Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The Downsides of Mandatory Foreign Language
At Princeton University there is a proposal to make foreign language apart of their general education classes, which would require all students to take a foreign language. This would still be the case if said student was already fluent in another language. I find this to be problematic for numerous reasons. First off, the notion that language has to be taught in schools is a flawed idea. Many people learn nothing or very little from their time in a foreign language class because the way this country teaches languages is all wrong. Very few people can learn a language by reading it and learning its grammar rules. Although I believe that learning another language is beneficial the state many need a reformed curriculum for foreign language or better yet they could teach a foreign language when students are very young and better equipped to take in the information. How could the curriculum be changed to make language an actual learning experience?
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I don't believe any colleges/universities should be forcing their students to take a language class for obvious reasons that you stated. It is already noted that in high school a vast amount of students do not take their language class seriously. They graduate high school barely knowing how to keep a conversation. Furthermore not many students will choose to pursuit a language after high school, due to the fact that learning a language is difficult, time and passion is required.
ReplyDeleteAs great and beneficial as it sounds to learn a new language, it is not easy and poses a new predicament, of course financially. As we all know college is not free and turns out to be very expensive and to add another class that we won't devote ourselves to is absurd.
I believe foreign languages should be taught to people in their earliest stages of life. It is proven to learn better and take in the language when a child is young.
ReplyDeletePeople who do not want to take a foreign class in college should not be forced into it, especially since they will not take it seriously. I also think it is unfair for the people who are already fluent in another language and are forced to take another class.
On the other hand, it could help people who need to be bilingual for a specific job. However, college and universities are very expensive nowadays. How are they going to make people pay for another class, when they do not even want to take it? This system should be modified in my opinion.
I agree that making a foreign language class a requirement in schools can be problematic. Foreign language teachers need to learn more ways to teach kids that know nothing about that language. I know that people learn in different ways and that goes for foreign languages as well. Teachers need to find a way to teach foreign languages that a majority of students will understand and retain.
ReplyDelete-Eileen Hernandez
One way to improve the foreign language curriculum is by making it optional. If you force someone to learn something they don't want to learn then they won't learn it. Schools must make foreign language an option along with improving the courses. A majority of foreign language courses teach you how to write in that language, but a couple of people walk of the course knowing how to speak the basics of the language they were taught. Teachers must also make sure that they provide more opportunities to have one on one time with the teacher to be able to learn the language better for the students that are struggling with learning a new language.
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