Foreign Language - Should it be required?

There are many benefits from learning a foreign language so I believe it should be a requirement for college or university admission or graduation.  Because of the global environment that we live in, there are many practical applications for learning a foreign language as well as personal developmental aspects.

Being bilingual can open many doors for an individual.  For instance, employment potential is increased when the applicant is fluent in a second language.  My son works as a personal trainer and is fluent in Spanish so he is given all the Spanish speaking male customers in addition to some of the English speaking customers.  This gives him a sales advantage over the trainer who only knows English.  Military members can also receive an additional foreign language pay entitlement when they are fluent in another language.  There are many jobs in the workforce that might require knowledge of another language so employment opportunities are increased with this skill.

Another possibility that may become available to the bilingual student are study abroad programs.  Since selection can be very competitive, having already studied the language of the country can improve the selection odds.  Studying international literature, music, and film becomes a valuable education tool but the student must first be able to have a basic understanding of the language.

As mentioned previously, we live in a global environment so to be able to communicate with others is extremely important.  Business and pleasure can take us to foreign countries and it is more productive and pleasurable if we know the language.  When I think about mission trips we went on to Mexico when our children were growing up, I wish I had been fluent in Spanish.  I had to depend on a translator when I wanted to speak to a child or to the family we were building a home for.  There is some personal interaction lost in the communication when you have to speak through a translator.  It is also a helpless feeling to not even being able to order at a restaurant!

Furthermore, learning a foreign language can actually stimulate intellectual growth and sharpen our cognitive skills.  Starting foreign language classes in elementary school would be a benefit to the children of our nation.  Not only would it stimulate their mental development, but it would also educate them to be aware of different cultures and possibly understand their own native tongue and customs better.  Although it is known as a “dead language”, my children studied some Latin and it increased their vocabularies and comprehension of the English language.  The reason for this is because the origins of many of our words come from Latin.  Many say that studying Latin increases SAT scores.

Finally, if our children our being taught foreign languages, world geography, world history, etc. they will be better equipped to be the future global leaders of tomorrow.  I still need to fulfill my foreign language study in college and I plan on taking Spanish.  Not only will this fulfill the college requirement, but I also hope to learn enough to communicate with my future grandchildren.  I am sure they will be bilingual since both my son and his wife are and they stress the value of knowing a second language. 

Charged Language

Authors Newman P. Birk and Genevieve B. Birk describe charged language as “When slanting of facts, or words, or emphasis, or any combination of the three significantly influences feelings toward, or judgments about, a subject, the language used is charged language…”  They go on to say “Without charged language, life would be but half life.”

It is my opinion that what they mean by the latter statement is that if we just had facts about a subject we would not be experiencing life to the fullest.  Facts are extremely important, but it is the passion that we feel about a subject that really brings it to life.

We are all subject to the charged language of others and whether we realize it or not, it influences our thoughts and opinions about a subject.  The best example of this is what we hear and see through the media. We usually don’t have the opportunity to go out and learn first-hand about current events so we rely on the media to educate us on what is going on in the world.  How that particular reporter presents a topic and the slant or charged language they use will more than likely sway us to have a similar opinion.  Since that is usually the only information we have on the topic, we have no reason to question it.  One example of this is how the media represented the attitude of the Iraqi people toward the U.S. troops.  It was depicted frequently as a negative attitude and that the Iraqi people wanted our troops out of their country.  This picture sent the message to our citizens that we were unwelcome and we should get out.  I work with many military members who have deployed to Iraq and I have heard personal stories told in a different light. I have heard about the families who cheered when our troops reclaimed their homes and their schools for them.  The children who have welcomed them as heroes in their hometowns and how even a small sense of security has been restored for these families is a different story than we usually see on the nightly news.  These stories compared to what the media has reported has certainly given me a revelation of how politically slanted the media can be.

Every one of us uses charged language too.  As I think about my own family and how each one of our charged languages influences one another, I gain a deeper understanding of this concept.  If one of my children or grandchildren talks about how someone is mean to them and how it has made them feel, I also feel negatively toward the “bully”.  The truth may be that my family member may be exaggerating about the behavior or maybe they even did something to provoke it, but because of the emotion that they relayed the information with I can’t help but feel influenced by it.  On the other hand, if they present someone or something in a positive way I am probably going to have the same opinion until something happens to convince me otherwise.

