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  1. #1

    Foreign languages should be required classes in schools.

    Here's my hot take of the day: Students should be required to take foreign language classes in school to graduate. Knowing how to speak more than one language is a great skill that will make you more attractive to future employers. Studies show that foreign languages help critical thinking skills.

  2. #2
    I agree. I'm in California and I was required to take three years of foreign language to graduate high school. Don't know how ubiquitous that requirement is in California school district is though.

  3. #3
    I took 2 years of Spanish in high school then 2 semesters of Spanish in college in order to graduate. I can't speak Spanish worth a shit though.

  4. #4
    ... Okay. I don't really know where that isn't the case, at least for high school. Granted, the quality of those programs differs according to country, and I'd say if the person isn't interested in learning the language in the first place it'll never stick.

    I took 6 years of Spanish through middle and high school and forgot most of it. I'm sure I could get it down if I wanted to, but that's time and effort on a language I don't really care about.

  5. #5
    Immortal Zelk's Avatar
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    They almost are in the UK (needed for university application) and guess what, hardly anyone can speak spanish or french anyway,

  6. #6
    Merely a Setback PACOX's Avatar
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    I thought that was a requirement in most places and had been for years. It's even a baseline requirement in a lot public colleges to in case you didn't take a foreign language course in high school.

    The way it's handled is horrible because not like many people retain the information and imagine not letting someone walk because they can't say hello in a place they'd never visit.

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  7. #7
    Brewmaster Sorensen's Avatar
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    Maybe the world should all just speak American Problem solved.
    Driving on Sunshine.

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  8. #8
    Brewmaster Sorensen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winter Blossom View Post
    ........

    You mean English?
    No American language, where we have elevators and apartments and trucks.
    Driving on Sunshine.

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  9. #9
    As someone who speaks multiple languages I disagree, I have to speak to vendors whose languages I don't know we have been using google translate to do it all for decades now with no issues. By the time kids of today come of age the concept of learning another language will be meaningless, the same way calligraphy is becoming obsolete now thanks to pcs.

  10. #10
    Immortal Evolixe's Avatar
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    I mean, most of the western world whose first language isn't English get taught English.
    How many people here have English as their second language?

    Here's one.
    Hell I'd wager like half the site has another mother tongue.

    I could very much recommend all those that do have English as their first language to at least learn 1 other one though.
    German, Spanish, French or Mandarin are all great to know, can be very useful in life if not just very fun.

    But its best to teach languages at a younger age. Its scientifically proven that kids pick up languages easier than adults, which honestly is hardly a surprise granted they need to learn A language to start with anyway. Might as well make it 2 as they won't be set in their ways.

  11. #11
    Only if they ensure the teachers teaching it are qualified to do so. My school didn't have it as a requirement, which is good, since the teachers Sucked at it. Had some Spanish speakers in my school who were laughing at the teachers inability to actually understand Spanish. The French teacher wasn't much better. Those were also the only two my school had. Not even anything beyond the basics. Just French 1 and Spanish 1. Nothing else if you wanted a better understanding and they were only 1 semester classes. Which, in my school, amounted to 1 quarters worth of education since my school did alternating days for our classes.
    Quote Originally Posted by scorpious1109 View Post
    Why the hell would you wait till after you did this to confirm the mortality rate of such action?

  12. #12
    I took 4 years of Spanish before college and I had good grades.

    Got to Spain 5 years later, and I promptly realized I only spoke roughly 5 words, and in hindsight now I know none of my Spanish teachers spoke Spanish.

    I know that since it has gotten slightly better, but it's still a joke.

    I also had 4 years of German and French before my parents moved back to the US, and I actually never completely forgot either.

    Now I'm proficient in Spanish, conversational/intermediate in French, German and Hungarian, and I can get myself understood in and fully understand Italian, Catalan and Romanian. Tho that's after basically having lived in Europe for 15 years now.
    Last edited by Mihalik; 2020-10-18 at 01:46 AM.

  13. #13
    In my school we had to take French Class from grades 4-8. I voluntarily took French as an elective in grades 9 and 10. I did well enough in the classes (the reason I took it as an elective course was because I considered it to be an easy class) but I'm not even close to being fluent in French. When I hear people speak French I can occasionally pick out a word here or there...but the conversation is mostly lost on me. It's just not a skill I've ever had much need to practice. My best friend took German in grades 9 and 10...and his german is far better than my french... because he had more interest in learning and practicing it.

    So I guess what I'm saying is that making taking classes for a second language in school isn't going to matter for most people unless there's a reason they want to learn that language. As soon as they no longer have to practice that language...they'll start to forget it.

  14. #14
    The Unstoppable Force Ghostpanther's Avatar
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    Simple answer.....no. Not everyone plans on traveling overseas and I expect anyone visiting the US to speak the main one we do. English. I am not going to learn to speak their language unless I planned on traveling to their country. Then I should. Would be wrong for me to expect them to know English.
    " If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.." - Abraham Lincoln
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  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by CastletonSnob View Post
    Here's my hot take of the day: Students should be required to take foreign language classes in school to graduate. Knowing how to speak more than one language is a great skill that will make you more attractive to future employers. Studies show that foreign languages help critical thinking skills.
    Students should be required to learn lots of things. Foreign languages does not rank high on the list. The education system here is pretty shitty.

  16. #16
    Went to a private American run school in Malaysia before moving to Ireland where I was exempted from learning Irish having gone straight to secondary school there.

    Suffice so say, I suck learning languages (Can't even speak Malay while having lived a decade in Malaysia). Despite having learnt German, which was mandatory for a secondary language, my capability is tourist-like at best.

  17. #17
    Merely a Setback Kaleredar's Avatar
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    At my high school it was a requirement to take a foreign language; I believe it was at least one year.

    Many colleges, like the UC system which includes many of the top colleges in the world (Berkeley, UCLA, UCSF, UCSD,) require multiple years of a foreign language to even apply.
    Last edited by Kaleredar; 2020-10-18 at 02:41 AM.
    “Do not lose time on daily trivialities. Do not dwell on petty detail. For all of these things melt away and drift apart within the obscure traffic of time. Live well and live broadly. You are alive and living now. Now is the envy of all of the dead.” ~ Emily3, World of Tomorrow
    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    Kaleredar is right...
    Words to live by.

  18. #18
    Herald of the Titans Tuor's Avatar
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    Foreign languages are already mandatory here in Portugal. Back in my day's you could choose betwin French or English at 5th grade, and then at 7th grade you would choose a second foreign language. Today, English starts being teached during the first years of school, and its mandatory at 5th grade.

  19. #19
    I had to do 2 years in high school, (first 2 years) but that's it.

    I don't agree that you need to study a 2nd language to graduate.

  20. #20
    Not a requirement when/where I got schooled.
    And I wish it had been.

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