Thursday, December 9, 2010
Strange Bed Fellows
This is an interesting article about how learning a foreign language is being support in the classrooms. The CIA has come out in support of a bilingual curriculum. It makes sense from their point of view because their agents are working in many foreign countries and it makes sense to me because many of my future students will be working abroad. I have heard for years that learning a foreign language is going to be mandatory in the future but it has never happened. We are doing our children a great disservice by not providing this to everyone. The article does go into some information about funding which is a huge concern these days. Maybe the CIA and other security interests such as Homeland Security and the DOD would be willing to help out?
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Strange bedfellows, indeed! But who can argue against bilingualism/multilingualism? Learning another language also means learning another culture, which can be a consciousness-expanding experience.
ReplyDeleteForeign languages may move downwards on the priority list of the new Congress, however, and this could mean less funding in the current financial crunch. If this happens, it may have more to do with ideology. Bilingualism is anathema to xenophobic English-only types, who are loathe to support anything that might benefit "illegal aliens" or somehow dilute their ideal of American culture. I suspect that some of the incoming Tea Party House members may be of this mind set.