Why shouldn't the US require teaching at least part of a curriculum in a non-English language at the start of mandated education?

There are plenty of reasons not to.

They aren’t GOOD reasons, but still…

I live in a bilingual country; some school boards require learning the other official language as early as grade one, while others put it off for a couple of years. The arguments go back and forth regarding whether it is better to start the kids off learning both languages right away, or whether it is better to let them concentrate on their mother tongue at first, so that they have a solid grasp of that language before learning a new one.

Of course, that assumes the child’s parents are unilingual. Parents in bilingual homes need to make this decision also – some choose to speak to the child in both languages; some choose to have one parent speak always in one language, one always in the other language (I kid you not, this is a real thing).

I have seen studies that lean both ways, but I suspect that individual learning styles and teaching aptitude on the part of both child and parent decide which path will be more successful. Personally, I tend to agree with you – the earlier the better. I think kids absorb best when they are youngest, and it just gets harder as they grow older.

I’m a well-traveled liberal guy and I have seen mandated language courses in many countries. In Singapore you must study English and the language of you parents, usually, Mandarin, Indian (I don’t know which dialect) and other languages.

In China you must have a working knowledge of Mandarin to attend university. That applies to foreigners and Chinese citizens that speak Cantonese or other dialects. In Spain, you need Spanish and of course you need to speak French in France. I assume the massive increase in middle-eastern immigrants have muddied the French policy but, the ability to speak the prevailing language is assumed in any school with which I have knowledge.

India has an English requirement for higher education. Just imagine trying to accommodate the dozens of languages and hundreds of dialects that exist in that huge democracy.

I’m all for speaking multiple languages, I think it make you smarter. You must, start with one common language or there will be no educations because there are not enough teachers, schools, or money to accommodate the mix of language classes in the U.S. Frankly, I’m voting for Spanish because I never learned it well enough in high school.

Have you ever tried to call your local social services department? If you miss the # for English you have to wait for it to go through ALL the other languages for 30 min before it repeats. When you finally get it set on english, it fucking hangs up on you.

The rest of the world should change to meet our criteria.

I’m dyslexic. Foreign languages are BRUTAL for many of us. When I’m studying Physics, I want my grade to reflect my ability to understand Physics, not my ability to translate French.

I think the US should teach a foreign language in Elementary school. At minimum some sort of exposure, even if just twice a week.

As far as whether to teach other subjects in a foreign language, I think for most students it’s good. I think total immersion in a foreign language in elementary school is great for many children. However, for some kids it is detrimental and we’d have to account for that.

Hell, I think the new way we teach math with so many wordy math problems from a very young age is a problem. Kids who would be great in math, but have difficulty reading now can’t do math well either. I think very young children should have the disciplines more separated, but the trend is going the opposite direction.

Also, children who move a lot might have trouble. I woman I worked with learned history and geography in Spanish and to this day she knows country names and some historical figures by their Spanish names better than their English names. That’s not a huge deal, but could affect a point or two on a test score.

Too bad two to three generations ago immigrants though it better for their children not to be bilingual. They wanted their children to fit in, be American, and not have an accent. Now we know people can be bilingual from the get go and switch accents and move between languages with no significant problem. Imagine if that generation had maintained their languages in their homes. America would have many many more bilingual and multilingual citizens.

I know I don’t want two official languages like Canada. I also know I want children to be bilingual and I don’t want to mandate what language besides English will be taught.

Another negative is that at young ages bilingual children do tend go get their grammar more messed up than their single language peers. It eventually sorts itself out. By age 5 or 6 it already is fairly sorted.

Great points/observations @dappled_leaves.

I agree that learning a second+ language makes you smarter, @Ron_C

Foreign language was near brutal for me, as well, @gorillapaws, and that’s part of my point. I think if I’d been exposed earlier and in a more relaxed way, it might have eased the path. I’m still poor at math, but I have a decent enough understanding. If they’d waited until 8th grade to introduce math, it would have been brutal, too.

I didn’t mean to imply that all teaching in a single subject be in a non-native language, @JLeslie. Rather that a second language be taught, and teachers fluent in the second language ‘swap out’ for occasional instruction in other subjects?

I don’t like the swapping idea. Plus, most bilingual people are accustomed to using a particular language with a particular person.

To state the extreme again I fully support total immersion schools, there just are some possible down sides. Mostly, I think it is a very positive thing. Especially elementary years. Also, for some kids it isn’t a practical idea.