Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Junkyardninja]

- This is a bit of an odd position, possibly, from someone who teaches a language for a living in a public school, but I don't believe that U.S schools should be teaching Spanish, or any other auxiliary language, as a part of the mandatory curriculum. There was a British study, published semi-recently, ( and which I'm having a hell of a time finding again via google,) which established that the average British student, several years after leaving their public school system, in which they had taken x number of years of french or german or what-have you, retained a vocabulary of about seven words.

Four years of thrice weekly classes for nine months of the year means around a hundred and eight hours of language instruction. This site, (http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html) estimates 600 or so hours of study for an English speaker to gain general proficiency in Spanish.

100+ hours of an unwilling student's time is a crappy exchange for seven words. (Not to mention a waste of public money.) On the other side, even assuming that every student is fairly motivated, it's not enough study time to get them even to a general proficiency in the language.

I'm willing to be convinced otherwise on this, but it seems a more sensible policy would allow motivated, interested students to take a second language, without force - feeding the vast majority something from which they'll take no benefit.

[Gopher]

[tomato]

Junkyard Ninja, I hear what you are saying, but wouldn't it be more constructive to upgrade second language education rather than give it up?

After all, foreign language education in most places has plenty of room for improvement.

For one thing, we can start with Gopher's amazingly radical suggestion of having the second language teacher and the second languages students SPEAK the second language!

[Kikomom]

I don't think Obama was saying that Spanish has to be the 2nd language taught. But that every child should be exposed to at least one. And if it's one they can actually learn to use, the better. What he isn't saying (because he is a politician after all and too polite to say), is that Americans are becoming culturally bankrupt and really need another perspective, exposure, appreciation for the outside world.

After hearing what some of you on this board say about Koreans being insular, I think you have to realize how insular America can be too, to the average joe. This is why I say that you all are the pioneers of a new American education system. It's not just about language, it's about bringing back experiences to rejuvenate and invigorate a way of learning.

Maybe native schools need to think about the co-teacher system. Lord forbid they have to pay for two teachers though, eh?

[mithridates]

[Enrico Palazzo]

Well, in Rico's opinion, the American public is having a problem with respecting the English language let alone trying to master a foreign tongue. I think more needs to be done to encourage respect for the English language. Decades ago, an American man who only finished the 9th grade was often more coherent than a person who finished the 12th grade in 2008. I do believe that. I've watched American cartoons that were made many decades ago, and their use of language was much more sophisticated. However, I do believe in encouraging the learning of foreign languages at a young age, because it would also help shore up the quality of English that we hear out there. However, it shouldn't only be Spanish. There is need for learning French, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian as well as Spanish. I am saying let's promote English and the learning of other languages and a culture of respect in general for ourselves and others as English speakers.

Anyway, you've got my 3 cents (inflation)!