The first foreign language course in college

lkf725
Thu, 29 May 2008 02:37:08 +0000

I don’t disagree. The truth is, however, that only a small percentage of people will immerse themselves in foreign travel and an even smaller percentage will use their language skills in their careers. Truthfully, how many of us remember much 10 or 20 years out?

Sure, let foreign language be a part of “elite” educations, but relative to other disciplines, I think it has less application. How many students scour the math department looking for a course that isn’t “too mathy”? How many are relieved to find that a public speaking course fulfills an english requirement? How many students are clueless about the history of their own country? How many students leave college to live in the real world without ever taking an economics course - a discipline that touches every life every day?

While I like the idea of studying a foreign language and encourage my kids to become fluent, I still think that in practicality most people would feel that their time is better spent elsewhere, whether in exploring other cultures or simply becoming competent in basic math, writing, or economic principles.

Please don’t slam me - I like languages and took them in college until I no longer had time to read novels and write papers. But it is just my two cents that the importance for the general population is inflated. (If it was so important, we wouldn’t have to have bilingual signs or need to press one for english and two for spanish. We seem eager to accommodate non-english speakers in schools, stores, restaurants, etc.)