Unless the future of our economy improves dramatically I highly doubt my kids will go to Europe. I will work hard to make this dream come true for them, it is really wonderful for people to experience other parts of the world and to get exposure to different cultures. Is it a good idea for my kids to study French for twelve years, only to spend two weeks of their adult life for a visit to France? Would a better plan be to let them learn plumbing and heating for five years, so they can fix things inside their own home for about fifty years? Perhaps six years of automotive repair would really serve a function in life. Imagine the cost savings if they had those skills for the future. It could even provide substantial extra income depending on what career path they chose. Will they be called upon to use an expansive French vocabulary in everyday life in the future if they were bi-lingual? I doubt it.
English is a much more universal language. I lived in Africa for three years and I was able to get by just fine using one language very well. South Africa has eleven national languages. If one of my kids were able to speak one of those eleven languages fluently, they would still end up speaking English if they travel into another Province, particularly one that doesn’t speak the language they studied. Imagine Nigeria with three-hundred different languages. Do you think they use English as a ‘common’ language? You better believe they do. French and German students learn dual languages, simply because they are neighboring countries. It makes perfect sense. Germans should speak French and French should speak German. It also makes perfect sense because the Countries are small and for someone to travel from far Eastern Germany to France is still only a few hours. If I learn Spanish, it’s a fifty hour drive for me to get to Mexico to ‘practice’ my Spanish. If I have $500 and the time to take a five hour plane ride to Mexico to simply practice ten years of ‘other language’ learning. It doesn’t seem very realistic.
I think learning Spanish is applicable if you live in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and other Western States. I could speak Spanish in Manchester, Boston and other places that I chose to visit, but it shouldn’t be a requirement in an English speaking Country. The United States is the equivalent size of Europe. Our regions are like entire European Nations. We have a unified language and it’s English. It is a very simple fact of life. The incentive to learn another language is not critical for Americans. The inability to speak another language does not brand us as ignorant. For Barack Obama to imply this further shows his elitism. Barack Obama— answer this question: How many Europeans know how to fix their own plumbing? Change the spark-plug in their Volkswagon? Exactly. I think the time, talent and resources of the students in this Country can be better spent learning other life-long skills, improving our Math, Science, Physics, building trades, or even getting involved in service learning. Telling us we need to learn Spanish makes you look dumb. Comprende?
It is an amazing thing to be bi-lingual. I can only aspire to accomplish this in my life. I don’t think I need it. I think my life will be just fine without it. I think my children’s life will be fine without it. I think my Grandchildren’s life will be just fine without it. Please stop pandering to the minority voters with your phony rhetoric. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKZXMeERilw You say: Yes We Can! I say: No We Won’t! (Learn Spanish) Translate that into any language you want Mr. Obama.
