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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: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday February 07 2019, @01:30PM
Concur, when I traveled in Germany the bulk of the kids I met spoke English quite well, and not just the (very common) ones who did a foreign exchange year. They learned fluent English from their school programs, and there was a type of school that some opted for which did not teach English and they were just as hopeless with their English as I was with my (no school prep) German.
I ended up spending about 3 months in Germany over the course of 2 summers, with about 2 weeks of deep-end crash course in East Germany where almost no-one spoke English, which is where I found my fluency - such as it was. On the flight back, I sat next to a chatty German couple who wanted to hear all about my travels, in German, and I was able to describe most of it for about an hour. 30 years later, I still remember how to ask for a beer and the bathroom, but the fluency is pretty well shot from disuse. If there's any point to this, it is that a few months of immersion is probably as good as a few years of school, but even the kids that never get an immersion course can become quite fluent - and with Hollywood movies exported the world over, it's easier to retain at least English comprehension with little 90 minute brush-up entucation courses every so often. All I get for a refresher around here is 99 Luftbaloons.
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