Should foreign language be a required to graduate high school?

[Care4all]

YES, ABSOLUTELY

and it is already mandatory in most states, to have at least 2 years of a foreign language.

When i went to high school in Brooklyn, 4 years of a foreign language was required in order to graduate high school.

When i finished high school in new jersey, only 2 years was required there....and the selection of foreign languages was limited compared to the choices i had in New York.

The more education one has that makes them more rounded the better....especially in today's world, without borders financially, or in manufacturing and purchasing.

If i could do it over again, i would have taken Chinese, instead of Italian, and maybe even spanish....both of which could have helped me greatly in my career and could have moved me ahead quicker than what i was able to without...

Care

 

[RetiredGySgt]

We should teach our children spanish from 1st through 8th Grade along with english and in High School an additional language should be required for 2 years.

The reality is that in about 50 years this country is probably going to have a majority population that is Hispanic. We should be preparing for that.

 

[Unkotare]

Should foreign language be a required class to graduate high school??? ........

Yes. If for nothing else, for the beneficial effect it has on the brain.

 

[Unkotare]

We should teach our children spanish from 1st through 8th Grade......

Mandarin would make more sense.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Should foreign language be a required class to graduate high school??? Its one of those things that older people say you need to succeed in the "job" world... If you think about it, have you guys ever taken such a course in high school? I mean you could, but was it required at all to get into college or to either graduate and finally get out of high school. Nowadays it seems they are pushing us (students) to the limits. They make it required but for real, 99% of us forget about it and its just not worth takin in the first place because this is an english-speaking country, and the last time i checked i'll be going to an english speaking college which i'm willing to pay so much for just to get a degree and get a job. What does everyone think??? Employers are more than welcome to reply....

Should foreign language be a required to graduate high school?



Yes English must be required

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I say yes, every high school graduate should have at least one year of a foreign language.

Wow! After one year of taking a foreign language, you might be able to count to 100 in the new language, order a couple of beers, and ask the way to the bathroom. Not much else will be remembered or worthwhile.

I took two years of German in college and now speak more Spanish than German because that is all I hear!

I took Latin in high school and just had a rousing conversation in that language just the other day! NOT!

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Now now.. There's a couple words in a couple different languages that I'm GLAD I know. I <i>*needed*</i> to know them a couple times.

But I still believe it should be elective in most cases...

Yeah... I took Spanish in high school, and hated it until one day, while I was working at the mall, two normal-looking women who spoke perfect english to me started talking in Spanish amongst themselves about the fake check they were going to pay with. They were quiet, but assumed the big white kid who had been bringing them shoes to try on couldn't speak Spanish. Turns out they were wrong

Learning a language opens doors, and if they could replace trivial shit like phys-ed with foreign language, I think it'd be a great idea.

Spoken by someone who is likely 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide?

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Yeah, I know that feeling. I once heard two people behind talking about me in the student union. About mid-conversation, I busted into their conversation with "That's just rude!" The whole thing was in Mandarin Chinese. Bet they never saw that coming.

Where did you learn mandarin?

He just ate a lot of oranges and it suddenly came to him!

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

There are several reasons to require it, in my opinion. Not the least of which is the fact that those who are bilingual or know even more languages are less likely to suffer severe depression as teens that causes so many of our young to commit suicide.

I have fun talking with my younguns in ASL (American Sign Language), but they never really caught on to Russian, I have high hopes for that later.

I would prefer language to be introduced much younger than in High School when many have already lost the real ability to absorb a language in full.

Yep we are lucky at our school, Spanish begins in kindergarten. I wish though that instead it was Latin, the kids would still pick up Spanish, but also easily Italian, French and even Greece.

How do you pick up an entire country?

 

[Cecilie1200]

There are several reasons to require it, in my opinion. Not the least of which is the fact that those who are bilingual or know even more languages are less likely to suffer severe depression as teens that causes so many of our young to commit suicide.

I have fun talking with my younguns in ASL (American Sign Language), but they never really caught on to Russian, I have high hopes for that later.

I would prefer language to be introduced much younger than in High School when many have already lost the real ability to absorb a language in full.

Yep we are lucky at our school, Spanish begins in kindergarten. I wish though that instead it was Latin, the kids would still pick up Spanish, but also easily Italian, French and even Greece.

How do you pick up an entire country?

According to Archimedes, with a reeeeeeally long lever.

 

[Polishprince]

Should foreign language be a required class to graduate high school??? Its one of those things that older people say you need to succeed in the "job" world... If you think about it, have you guys ever taken such a course in high school? I mean you could, but was it required at all to get into college or to either graduate and finally get out of high school. Nowadays it seems they are pushing us (students) to the limits. They make it required but for real, 99% of us forget about it and its just not worth takin in the first place because this is an english-speaking country, and the last time i checked i'll be going to an english speaking college which i'm willing to pay so much for just to get a degree and get a job. What does everyone think??? Employers are more than welcome to reply....

At my school, it was required back in the day. All of the students had to take Latin.

Language does help students read state mottoes as well as mottoes used by colleges as well as cigarette companies. A lot of our phrases used even today come from Latin.

If time travel is ever perfected and I get sent back to antiquity, I will be set.

I personally think it was time well spent.