If we listen carefully to the conversations around us, we will hear charged language everywhere.  It can be a very good thing and it can also be a very dangerous thing such as racially charged language.  It is what gives character and life to facts according to the way they are presented.    

He Had a Dream

On March 28, 1963, over 250,000 people marched to the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The venue that he selected was significant because President Lincoln was the one to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which declared “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”. Lincoln has been the leader most associated with the end of slavery in the United States.




The key point in King’s speech was that one hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, “the Negro is still not free.” He illustrated this by stating that Negroes were crippled by segregation and chains of discrimination, they lived lives of poverty, and were exiled in their own land. Even though slavery had been abolished, they were not truly free because of these injustices they were forced to endure.



To elaborate on these injustices, he used the examples of police brutality and lodging facilities being unwilling to accommodate the weary Negro traveler. He further expanded by stating the mobility of a Negro was limited to ghettos and not everyone having the right to vote.



King used the analogy of coming to Washington, D.C. to “cash a check”. The Negroes had been promised freedom by our government and the government had not honored that promise. He went on to say that the Constitution and Declaration of Independence had promised all men, black and white, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Therefore, he indicated the Negro people had been written “a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.”



The language of his speech did inspire change for the Negroes. He encouraged them to “demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice” and that there are “great vaults of opportunity” in our nation. He warned that this was just the beginning and the Negro people would not be content with the status quo. Quite honorably, he encouraged his people to not become bitter or “guilty of wrongful deeds” in their struggle for freedom. He realized this fight was to be fought with whites alongside the blacks so he urged his people not to distrust white people.



Many people felt a righteous indignation against racial discrimination after this day. Others felt inspiration and determination in achieving equality and freedom. This march and this speech were crucial points in United States civil rights history. It was less than a year later that President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the 1964 Civil Rights Act which banned discrimination in public facilities and prohibited employment discrimination. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was enacted to ensure that Negroes had the right to vote and the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968 to remove discrimination in buying and renting of housing.



Martin Luther King, Jr. did inspire a chain of events that improved the quality of life for the Negro people in the United States. I’m sure his words of inspiration would have had a significant impact no matter where they were spoken, but I believe his choice of venue to deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial made a resounding statement of the principles of our great nation and furthered his cause of equality and freedom.

Literacy

It is hard for me to really fathom what it would be like to be illiterate. I spent a lot of time when I was growing up reading books so my childhood would have been very different without them. I think promoting literacy at an early age increases comprehension and vocabulary skills.




There are many things that we can learn without reading or writing such as the things we learned as a toddler. We learned how to walk, talk, show manners, share our toys, and the list goes on and on. As we grew older, we learned how to play sports, fly a kite, and ride a bike to name a few from having another person tell us how to do it or by demonstrating it for us. I think about all of the questions my grandson asks about the sun, how our eyes work, what a volcano is, etc. and he absorbs all of that information without knowing how to read yet.



As I think about some of the things that would not be possible or limited by the inability to read or write, it is mind boggling to me. First of all, I would not be able to pick up a good novel and read it for relaxation or pleasure. I would not be able to read the newspaper or news posted on the internet to keep up with current events. Since reading recipes would not be possible, I would have to memorize the steps for anything I wanted to cook. Although I would be able to place a phone call to friends and family, I would not be able to shoot off the quick email or text message to stay in touch with loved ones.



From a career prospective, I know I would not have the position that I do if I were unable to read or write. I spend the majority of my day reading and writing emails, researching regulations, preparing briefings, etc. so literacy is imperative. I would not be able to read my employees self-assessments or write their annual appraisals and awards packages.



I realize there are many illiterate people in the world who perform well and have been very successful. Numerous job skills can be taught through verbal means or demonstration. A lot of blue collar jobs definitely require literacy while others do not. Some have great “people” skills and can do quite well as a salesperson.



I have to wonder how much of an embarrassment it is to those who were never taught to read or write though. Take the successful salesperson, for example, who has kept their illiteracy a secret. If they are selling a new product that they are not well informed about and the customer has questions, it must be quite frustrating to have the answers at your fingertips in the form of sales literature, a manual, etc. and not be able to read it. If the sales manager asks for a written sales report from the salesperson, it must also feel very uncomfortable to make excuses for the inability to produce it. Generally speaking, promotion potential would be limited without literacy skills.



While a person can function well in life without being able to read or write, I do feel that many doors remained locked for them. The intellectual growth that can be acquired from reading, researching, and studying is restricted as well as many other opportunities.