French

Personally I believe that French should be studied and teach ed in Canada. A reason is that Canada is a very diverse and multicultural place and their are more immigrants than Canadians in Canada. Canada expresses its multiculturalism in many ways and I believe this is one way of doing it. Foreign language study is in the national education Goals 2000, which states: “By the year 2000 all American students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, foreign language, civics and government, arts, history, and geography…” . On September 15, 1999, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley delivered his Annual Back-to-School Address, entitled, “Changing the American High School to Fit Modern Times.” Included in his remarks, Riley states, “Let me suggest one other way to raise standards. I believe that in this new economy every high school student should be close to fluent in a foreign language when he or she graduates. We should begin teaching foreign languages in our elementary schools, and then in middle schools and high schools. English is a beautiful language and every American student must be a master of it. English is surely a world language. But learning a foreign language exposes young people to new cultures and new horizons and helps them understand English better.”

Why this insistence that foreign language study be a core element in American education? Americans used to have some patently ignorant and pseudo-scientific (snake-oil) views concerning foreign and second languages. There was talk of a second language taking up the memory capacity needed for the real functions of the brain, such as general intelligence. Just as ignorant was the notion that a second language was only for those were mentally gifted. My fellow Americans, let us put away all divining rods, ouija boards, and indifference towards our neighbors. HERE ARE THE FACTS for founding a true twenty-first century consensus about core elements for a “general” education. In its report, “College Bound Seniors: The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers”, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area. In addition, the average mathematics score for individuals who had taken 4 or more years of foreign language study was identical to the average score of those who had studied 4 years of mathematics. These findings are consistent with College Board profiles for previous years. This is just some reasons why!

Please share what you think, all opinions accepted!