In my teaching career, and even during my time as a high school student, I have encountered several foreign exchange students attending our local rural school districts.
Most of them held something in common that one might argue is lacking in the educational experience of a typical American teenager: I am referring to these international students’ knowledge of multiple languages.
To state the obvious, they all knew two languages at least: their native speech and English. But most of them knew several more, depending upon their specific nation of origin.
My experience was that the German/northern European students generally knew three or four at least. That’s pretty impressive.
There is perhaps no reasonable means to instruct our rural area students in multiple languages. Most of our schools have Spanish, but the academic day rarely allows for many students to dedicate to foreign language study to the point of fluency.
It’s not a woeful fact, but one I wish conditions would allow for us to change. As a longtime student of this language, English (American-flavored), I have spent my academic life working to promote the value of students’ gaining mastery of language.
I can personally recall the way my entry-level high school Spanish class helped me to understand English grammar better than I previously had. If you’ve ever had a similar experience, you’ll know that gaining understanding of one language system can (and does) help you to apply similar principles to another.
Why does that matter? Well, have you ever shaken your head in dismay when a young person you encountered was not an effective communicator? I would think all of us would appreciate having a youth population that is able to articulate itself, both in its members’ speech and in their writing.
So if a concentrated effort toward helping foreign language education were made, I would be in favor of the measure. But there is always the voice of opposition.
Most commonly, folks who disagree with me speak as if the prospect of American students traveling abroad is an unnecessary one. They wonder why, with all of the benefits and opportunities the United States offers, would our students want to study anywhere else?
I generally answer with the argument I have just made for you: it’s not all about studying abroad. Foreign language makes students more adept in their native language as well.
And for the ones who would value time overseas in studying in a foreign country, how great of an advantage would it be for such students to have gained a better grasp on the languages and customs of other nations?
The world is a big place, to be sure, but should our students finish behind the rest of the world’s learners in terms of their ability to acquire global education and experiences?
Besides, one of the tenets of a classic education was the learning of languages beyond a student’s native one. For years, Greek and Latin were staples of quality high school education, before their importance was forgotten by the masses who live by the ‘learn it today, use it by the weekend’ mentality.
That’s a damaging prospect to providing well rounded education to our young people: the notion that only immediately useful and practical knowledge should be included in the school day.
What happened to teaching kids to be better learners? Foreign language would be an excellent starting point.
Matt Pearl owns and operates newspapers in King City, Albany, and Grant City.