I don't think it should have to be spanish, but I think learning a second language is important. In my school, it was required that you take at least one year to graduate. Most continued on with it because it looked good on your transcript.

Si! Yo creo que es muy importante para los jovenes Americanos a apprender otros idiomas.

One of the problems with teaching a second language in the US is that most school systems wait until middle school or high school to offer language classes. Children learn languages best between birth and about 10 years of age.

It almost is a requirement in High Schools these days if you want to go to college. Most colleges require at least 2 years of a foreign language.

That being said, I'm still on the fence about this one... need to mull it over some more.

I'm with mondaymoos on this one--I don't think it should have to be Spanish, but learning a second language is very important. I'm actually sort of surprised that it's not an across-the-board requirement (I always assumed it was, but just poorly taught and quickly forgotten).

I agree that learning a second language (or more!) is important. My father is German and when I was preschool age, my grandmother took care of me most of the time, so I knew more German than English. Then, I hit kindergarten and the teacher reamed my parents out because they were "hindering my development" so the rule was no more German. Now I only remember a few German phrases...I am so pissed at that teacher!!

I did live in Guatemala for a while, so speak Spanish ok, and my husband is from Bangladesh and he speaks about 4 languages...it has been really beneficial for him.

Soy contigo, partysugar. A mi universidad, necessitamos pasar tres clases de una otra idioma para graduarnos.

Growing up in Miami we started taking Spanish in 1st grade (which was great!) I moved and didn't take it again until middle school. I think starting as early as possible is a great movie, being bilengual is a great skill and enhances your overall thinking.

I def. think kids should be learning another language, but english should be the primary language and geez, most kids today can barely speak english properly.

It is pretty embarassing when you travel abroad though and realize how many languages other people speak... My hubby and I had this exchange in Prague:

Tourist Info Lady: something in Czech
My hubby: Do you speak English?
Her: No, do you speak russian?
Me: No, do you speak hungarian?
Her: No.
Him: Do you speak german?
Her: Yes!

And then the conversation went on in German.

I grew up billingual so I was lucky!

J'ai choisi le français, puisque j'ai pensé cet étais luxueux.

The US is such a melting pot, how do we choose which language to learn as a 2nd language? If we do more than one how can we do that and still teach math, reading, science, history etc? I'm genuinely interested I'm not trying to bring up reasons why we shouldn't teach the children more languages. And I also agree that I think it's best to start while they're young, not wait until middle or High School. In addition how many teachers can actually speak more than one language? And how do we get more teachers or parent volunteers to come in and teach some of the "less popular" for lack of a better term languages?

I def. think kids should be learning another language, but english should be the primary language and geez, most kids today can barely speak english properly.

It is pretty embarassing when you travel abroad though and realize how many languages other people speak

cab I agree!

the other thing too is that unless you actually use the language on a regular basis you're not going to retain much of it so how is it really helpful then?

One of my friends knows english, german, french, spanish, portuguese, and mandrin fluently. It has been very lucritive for her, and has allowed her to have a global career.

I think that it is a great investment for us.

"the other thing too is that unless you actually use the language on a regular basis you're not going to retain much of it so how is it really helpful then"

I was at an outdoor restaurant the other day, and there was a table of about 10 people near us where were gathered for a "Spanish Club"...people that get together just to practice with each other. It was interesting to witness.

While I agree children should have to study second languages, I don't think Spanish should be the mandatory language. How about first-things-first, and we make sure all children coming into America can speak English.

I think that this has a lot of merit, however, I do not understand why Obama said that children should necessarily learn Spanish. If global placement is the ultimate goal, I would think learning Chinese would be more beneficial, considering they will be the largest economy someday.
Personally, when I growing up I was strongly encouraged to learn Spanish , which I did for a while, but when you don't use it regularily, it kind of fades away.
em- I have a lot of family in Miami and knowing Spanish is an absolute MUST if you want to get around that city.

That's kind of a cool idea to keep up on the language. My mom did Japanese all through college and spent some time there teaching English before she settled down... now she can barely speak it, thought she still understands it for the most part.

"The US is such a melting pot, how do we choose which language to learn as a 2nd language? If we do more than one how can we do that and still teach math, reading, science, history etc?"

I don't think it's necessary or advisable to decide on a mandatory specific second language, if that's what you mean.

It's also not that hard for a well-run school to have several language offerings as well as the other subjects. My high school offered the usual Spanish and French, as well as Japanese, Russian, and German (I took Russian), and there was no problem with also teaching other subjects.

the other thing too is that unless you actually use the language on a regular basis you're not going to retain much of it so how is it really helpful then?

