independent and unofficial
Prince fan community site
Prince fan community site
Create new topic 
Printable version (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)| Author | Message |
Foreign Languages In Public Schools: Should They Be A Mandatory Part of School Curriculum? Just curious to know maybe by region, how you feel about having foreign languages in public schools, starting say, at the elementary level. If you agree that it's useful, do tell why, and what are the languages you feel we should teach our children to better expose them to world opportunities or issues for the future? When I was a child there was the chance for accelerated students to begin French or German in the 3rd grade. Is it true that most schools now only offer Spanish? Why has this happened? Politically speaking we in the US are in an era where we are at our most vunerable in the world arena; I've always felt being multi-lingual gives one a competive edge, one that could surely be useful as we try to remain a relevant player in world finance or world politics in the coming years... | |
- E-mail - orgNote -  Report post to moderator |
French and German no longer taught in the US, huh? You owe me $5. I caught the big fish....again  | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
It all depends on how much money the different school systems have to work with. Almost all schools teach Spanish because it is quickly becoming the second language of the US. Where I live, there is also French and then German is an elective after at least two years of French. But in the neighboring school district, the high schoolers can elect to take French, German, Latin, Spanish,Hebrew,Russian, and Polish.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind"-Dr Seuss
Pain is something to carry, like a radio...You should stand up for your right to feel your pain- Jim Morrison | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
In my country it's compulsory to read at least three foreign languages besides our mother-language.
"Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
shellyevon said: It all depends on how much money the different school systems have to work with. Almost all schools teach Spanish because it is quickly becoming the second language of the US. Where I live, there is also French and then German is an elective after at least two years of French. But in the neighboring school district, the high schoolers can elect to take French, German, Latin, Spanish,Hebrew,Russian, and Polish.
I don't worry about it for my kids. We homeschool and they speak French, Spanish,Chinese and a little Cornish. Bravo! I'm particularly impressed by your foresight to include Chinese! I'm not sure if people at home understand, but China is RISING star on the world stage to compete with and possibly surpass the United States in economic and socio-political influence in the very near future...I think it would be very advantageous for us collectively if we at least tried to learn a bit more about their language and culture, rather than taking for granted that people will always have to speak English in order to gain international influence in financial and cultural affairs....do your children have a tutor, btw, or have you taken on the teaching duties yourselves? | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
shellyevon said: It all depends on how much money the different school systems have to work with. Almost all schools teach Spanish because it is quickly becoming the second language of the US. Where I live, there is also French and then German is an elective after at least two years of French. But in the neighboring school district, the high schoolers can elect to take French, German, Latin, Spanish,Hebrew,Russian, and Polish.
I don't worry about it for my kids. We homeschool and they speak French, Spanish,Chinese and a little Cornish. Sounds good to me... "Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice." | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
PasiKullero said: In my country it's compulsory to read at least three foreign languages besides our mother-language.
I understand, that English is an international language and so on... but learning different languages helps you to get deeper for other cultures ...besides knowledge of history, of course. that and it gives you a competitive edge in business, politics, etc., lately I've realized that no matter where I go to live or vacation, people always can speak my language (English), but with the exception of a few Romance languages, I cannot speak theirs...they can read our newspapers, watch our televsion shows, get a real gist for what drives us as a nation socially, economically, emotionally, politically, but turn the tables and I feel very uninformed, and particularly helpless because it means you always have to depend on others to interpret ideas and opinions for you...I wish they would introduce very exotic (but socially relevant) languages like Chinese or Arabic into our school systems in the US. I think it would be helpful in getting a grasp of how the world is changing somehow... | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Ottensen said: shellyevon said: It all depends on how much money the different school systems have to work with. Almost all schools teach Spanish because it is quickly becoming the second language of the US. Where I live, there is also French and then German is an elective after at least two years of French. But in the neighboring school district, the high schoolers can elect to take French, German, Latin, Spanish,Hebrew,Russian, and Polish.
I don't worry about it for my kids. We homeschool and they speak French, Spanish,Chinese and a little Cornish. Bravo! I'm particularly impressed by your foresight to include Chinese! I'm not sure if people at home understand, but China is RISING star on the world stage to compete with and possibly surpass the United States in economic and socio-political influence in the very near future...I think it would be very advantageous for us collectively if we at least tried to learn a bit more about their language and culture, rather than taking for granted that people will always have to speak English in order to gain international influence in financial and cultural affairs....do your children have a tutor, btw, or have you taken on the teaching duties yourselves? I have a friend from China who lived here for a year and taught us all a lot about Chinese culture and how to speak Mandarin.She is an elementary school teacher there so it really helped.It would be very hard to learn the tones of the language on your own. She also started us reading Pinyan Chinese, my girls can read more of the actual characters than I can. I do most of the teaching for everything else,but there's always been someone to help with anything we want to learn that's difficult. I love the Chinese people, they are wonderful. I know you are right when you say China is the next rising star,they are poised to be a very big influence on the world. I think they're already surpassing the US economically.. "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind"-Dr Seuss
Pain is something to carry, like a radio...You should stand up for your right to feel your pain- Jim Morrison | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
| |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
shellyevon said: Ottensen said: Bravo! I'm particularly impressed by your foresight to include Chinese! I'm not sure if people at home understand, but China is RISING star on the world stage to compete with and possibly surpass the United States in economic and socio-political influence in the very near future...I think it would be very advantageous for us collectively if we at least tried to learn a bit more about their language and culture, rather than taking for granted that people will always have to speak English in order to gain international influence in financial and cultural affairs....do your children have a tutor, btw, or have you taken on the teaching duties yourselves? I have a friend from China who lived here for a year and taught us all a lot about Chinese culture and how to speak Mandarin.She is an elementary school teacher there so it really helped.It would be very hard to learn the tones of the language on your own. She also started us reading Pinyan Chinese, my girls can read more of the actual characters than I can. I do most of the teaching for everything else,but there's always been someone to help with anything we want to learn that's difficult. I love the Chinese people, they are wonderful. I know you are right when you say China is the next rising star,they are poised to be a very big influence on the world. I think they're already surpassing the US economically.. They are surpasing us economically indeed...in fac,t they've been loaning us ALOT of money in the last couple of years...which is puzzling because I thought politically speaking we are against all communist systems. You are also on point about how kind Chinese people are, I've made friends here in Europe with many Chinese tourists and business people, and I have a lot of friends in the performing arts world that are traveling to China for tours, and long term performing engagements (6-8 months); so far they've all come back with wonderful things to say about the culture the warm hospitality of the people (and incredible amounts of cash for their performnce fees...the YEN is the currency everybody wants to have these days)! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I love languages, and I regret not having been raised in Europe because of all the language you can pick up there just from growing up. I've been studying Japanese for three years and I love it! Foreign languages aren't for everyone but are definetely something you should be exposed to for at least, say, two years. Join the Peace Industry! | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
i personally do think foreign languages should be taught in US schools at an earlier age ...
| |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
|
i think it is a great idea to have learning a language a mandatory part of the SC.
Have a happy and loving 09
Love Lead Live Create Inspire Copyright 2005 LOVE M |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Well, my daughter already speaks English and French; she'll have to take two languages in school (compulsory in France), and I hope she learns Spanish. As for the other - we'll see what interests her. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
at our local schools --- the foreign languages DID have choices at 6th grade ---- either spanish , french or german .... | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
i think foreign language is already a mandatory part of public school curriculum, at least they are in my area. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
byronic said: i think foreign language is already a mandatory part of public school curriculum, at least they are in my area.
that's what I thought also....I know my daughter has taken spanish for the past couple years. | |
| - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Create new topic Printable version (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
