Recently, the Miami Herald ran an article titled, “It’s time for Americans to master a second language.”
Vic Johnson, Senior Advisor, Public Policy, replied with the following:
Learn other languages
Andres Oppenheimer, in his July 17 column, is absolutely correct: It’s time for Americans to master a second language. Barack Obama should be congratulated for having the courage to say so.
We live in a dangerous world, one that we fail to understand at our peril. International competence helps our economic competitiveness. But there are limits to our ability to understand other peoples and cultures if we cannot speak their languages. It is a misguided patriotism that celebrates ignorant monolingualism in the global age.
The next president should set a national objective that every student will graduate from college with proficiency in a foreign language and a basic understanding of at least one world region.
We’d like to know what you think. Do you think it is important for Americans to learn a second language? Why or why not?
I can hear the complaints already. Who is going to teach all these Americans? Who is going to pay for all those teachers? What subject is going to have to give up their teachers and their time, in order to include the intense instruction involved.
Until there are good answers to those questions, then this noble goal will never be achievable.
Barack Obama wants everyone should learn a foreign language, but which one should it be?
I suggest that he has a look at Esperanto.
Interestingly nine British MP’s have nominated Esperanto for the Nobel Peace Prize 2008.
Detail can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
Binky (we prefer people use their real names, by the way),
Capacity concerns might be applicable in the short term, but what about the long-term benefits of increased language/cultural education? More students mean more opportunities for people to become teachers — and more educated graduates result in a more competitive workforce. Shouldn’t we be working toward goals like this regardless of capacity concerns, given rapid (and inevitable) globalization?
I am 55 and in my first 52 years on Earth I learned 7 languages. The one that took a longest time was 3 years and the one taking the least was just 3 weeks. If you have good teachers, an open mind, willingness to learn and someone to practice the new language with, the sky is the limit. I did not become a worse person by learning all these languages, but on the contrary: Now I can “think” in 7 different nationalities. Globalization, common sense and intelligence make it a mandatory requirement to know more than just one language, if not better still, at least 3.
My website is still under construction (www.learnsupereasyspanish.com)
I just finished a post about learning a second language can boost brain power. So I completely agree with you. Learning a second language, especially early in life, have so many benefits that we should encourage people to have a try. And if it is all possible, the earlier, the better.