Why Your Kids Should Study a Foreign Language

Are you wondering why your kids should study a foreign language? With so much emphasis being placed on beefing up math and science course loads, it can become way too easy for parents and their offspring to draw the conclusion that studying French, German, Spanish or any other foreign language is really the fluff and not the stuff of modern education. After experiencing six years of French instruction, first in high school and then in college, I can promise you there is lasting value and benefits that await children who put time into the study of foreign languages at any level. There really are reasons why many colleges want applicants to present proof of foreign language studies from their high school and why many colleges include additional language study in their curriculum.

1. Vocabulary expansion . Most students are quickly aware of similarities of vocabulary in the language they are studying and their own English language. What they may not realize is that by developing a familiarity with a foreign language, you are likely to also increase a proficiency in the use of your own native tongue. Studying a foreign language will allow students to add foreign based words more easily to their own speaking and writing vocabulary. In a world based on global communication, learning a foreign language can help your child towards a fuller, richer means for connecting with others.

2. Relocate yourself on the face of the globe. If your children don't get anything else from the learning of a foreign language, they are likely to develop a somewhat different view of themselves and the world around them. For example, it's hard when exchanging even basic words in a French dialog to miss the point that English, while a major world language, is not the only language that intelligent people use to express themselves or share their thoughts with others. Learning a foreign language forces most students to recalculate the world and their place in it, a calculation for which there is no available mathematical formula.

3.Exposure to foreign culture. Those who stay with the study of a foreign language will begin to encounter and enjoy other cultures not as spectators but as those participating from the inside. Foreign language skills open the door to cultural broadening as students are introduced to the arts, food, history, customs and geography that are connected to the language they are learning. Learning a foreign language is a step towards appreciating the similarities and our differences that exist between our culture and other cultures of the world with respect.

4. Opening the door to more learning. Frequently those students who study one foreign language develop a continuing interest in the study of foreign languages. They recognize an inner desire to be able to communicate by using the native tongue of their partner in conversation rather than always insisting that everyone speak in English.

5. Not every job requires math and science. There is no denying the need for solid math and science curriculum in our schools. But balance in education is also important. There really are jobs out there, important and exciting jobs that are language dependent. Foreign service, foreign based banking and industry, entertainment, international-profits and relief agencies, travel and tourism are just a few of the areas where landing a job can become a bit easier for the candidate who has fluency in something other than English.

While these five are certainly sufficient reasons why your kids should study a foreign language, for me and perhaps for them, what has been one of the unexpected joys of a working acquaintance with a foreign language is joy in the proficiency which allows me to speak,listen and read in a language besides my native tongue.