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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: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @06:12AM (2 children)
The thing is, for an American, there really ISN'T much "use" in learning another language.
For speakers of global minority languages, there is an obvious benefit to learning English, the lingua franca of the modern world.
But for me to learn, say, German? The number of speakers is a rounding error! Spanish? There are a large number of speakers, but they tend to be poor. The ones you will meet will be landscapers. Nice guys, but nothing to benefit you. Careerwise and in business, it's ENGLISH.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday February 07 2019, @09:13AM
This, of course, is why you should learn Greek. Not only of a long and noble lineage, but you get to talk to some of the best people! English has the opposite effect.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 07 2019, @03:47PM
you can just say that you want to stay dumb