The benefits of learning a foreign language go beyond the use of the language itself. Language is a great tool for understanding other cultures, something of which our culture is in dire need. The learning and thinking skills and discipline developed during the study of the language are also great rewards.

Cab, totally agree with you about the English thing. I also wish schools would bother to teach people how to write properly in English!

Yes language is def. something you either use or lose. Since I've moved out of my parents house, I know mine has lost... what sucks is you never know how much you've lost until you're with native speakers and you can't keep up!

it's better for people to learn another language but i don't feel like if you don't know spanish (or chinese or whateva) it should hurt you. I live in south florida and if you don't speak spanish you probably won't get a job.

Unforch, it depends a lot on the school district too. I grew up in a small town and went to public school, we only had 2 choices for language and no option to take it all through HS. I think we only got 3 years at most.

YES YES YES!

I agree 100% it is a tragedy that a vast majority our children graduate from High School not speaking a foreign language. Then if you factor in the fact that a majority can not speak or write proper English it is offense on top of tragedy. Our educations system is simply criminal in my eyes.

I nearly cried tears of joy this morning on the train when I read that Gov. Schwarzenegger wrote a letter to the State superintendent of schools asking them to mandate that all 8th graders can pass elementary algebra before moving one to High School. The measure passed. This is the kind of brave leadership that is needed to put our education system back on track.

God, my students last year had trouble formulating single sentences. I can only imagine what they would do with a foreign language. I do agree it is a good idea to encourage students to take up a second language, however I know it is not a major requirement for admissions in colleges.

If all kids were being taught second languages, finding someone to keep in practice with wouldn't be a problem. Teaching Latin in schools starting when kids are young would help with English and many foreign languages.

I took 2 years of Spanish and was quite conversational in it but I never had to use it so now it's gone. I only remember a few words and phrases.

Jude, no I didn't mean to pick a mandatory 2nd language, I just meant for each person to decide which 2nd language they'd learn, how to know which one would be the most beneficial.

No, it's not that hard for a well run school to offer multiple languages. Unfortunately there aren't that many out there that offer more than the standard, Spanish, French and German. and I won't even get started on the "well run" part lol

I agree completely with you about learning another language being beneficial in so many other areas than just speaking another language.

Again, I agree with you cabaker!

It is embarrassing when you realize that you're the idiot who can only speak one language - English - fluently! I took 2 years of French in high school. 1 year of French in college, 1 year of Italian in college, and 1 year of German in college. Guess what? None of them ever stuck! Definitely needs to be taught at a much, much earlier age -- especially for kids like me who are sloooooow at picking them up!

"If all kids were being taught second languages, finding someone to keep in practice with wouldn't be a problem."

Great point, stephley!

"Jude, no I didn't mean to pick a mandatory 2nd language, I just meant for each person to decide which 2nd language they'd learn, how to know which one would be the most beneficial."

Oh, I see what you're saying.

I don't really know whether which language they pick is even the most important consideration, as long as they learn something. Most schools' language offerings are/would be languages common enough and important enough globally to be fairly uniformly beneficial, I think.

true Jude.

One of the teachers I sub for allows the children in her class to use rosetta stone (spanish) once they've completed class assignments or while she's involved in group work. One group participates in a word game. Another group is working with her. One group takes turns using rosetta stone. The kids love it. She even had the english version for her esl student. It would be great if the kids had an actual languuage class, just like music and p.e..

There are a lot of immersion schools popping up in public school systems. I think immersion schools are a great idea but they can only handle a limited number of students.

yes, great point stephley!

Spanish is about as common around here as English, and it really helped me learn Italian and some French phrases. Just learning rules of conjugation can help you with any language structure, and even help you with English! We grow up just speaking English the way we've heard it, but I for one wouldn't really know what a "past participle" or other such thing was if I hadn't had to learn it in another language.

In our elementary schools music is once a week, pe is twice a week. in the middle and high schools music is an elective and pe is every day, and in the upper classes pe is every day but only for half the school year. our school system sucks quite frankly (and I don't mean just ours locally because believe it or not it's better than where we were, but I mean nationally).

My son's preschool is starting language lessons (spanish) for an hour every day! (just got the e-mail about it!) While we try to teach him Bengali at home, it is hard sometimes....Although after reading about China's rise here yesterday, I am thinking I should stick him in Chinese classes!

I took spanish in elementary middle and high school, and dont remember more than a handful of words. I have lived in florida all my life and never had to use spanish once out in public so to me it was a waste of time to learn it in school. ....even when i went to miami i didnt have to use it.

