Rather than spend declining resources on enhancing student fluency in English--a more desperate need--legislators and school boards are climbing on the bilingual bandwagon.
Proponents say proficiencies in second languages will help students appreciate cultural diversities. Do we have cultural clashes with individuals speaking French and German, two of the few foreign languages taught in America's secondary schools?
What happened to global and social studies and history courses? Aren't they supposed to explore cultural, ethnic, religious and political differences in America and around the world?
Mandating foreign-language competence as a graduation requirement is incredibly stupid for several reasons:
Fluency can't be achieved in one-hour classes over one to three years. And only two or three of the world's 160 major languages (spoken by one million or more persons)--let alone the other 6,400 languages and dialects--are offered in most schools and colleges.
Few, if any, day-to-day opportunities exist in America for refreshing oral and written skills in foreign languages. Why bother, since English is the undisputed international language of commerce and every other area of interest?
And forget that old saw about there being lots of jobs for translators at the United Nations and elsewhere. Few jobs require knowledge of second languages. If employers need translators and interpreters, they prefer native speakers intimately familiar with native protocols and customs.
Speak up for English, America. (27 JUNE 1999)
