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if your native language is english ,no
:lol:
No. Leaving foreign languges as an optional (elective?) subject is fine. Perhaps offering C++, Objective-C, SQL, XML, HTML, Java or JavaScript would likely be more useful as additional language skills.
I think learning foreign languages is a very salutary effort, as it opens the door to other cultures and views on the world. So yes, I think it should be part of any good education.
Probably the schools/children should decide which language(s). Much can be said for Spanish or Chinese in case of America, I guess.
I have to say for Chinese... if someone can learn it in school, they are very intelligent. I tried to learn it for about a month while I was dating a Chinese girl, and it would have taken about five times as long as learning another European language.
No. Leaving foreign languges as an optional (elective?) subject is fine. Perhaps offering C++, Objective-C, SQL, XML, HTML, Java or JavaScript would likely be more useful as additional language skills.
Indeed, languages that probably offer a better future than some of the one's currently offered.
You and I live in Texas.
Texas doesn't have very much in common with European countries, but we do have this: we have a foreign country right on our border, and we have a large contingent of foreign language speakers living within our borders.
In Europe, they all learn foreign languages from an early age.
For that reason, I think that in Texas, it would be beneficial to learn Spanish. I know I've used my knowledge of Spanish for many things, like hitting on cute young Mexican girls (they always get taken aback when a tall white guy can speak their language), getting deals, etc.
There's a whole other world/culture living within our state that, if you don't speak their language, you'll never get to know.
Yes, Chinese is probably not a starter thing ... a while back, I bought a Chinese learning set, but found it very ... alien, on first glance.
Compared to that, English and French seem rather easy. Sure, it's very difficult to really master English so well you can pass as a native speaker, but it was very easy for me to reach a level that allows me to be understood well. French was slightly more difficult, but still you notice the similarities to both English and German.
Self-descriptive title.
Also... what level of proficiency should be required? How many years of study?
Should we require Spanish? Chinese? Swahili? Leave it up to the student to decide? Which languages should be offered?
Etc.
Computer languages are easy. You can learn one in a weekend of hard study. Foreign languages involve years of work to master.
Spanish at the very least should be required.
I'm going to buck the trend here and say yes, I believe that foreign language studies should be required in public schools. When I was in school, two semesters of a foreign language was required for graduation, which offered just a basic introduction and rudimentary skills. I believe more should have been required, enough to provide working proficiency.
The reason is obvious. Learning another language offers a doorway into cultures beyond our own, which is always desirable. Also, looking at how the USA has grown over the decades into cadres of non-English speaking communities to the point that speaking a second language is almost required for many public and private jobs nowadays, anyone who is proficient in more than one language has a distinct advantage in any job market.
I wish I had learned Spanish to the proficiency level back in the day. Decades of not using it has reduced me to being able to ask where the hotel is, ask someone's name, ask if someone requires food or water, or ask other very rudimentary questions... with no guarantee I will understand the reply. I could spend some big bucks to remedy that, of course, but it seems a bit of a waste for someone who is basically housebound and well out of the job market, lol!
Learning a second language, in my opinion, should be everyone's ultimate goal.
I think what you do is very good... you come on to this board and practice speaking English with smart (generally speaking) people. That's a fantastic way to learn a language.
That's called investing time instead of wasting time.... very commendable. It will serve you well later in life.
So it would be much easier to teach the kids something that might benefit them in their future (programming languages) if it must be force upon them, than some other language that most will never use.
Hell no.
I don't see it as an either/or decision. Computer languages are useful. I learned BASIC when I was in elementary school, and I went to a public school in Colorado. We had a forward-thinking principal who got it put in the curriculum. Very glad for that.
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