SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Of all the skills that a person could have in today's globalized world, few serve individuals – and the larger society – as well as knowing how to speak another language.
People who speak another language score higher on tests and think more creatively, have access to a wider variety of jobs, and can more fully enjoy and participate in other cultures or converse with people from diverse backgrounds.
Knowledge of foreign languages is also vital to America's national security and diplomacy. Yet, according to the U.S Government Accountability Office, nearly one in four Foreign Service officers do not meet the language proficiency requirements that they should meet to do their jobs.
Despite all these reasons to learn a foreign language, there has been a steep decline in foreign language instruction in America's colleges and universities. Researchers at the Modern Language Association recently found that colleges lost 651 foreign language programs from 2013 to 2016
The advice to learn foreign languages has been repeated for decades, but how much does it really help native speakers of English, professionally, to learn other languages? Additionally, does the decline of language courses at traditional schools reflect cheaper, better alternatives online?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:08AM (8 children)
Whoa, two lines got eaten:
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:16AM (7 children)
You could have done so many other things with that time. You'll never get that precious time back.
The value proposition may be a bit better in Europe, where you might actually want to move to a nearby place that speaks a different language. It's still pretty weak, except that English has value for technical purposes.
The really offensive thing is that this waste is not optional. Sure, study a language if you like. The mandated learning of languages is a pointless burden upon society. It's keeping people from getting college degrees.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bob_super on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:22AM (5 children)
I'm pretty sure being fluent in English has been useful.
And my Spanish still saves money on repairs.
Being able to understand other people, travel, and read their points of view without a translator is a nice perk, in a highly interconnected world.
You might want to think about this.
My mandatory philosophy and quantum physics classes were a waste. Pretty much everything else eventually turned out to be useful. Whodathunkit ?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by black6host on Thursday February 07 2019, @02:33AM (1 child)
I'd go even further. Thinking in another language, rather than translating into your native tongue, can give you a different perspective altogether. There are words, for example "Tartle (Scottish)", that express a feeling for which there is no single English word alternative. (I'll leave it up to the reader to do a quick google...)
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday February 07 2019, @05:30PM
Thanks for the word. I tartle all the time.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday February 07 2019, @04:17PM
And you get what you pay for, duct-tape to a soundtrack of chitty-chitty bang-bang. Or, better, ask some Mexicans to install a new towel rack in your bathroom. During your quick and needlessly noisy job by beer-breathed Mexicans, you'll save 10 bucks and find a crooked rack, bits of plaster and drywall with splatters of paint left all over the fucking place, and scrap lumber and plywood (why the hell is that even there?) magically strewn throughout with the Mexicans long-gone with your cash in-hand.
Of course anybody should be able to install a new towel rack, but that's not the point. There are many other points I did want to make, though, and one of those is that you get a reduced rate from Mexicans because cleanup is never part of the deal. Of course, they don't tell you that before they run off with your cash.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 07 2019, @04:45PM (1 child)
Even if all you can do is read the signs, travelling is WAY easier with a bit of the language.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday February 07 2019, @06:50PM
I spent enough time in Taiwan to know that not being able to read signs (roads and shops) gets downright dangerous.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @04:25AM
Europeans' children are exposed to other languages from day zero - TV, YouTube, chats, friends, relatives... Children can absorb another language much easier than an adult can.
There is yet another reason to learn: they have a need to know languages of their neighbors.