Return to Article: Pentagon spearheads nationwide foreign language push
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9435
HURRAY! FINALLY, the bell has rung! The white paper and scheduled conference are hitting the nail on the head. I was a product of the last language impetus resulting from Sputnik in 1957. Beginning in high school and through college, I took French, Russian, German, and Mandarin, and Linguistics. By the time I finished my programs in the early 70s, the focus on language was on the wane. In the ensuing decades, I have watched as US efforts on many global fronts have been hobbled back a lack of depth in other languages and cultures. I have been disappointed as the domestic orientation to this subject has, if anything, been confined to a preoccupation with political correctness rather than a genuine appreciation of varying perspectives and communication forms. It looks like this may begin to change. I agree with the former contributor that this could have an enriching effect (in more ways than one) on the education infrastructure.
DoD - ya done good!
DoD Employee,
Linguaphile -
9427
Our strategic needs in foreign languages could provide a ready and easily defended justification for greater federal funds being spent on our public schools, especially at the elementary level (as language acquisition is best among the young, and gets more difficult with age). Even where federal funds spent on public schools does not produce a fully talented pool of second language speakers, shools with better funding produce graduates with a better and deeper appreciation for education, study habits, and education theory. THESE students will be better poised to acquire languages later in life.
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9425
This country had a foreign language program once, and it didn't require federal $$ to make it go. What happened?
When I was growing up, which admittedly was a long time ago (40 yrs+), if you wanted to go to college in anything but the sciences or business you had to have taken at least 2 years of foreign language in high school. The B.A. college degree also required an additional 4 semesters of foreign language.
My family moved frequently, and I attended 2 different high schools in two different states, but both had a robust language program. The first HS had 4,000+ students, and offered four years of Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Russian, plus two years of Italian. The second HS had 1,600 students, and offered four years of Spanish, French, German, and Latin.
Yes, this is needed.
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