I however learned norwegian growing up because that was what i was surrounded with.

Do i think kids should be bilingual? yes, but not just limited to spanish.

The younger the better, MartiniLush!

A have a friend who is a professor at our state school, and she, her husband and their two boys took a sabbatical over in Zurich, Switzerland. The oldest boy (elementary age) enrolled into a international school where there were kids from zimbabwe, france, spain, china, israel, jordan, and a few others places. Upon entrance, my friend told me that her son had come home after the first day just dumbfounded, because all of the other children there was speaking several different languages, and he only knew english. She told me it was a huge wake up call.

Martinilush: the same happened to me! I went to preschool without knowing any English, only Polish. I just spent two years (re)learning Polish in college. Thankfully now, teachers do not tell kids not to speak another language, just encourage them to also learn English.

OT, the problem is that it's hard to be immersed in the foreign language. When I was in Europe it was easy to see and hear English being used in movies, music, and by travelers. Often, the locals want to improve their English and would only speak it to me, even after I'd plead them to speak Polish since I need to improve my speaking skills a lot.

Here my Spanish is barely used, only when I want to pay attention to the Spanish warnings on products and on signs. A Raquel de "Destinos", lo siento. Es muy dificil para mi usar la idioma en los EEUU. Voy a ver peliculas con Javier Bardem en espanol.

Plus cette change, plust cette meme chose.

Hey, Jude, if I wanted to find a kiddie chinese class for him here, which dialect would I choose? I know there are several, which is the most used? You speak Mandarin, right? (sorry to sound like a total moron here! )

*plust=plus

America is kind of a big country and not really in proximity to anything other than Spanish. for that reason it doesn't surprise me that kids only speak English. That's all they ever needed. But still, the world just keeps getting smaller and smaller, so it would only benefit them to be able to communicate in other languages.

Faylinn, glad to hear I am not alone in my kindergarten experience! I definately wish my parents would have stood their ground on that one!

It doesn't have to be Spanish, but a second language should be required for students if we are to even have a foot in the global economy. I was shocked earlier this year when I learned that Panama was dropping English as their second language in public schools in favor of Cantonese or Mandarin. The logic makes sense since they will be dealing with more Chinese than Americans in the shipping business of the canal zone as well as other global affairs.

MartiniLush, I would definitely suggest Mandarin. There are many dialects, but Mandarin is the standard in education and business, and the official language. He'd get the most benefit from that, and it would also be easiest to find classes for him. I'm not actually even sure whether there are many Chinese regional-dialect classes.

I also speak Taiwanese, but find little use for it besides talking to immediate family.

My dream is to ditch my job, learn italian, move to tuscany, and call it a day (diane lane style).

It's a good idea, and I think the languages should be taught before high school. I know Spanish pretty well, but it helps that I'm part Spanish and that the Filipino language has a lot of Spanish words in it...

Lovelie, that sounds like an awesome dream.

I think it's great to encourage people to become bilingual ... I just don't think Spanish is the way to go. I hated learning Spanish growing up ... and I still can't speak Spanish fluently enough to get myself around in a Spanish speaking country. I do, however, speak Bengali fluently, and am proficient in Tagalog and Hebrew.

I also had that pre-school/kindergarten experience of being told that my parents were hindering my development. To think, being told that speaking and reading in the language of Tagore, a Nobel Prize Laureate, was bad when I was only old enough to read "See Spot Run".

I don't think people should be 'required' to learn another language, and I say this as a person who can speak 3 languages fluently and who has lived in a non-English speaking country before.
I firmly believe that there are some people who just can't absorb other languages, my husband is one. He has spent more than half his life living in non-English speaking countries and he can't remember the majority of what he learnt in those places. Unfortunately I think my daughter has the same problem despite being raised bilingual for the first 3 years of her life and having a mother who knows at least 7 languages.
I'd rather see those people put their school time to better use in subjects they can benefit from, and leave the language training to those of us who will get to use it someday. There's no genuine reason for the majority of school kids to learn to speak Chinese or Spanish, unless it's to order take-out. They'd be better off taking home economics classes as well as improving their English skills.

My brother lives in DC and there is a charter elementary school there that has all the kids talking classes in English and Spanish. So for a certain part of the day the learn in one language then the other. I think they also offer classes for the parents after school as well. If taught that way the kids start to pick up the meanings and the tenses and as they get older it probably isnt neccesarily teaching them to speak another language as opposed to just teaching in another language.

I dont know much else about the school but I thought it was interesting when I heard it.