The Importance Of Learning A Foreign Language

The United States is becoming more and more bilingual every day. It is important for students of the United States of America to keep up with the advancing world. The easiest way to learn a second language is when a person is young. This is why it would be beneficial for schools to start teaching a foreign language in kindergarten and continuing it through twelfth grade. Students are more likely to learn and remember a foreign language if they are introduced to it at a young age. A majority of other countries teach foreign languages to their students throughout their school lives. Most students coming out of high school in other countries are totally

Second languages are vital. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have the ability to speak ten out of the near seven thousand languages that are spoken in the world today? It is certainly evident that it would be pretty astonishing but also undoubtedly complex and mind-boggling. From Afrikaans and French, to German and Swahili, foreign languages are responsible for one thing; enabling easy communication and the ability to interact with others in whatever language you may speak. In today’s society, approximately one fifth of the global population speaks English. So, learning another language is inevitably crucial for education, work and travel. It is also important for making real connections with others, broadening your horizons and can even give you an even more in-depth understanding of your own native language. But what advantages do foreign languages have?

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.

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

The United States has always been the land of the free, a quality that attracted many immigrants in search of a new life. As a result, the U.S is one of the most heterogeneous countries in the world. Today, three hundred and eleven languages are spoken in the U.S (Rhein, 2007). While the U.S has no official language, English is the most commonly spoken language in the country. Ever since the 1980’s, there has been a phenomenon known as the English-Only Movement, which is driven by those who believe English should be made the official language of the U.S. This phenomenon began in the 1980’s when Americans started to fear that immigrant languages would take over English (Crawford, 1998). For the past three decades, this movement has continued to have an impact in the U.S. Some of the common justifications for making English the official language is that it would make America more unified and it would improve the lives of immigrants (Brice, 2014). Another common justification is that it would save the federal government billions of dollars. The government spends large amounts of money every year to keep multilingualism alive, and it is in turn hurting the economy. Multilingualism has also had a major effect on the grades of school children who do not speak fluent English. Since the 1980’s, many governments have made efforts to reduce multilingualism. In order to improve the lives of immigrants, the economy and the grades of students in the U.S, English should be

The continued growth of speakers of languages other than English is reflected in the rapidly increasing students in U.S. schools for whom English is a second language. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (2005) show that the number of school-age children who spoke a language other than English reached almost 10 million in 2004. Such a dramatic increase continually challenges educators to provide effective language programs with quality instruction for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Some educators choose to view these challenges as opportunities by offering a dual bilingual program as an educational option for meeting the needs of monolingual speakers.

In order for the United States to compete in the new global markets and maintain a strong diplomatic and economic position, the country needs a cadre of professionals fluent in todays critical languages and cultures such as Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), and Turkish. Traditionally, most school in the United States teach Spanish, French, and Latin. Encouraging students to learn these language is no longer a priority for the U.S. because, 37.6 percent of the U.S. population already speaks Spanish (Gonzalez-Barrera), and French and Latin are no longer the lingua franca they once were. Because Central and South

Barack Obama at the town hall meeting of the 2008 presidential campaign, as reported CBS news, said, “I don 't speak a foreign language. It 's embarrassing!” His statement was an emphatic response to the English hegemony faced by the U.S. immigrants. They should be confident to have a language ability other than English, despite the fact they have been struggling to learn English. In making this comment, Obama urged us to learn a foreign language other than our native tongue because being bilingual is better than monolingual. It was also a critique of the initiative of the “English Only” movement which intensively advocates for making English as the official language of the United States. Therefore, I agree that Americans should work together to foster a language pluralism and to challenge any endeavors to make English-only as the official language.

Imagine what Christopher Columbus first said when stepping on American soil. Perhaps he said: “This land holds great promise.” Whatever he said the more fascinating question to ponder centers around what language did he speak, for Christopher Columbus, a multi-linguist, knew Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. So what happened to the diversity of languages in this land of promise? Many foreigners contribute to the melting pot of America, bringing their culture and language, yet American schools continue to teach just one language in today’s society. The heated debate among parents, educators, and politicians over a multilingual education in the United States began in the late nineteenth century. Over the next sixty years many crucial

In “Why Foreign Language Education Matters” Representative Rush Holt expresses the idea that the average American is generally deprived of what is known as cultural enrichment in their day-to-day lives, even though others believe that English should be the primary and only language Americans should speak. Holt conveys the overall concept that being bilingual, trilingual, or multilingual is a benefit not just for oneself but for our society. Rush Holt presents the argument with extreme concern for our upcoming generations and the consequences it may cause our nation’s economy to decrease in federal funding’s for education programs, as well as our global marketplace and national security who is highly dependent of translators, specialist, and

Presently, the majority of schools in different states are comprised of foreign students who have limited knowledge about the English language more so in the United States and Canada. In the majority of instances, a good number of students fail to acquire the necessary assistance from the schools they enroll in to enable them to learn adequately. Consequently, such students lose their heritage owing to the actuality that their primary languages are suppressed in the process of attaining a new language. Bilingual engagement programs bring together the native speakers of other languages and the native speakers of the English language for the purposes of acquiring academic instructions through either language in order to advance the competitive

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

Globalization is creating a world where learning a second language is a modern must. Language can open new doors for people, and now that cultural barriers are eroding, new languages have become more important and useful than ever before. To ensure that their students can grasp every opportunity that comes their way, schools need to require students to achieve proficiency in a second language. Since globalization is showing no signs of slowing, American Students need to buckle up and embrace the ride.

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.

Language is a key part of any family, community, culture and the human race. Without language the world today would be much different. From cavemen, to the Egyptian use of hieroglyphics, to Old English, to more than 6,500 languages spoken around the world today, the advances that humans have made in language is remarkable and inspiring. The ability to speak, read, write and understand more than one language is also remarkable and expands the liberties in life, especially for young people. High school students should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language class in order to graduate, as many recent studies support the benefits of doing so. Students who have learned a foreign language in high school have proven to have a