Should schools place more emphasis on learning other languages?
by 
keithold thanks all baggers
ANSWERS: 16
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They teach 2 different languages here. Welsh and either French German or Spanish along with English which is a second language to some here in Wales.
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Yes, especially in the United States. A good chunk of kids in other countries are bilingual or outright polyglots. Language education is necessary to increase competitiveness in future generations.
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No.
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In this country, I think they need to place more emphasis on learning to speak English properly first. Once they can get the students to master the primary language used in this country, then they can move on to putting more emphasis on learning a second language.
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Without question. Four years of a foreign language should be mandatory. The familiarity with another language helps expound a person's ability to think in so many ways. You don't just learn how to translate one word into another, you learn how to think of things in different ways. You learn your own language even more proficiently because you can see how it is built, not just remember what you learned when you were 1 and a half. Any language will do, though I would suggest Spanish for its usefulness in modern America.
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I think so. More and more companies are starting to become global, there are less barriers than before and our lack of knowledge about a culture/language shouldn't be the one thing that limits us. It seems that those how are already bilingual have a better chance at getting a job or a higher paying job than someone who can only speak one language. while it's osmeones hcoice to learn a language or not, it'd probably in that persons best interest to dabble around and explore a different language or culture that they might not have known about before.
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We were taught French but I wish they would have have taught Spanish or Italian as well. We are turning into a multi-lingual world, however I have to agree with the answer from raindancer. English is one of the universal languages spoken all over the world and should be perfected first and foremost.
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Definitely. All the students are excelling in their other classes so much that it would be a good idea to take time away from those classes to have them learn the basics of languages the vast majority will only use on vacations.
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I think they should start with placing a whole lot more emphasis on competence in the first language.
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Schools should place more emphasis on learning, period
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No, I think English should be the language here. The ones that are here (legally or illegal) should HAVE to know english
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Yes. We are living in a time when other nationalities are looking to the u.s of a as a new home. If want to make them feel at home we need to open up our minds to new cultures!
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In English speaking countries I think it is mere waste to learn foreign languages. There is no need at all to learn a foreign language at all. So I think time would be invested better into other things than learning foreign laguages. It is more than enough if English speaking people speak their own language and know their own culture and history. Fortunately the French do it this way since more than 50 years and I think this is a very good politics.
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only after and I mean only after they have taught the English Language first and the understanding of it and the proper use of it ( which is NOT the case now in any school judging by the very poor grammar and spelling of todays Generation ). Also they should make it voluntary to take another Language not mandatory
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Living in the USA or in Great Britain I think it is nothing but nonsense to learn another language. Everywhere in the world people speak and understand English, so I can not see any need for learning foreign languages. For children learning languages is nothing but mere torture and so I would not offer any foreign language at American or British schools. They should stop that nonsense and abolish all foreign lessons at American and British schools. Americans and British could do very well over centuries without speaking any foreign language. There are many other things which are much more important than learning stupid foreign languages, you never will need in your whole life.
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Anyway I would say the average people in GB and much more in the US do not have any reason to learn any foreign language. British tourist go to Spain, Turkey or somewhere else and eveybody there speaks enough English for them. Even in France they speak some English in the North. And Germany would be out of question to the average people. So why should British learn another language? America is that huge and big and most of them never leave it. So they never will need another language. Germany is in the center of Europe and therefore we need langauages because most of our neighbours are unable to learn German. This is a reason I can understand. But Britain is far away from Europe aftzer my opinion. And the Irish for example they mostly speak very well German because there is a close connection. But Britain is in my mind far away out of Europe.
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