Opinion
N the Red
Not a foreign concept
Learning languages encourages a more empathetic society Grace Mossing
E
mossigra000@hsestudents.org
nglish-speaking Americans seem to have the preconceived notion that everyone around the world speaks their language. In all actuality, only about 20% of the world speaks English. We are infatuated with the idea that people across the world can speak English as well as we do; therefore, America has not put in the effort to learn other languages. Across Europe, 92% of students study a foreign language, and the U.S. disappoints with only 20% of students studying a foreign language, according to American Council for International Education. One of the reasons Europe’s percentage happens to be so high is because most European countries have national level mandates that require students to study a language, differing from the . ., here the state or local government run these mandates. The U.S. continues to lose focus on learning foreign languages in colleges as well. From 2013 to 2016, universities across the US cut 651 foreign language programs, with French taking the hardest hit. With these cuts, colleges are losing opportunities for their students. no ing and being proficient in a second language widens various job opportunities. Careers now are globalized with employers traveling across the world physically and through their computers, so speaking a language gives a large competitive edge. Learning languages also teaches people empathy. I know I take for granted being able to speak English in situations. For example, when I am out of the country, I tend to speak primarily English because that is safer for me. I do not want to mess up trying to speak their native language. I completely forget about the discomfort and nervousness of the people speaking my language bac to me, being selfish ith my o n interests. By speaking the language of others around us, we begin to learn of a gap in communication and that both sides must learn to bridge. It is okay to be nervous about messing up as long as a person tries, because everyday people around you speak English as their second language here in the US, putting on a brave face trying to learn. Dr. Viorica Marian’s study, “The Cognitive enefits of eing ilingual” discusses the
advantages of being bilingual across all ages. Children as young as seven months old that speak more than one language can adjust better to environmental change, and older age people will experience less cognitive decline, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. In our district, learning languages has become more of a focus. The high school requires three years of a language from students, and provides four languages: French, Spanish, German and American Sign Language. In the past three years, Spanish has started to be taught in elementary schools with 40 minute classes once a week for a semester. It is now part of the curriculum in seven out of 13 elementary schools in our district. Spanish teacher Jessi Shelton began at Sand Creek and New Britton this year and has loved her new job teaching younger children to appreciate learning a new language. “It’s a lot easier to learn a foreign language hen you re younger,” helton said. nd they just pick it up so naturally that I think it’s really great that e re starting it no .” With many students at New Britton speaking English as a second or third language, Shelton believes that she is teaching her kids to empathize with children who have to work that hard on a language all day. Each class they focus on a new Spanish speaking country’s culture to learn to appreciate it mixed in with games and songs. The language progress our district is making can always go one step further. We could introduce Spanish to intermediate schools to give students a continuous language education starting the year they begin school, and schools could think about introducing more languages than just Spanish among the younger grades. If every school district in the country could slowly begin integrating foreign languages into their curriculum, children would begin growing up in a more empathetic and compassionate U.S. for other cultures and their people. As a whole, we would be able to communicate better with the rest of the world and pursue greater career choices. he . . could finally overcome one of its greatest weaknesses, but progress must continue. Infographic by Grace Mossing.
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