Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > January > 04 > Entry
Forget French, learn Chinese
The overall numbers are still small, but the trend is unmistakable — Chinese instruction is growing fast in the U.S.
Back in November when I spoke to a local high school about careers I told them one of the best things a high school student could do for themselves now is learn language.
If I was in school today, I said I’d want to learn Chinese, Indian, Arabic and Spanish, in that order.
I am convinced those languages will be most useful in the near future, as our economy becomes more intertwined with the world economy and the huge markets of China and India become more important to U.S. business and trade. Arabic, I think, will be a useful language to know as American involvement in, and conflict with, Arab nations shows no signs of abating. As a nation, I imagine we’ll only need more fluent Arabic speakers over time. And Spanish will always be a helpful language for Americans, as our nation’s Spanish-speaking population continues to grow.
Despite these realities, as the Washington Post story shows, American school children prefer Spanish, French and German, in that order, as their top languages to study. I think that shows we are out of touch with the realities of our changing world.
And that’s why I think it’s good news that school districts around the country are at least catching on when it comes to the value of knowing Chinese.
I’ve been frustrated with my own school district’s lack of language offerings at elementary school.
What’s happening in your child’s school? Is there any demand for new languages or discussion going on about changing the offerings?
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Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Foreign Language and Study Abroad
Comments
By Terri
January 5, 2006 12:05 PM | Link to this
You know how to get foreign language in all schools don’t you? Mandate an achievement test at the end of each school year.By JD
January 5, 2006 10:11 AM | Link to this
I’m glad to see someone else is promoting the learning of foreign languages in schools. I’ve written about this topic several times recently on my blog. Here’s my latest entry on the topic.By Mary
January 5, 2006 7:55 AM | Link to this
These types of complaints - about lack of foreign language opportunities in our schools - have been going on for years with little results. My son pursued Japanese through the post-secondary enrollment option. A few years back, the Dayton Daily News had a “Health Matters” column that pointed out brain research shows there is a window of opportunity to learn foreign langauges better and faster when students are younger. Yet, our education system rarely offers those opportunities in the younger grades. It is a matter of leadership and priorities - not a lack of money. These types of academic opportuniites should take prioiirity in the education system over other things schools do. For example, after school activities are available or accessible to students outside school systems, but generally the study of foreign langauges is not easily accessible. What should the school system focus on first?By MandyMo
January 4, 2006 4:36 PM | Link to this
I, too, have been very frustrated with the absence of foreign language instruction at our area schools. I’ve asked quite often why it’s not offered earlier, and havent’ been able to get an answer. A fairly recent transplant, our daughter had the good fortune of beginning to learn a foreign language (even if it was French) from Kindergarten through second grade, when we moved. Sadly, those skills mostly fell by the wayside and now she’s preparing to start anew in middle school. Our son is in a preschool where they teach basic Spanish and ASL (American Sign Language), but I’m also dreading when the time comes that the formal instruction will stop. I’m planning on trying to continue on my own, but I’m pretty unqualified. I think our schools are doing these kids a huge disservice.