The Importance Of Learning A Foreign Language

A few years back an article in the Time magazine suggested that foreign languages should be taught to children as early as possible.

The American Council on Education had also sometime back, called on education decision makers to make foreign language an essential part of a college education. It was envisioned that every baccalaureate holder should be competent in a foreign language as they move into the next century.

Infact, it was somewhere around this time that the American Association of School Administrators had short listed the need of foreign languages as one of the most important subjects that the students required to thrive in the 21st century.

Even though the US regards itself as the world’s melting pot, it has very low levels of proficiency in learning a foreign language. To put it briefly, most students usually study only English, or start learning a second language, when the gaining proficiency becomes a bit too late. In other words, although there are many skills around, a secondary or a foreign language is a skill or a trait that that most people could benefit from mastering.

The importance of learning a foreign language is continuing to increase day by day. Just to quote an example - the inflow of Hispanic immigrants into the US has created a greater need for Spanish translators and interpreters.

Research shows that by studying another language, it would enhance the academic skills of students by increasing their abilities in reading, writing, and maths. It was also noted that bilingual children show that they grasp linguistic concepts such as words having several meanings faster and earlier than their monolingual counterparts. With so many different languages globally, knowing a foreign language can give a person an edge in a multilingual world.

There are many jobs today that would igirectly or directly benefit from a foreign language. In other words, although there are many skills around, a secondary or a foreign language is a skill or a trait that that most people could benefit from mastering.

However, it is to be remembered that while it is nice to know two or more languages and if one of them is not English, then you are increasingly sidetracked in a world where the official language of science is English, the language of the Internet is English, the language of pilots and aviation is English, the language of commerce is English.

So, studying a foreign language is a nice sounding development, but without the opportunity for utilization, it becomes more of a waste. In other words, if you learn a language just as a hobby or just for the sake of learning it, it does not have an use and amounts to a waste of time.

Personally, I reckon it is great to know more than one language, and if one works in some areas of the US it becomes more evident as to why it is so important to know a foreign language.

Society also profits both economically and politically, not to mention socially as well, when its citizens are able to co-relate and communicate with immigrants from other cultures.

Parents should think twice and make use of the many available opportunities and resources that have been identified for learning a foreign language