majority of countries knows at least more than their native tongue fluently, while the United States slowly slips behind in the foreign language department. This is why while children receive their general education here in the United States, it should be mandatory that children learn a second language at a young age. If children were to learn a second language at a young age, it would help their brain to retain and comprehend the information easier; it would expand the gray matter in the brain to further help in their education; thus it will also help the world economically because of learning a second language at a young age.

Is learning a foreign language really necessary? Currently, millions of students from different backgrounds are learning a foreign language in school. From 1960-2009, the worldwide student enrollment into foreign studies has had a steady rise (except for a slight dip in 1995). Communication among different languages is what has made the world strive, and foreign language supplies adults and students with advantages. Students should be required to take foreign language.

Learning a second language is beneficial at all ages. Once you have been fluent in a second language, you can grab numerous of opportunities and benefits in it. Whatever your age, learning a second language can give lots of advantages especially in today’s global society. You can have the opportunity to get better job prospects, improved your understanding from all over the world and experience new culture. However, you have to learn second a second language in a best way in order to make you to easily understand what you have leant. Acquisition method is a best way to learn second language. Acquiring means learn or develop a skill, habit or quality in an informal way and the process of learning second language through experience instead of remembering, memorizing and understanding the rules of the language. Indeed, learning second language through acquisition is the best because it is more exciting, can learn new word without being forced, and learners can learn a second

Some students will take a second language course in their lifetime, but is it really worth the trouble? With so many different languages out there, there is such a wide variety to pick from. Some of the more common languages learned in the United States are Spanish and French, and it’s not uncommon to know a little bit of one or both of the languages from classes we took in high school. Yet, not all schools require a second language course. In regards of the 18% of Americans who reportedly speak a second language, Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education States, “That’s far short of Europe, where 53 percent of citizens speak more than one language. The United States may be the only nation in the world where it is possible to complete high school and college without any foreign language study.” (Brown) In the end, one may wonder if there is profit to requiring these classes and how useful they become to those who take them. There is very much great value to learning a second language, or even multiple languages. Students should take a foreign language course because its enjoyable, useful, and good for your mental health. You might be surprised of all the benefits learning another language brings. For one, learning a language can be very enjoyable.

Every day all forms of teachers are teaching children that communication is vital to life in the modern world, but they are preventing them from learning any language beyond their native tongue. In Europe alone, there are twenty-four official languages (Jaffron et al). This count excludes the numerous regional languages that pop up across the continent. Europe has forty-four countries in a land that is of comparable size to the United States. Twenty-four languages in forty-four countries, yet each new wave of teachers are teaching the same rhetoric repeatedly. They are teaching the children that it is fine to seclude themselves to knowing a single language. “We Americans do a less than adequate job when it comes to teaching our children a foreign language. We start too late and we do too little to convince our children about why learning a foreign language is so important,“ says Jo-Anne Shick in the article “Language Teacher Education: The Challenge for the Twenty-first Century,” A child in the U.S. could be able to talk to a child in Finland, Vietnam, or South Africa in a literal moment, but that connection often never happens, because they do not speak each other's language. They have the possibility to be constantly interacting with people from other countries, cultures, and language backgrounds, but without the knowledge base gained from a well known second language, they will be unable to reach their full potential in expressing themselves in this ever-shrinking world.