Why do students need to learn Spanish?

Because it's the second most spoken language in the USA, and in the future it will be even more commonly used. Like it or not.

But...if you don't want to improve yourself or
imporve your job resume, and marketability, by all means don't bother to learn Spanish-or anything new. Cut off your nose to spite your face-That will those Latinos. Wont it??

Cornpone Harry,

You're absolutely right. Just take a look at the Federal job application forms (there are a couple) or you State job application form, or any US Gov Contractor's job applications (I've seen many) ALL of them have a section asking you how proficient are you in other languages whether you can read, write and speak, and your level of proficiency.

It is very true what you said. I've been monitoring the US Census since 1980 and read the interpretations, forecasts and trends. I have no doubts that by the end of this century more than half of the US population will be of Hispanic origin.

I live in Florida. Moved down here 5 years ago. For me at the beginning it was a shock! I felt like I was in a foreign country. Went to a Super K-Mart, ALL, I mean absolutely all of the attendants, cashiers, managers were either Hispanic or from other ethnicity I couldn't figured out at that moment.

I went to buy some batteries and there was a young Black American who asked me with an obvious American English accent: ¿Le puedo ayudar en algo? This was my first day in Florida after driving a U-Haul truck for 17 straight hours from Northern VA , I was very tired, and still in shock at looking at all different type of human beings and all kind of foreign languages at the time was like noise and it was giving me a headache. At any rate, I perfectly understood this fine courteous sales associate, but I was so rude (to this day I regret how I acted) I replied, “I beg your pardon”? Kind in an upset way. How could he dare to presume I knew Spanish?
(To be continued)

(Continuation)
Anyways, I composed myself, quickly recognized my tone and perhaps my body language were very wrong, I said “Oh, OK, I’m sorry … I am just looking for some batteries”. “No problem Sir, you will find them two isles ahead (pointing me the direction)”. I just replied, thanks, got my batteries, pay for them and left the store.

The problem I had was my arrogance and my hypocrisy. I have come to accept that I am a very arrogant person, because I can no longer discard so many perceptions from other people. After doing conscience self-examination, I could not believe I was a hypocrite.

I have changed since then a lot, still a bit arrogant at times, but I have invested many years trying to command and learn other languages. I was stationed for one year in Korea. In that year, I learn to speak Korean fairly well on my own. I got along, was able to understand others and I was understood. I took the initiative and put the effort. Can America do the same?

we always assume that bi-lingual means English/Spanish? My wife is bi-lingual but it is Russian/English. Learning any foreign language would be an asset and used to be required in High School and College. The problem we have as speakers of English is that English is the most common business language used in the world so other countries offer it as a second language. Whereas we don't have to make that choice so it is usually left up to the school and what it offers.

The problem with requiring Spanish is the association with our growing immigrant population that refuses to learn English. I never understood this idea that children shouldn't have to learn English in school if they already spoke Spanish. Instead the school should provide instruction in Spanish. This makes no sense because those children will not be able to attend an institution of higher learning without English. I also know what it is like for people to learn English because my wife and step-sons had very little English when they arrived here. The difference was they didn't whine about it, they just studied English. My son took ESL for two years and then completed 12th grade English to graduate with his class. My wife learned enough in two years that she was able to start regular college classes.

..., but I think you are right. That's exactly the general perception: Bi-lingual = English/Spanish.

I am for any language, not particularly Spanish. Although, consider the business opportunities with a huge Spanish market to the South of us, and although not quite as big a French market to the North.

Therefore, there is an economic advantage learning these two languages. Now, I do not like the idea requiring one particular language. In this respect AND ONLY in this respect you may call me pro choice.

My children went to grade school in Fairfax County VA and they had at the time the "Immersion Program" with a choice of Japanese, Spanish, French, and German. I choose Spanish for my kids.

Paco, thank you for doing such a good job on this blog. I'm sickened by the anti-Mexican attitude some, not all, have in the GOP. Anyway I totally agree with you about the need for multiple languages. I took 2 years of French, and can remember about us much as the above title only. We need to teach from an early age, when children can most easily grasp it. In the global economy it's a must.

Extending an arm is absolutely one of the benefits of learning another language. Je parle francais, mais il est difficile a utiliser la langue ici. I'd love to learn Spanish, but I have found that the knowledge of one makes speaking our own easier, as well as figuring out another. I notice many similarities, as there are many, between French and Spanish.

But the arrogance of many Americans gets in the way of them learning another. I've heard it said they don't have to because everyone else speaks English. As an American, that attitude bugs me, and it is a shame. The anti-American attitude out there is as much a result of that, I think sometimes, as it is about our foreign policies.

May God bless your hearts! Thanks for your kind words.

At any rate, let us find and help everybody that can legally vote and take them to the polls (to vote 100% GOP) because the secular progressives, the far-left and the liberals cannot stop CAIR and all of the organizations lobbying for the implantation of a Caliphate and the rule of Shari'ah.

Un abrazo,
Paco Capella

are only as good as how often they are used. Christopher demonstrates that even though you have taken a language, if it is not used frequently then you usually lose it. I learned French and Russian in HS, Russian in college, German when I lived there for over 8 years, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, yet I was only able to be polite and ask about common items. Usually this was enough that the people would stop my butchering of their language and use English (they did appreciate my attempts). :) I have been learning Greek and Hebrew recently in my latest attempts at college. :)

On the other side, too many Americans do not even know or understand the English language which makes it even harder for them to learn another language. My mother (from Northern Ireland) used to joke about Americans bastardizing the English language and made me learn "proper" English usage. My wife understands English better than most Americans because she had to learn how to build sentences correctly instead of translating directly from Russian. My step-son was young enough to learn English in school but his Russian is sketchy at times, at least according to his grandmother. :)

Man! That is exactly the point! When I was in Korea, Koreans were outmost trying to help you out in anything when they recognized your trying to communicate with them in their own language.

Commanding several languages is always a plus even if you don't use them frequently; there will always be words and phrases you would never forget.

I'm good at reading and writing Italian, speaking it ... well ... so so, listening, I'm good. I am fluent in Spanish. I can read, Portuguese easily, have a conversation with quite easy, and writing ... I always use grammar and spell checkers. I can read French and understand about 60%. I can use a translator and bring my understanding of the written text to very close to a 100%. I can listen to French and gather a fairly good idea of what the conversation is all about.

that commanding languages is a plus. There are many people like myself that have a great difficulty in learning languages. I command none of the languages. It is only when one is immersed in the language that one learns to actually communicate in that language. That is why any immigrant to the USA needs to learn English. They are in the perfect environment to gain this ability. However, when we try to provide services, like Spanish, then we are doing a great disservice to the immigrant as well as an injustice to everyone in the country.

Don't worry too much about Spanish. Look, in Spain beside Castilian, they have Galician, Catalan, Valencian, Aragonese, and Basque, in the same country!!! However, people from the different provinces need to learn Castilian, plus their province language and most learn Portuguese, French and English because those are neighbor countries. Look, north of us, Canada, Canadians learn English and French.

Spanish is a logical language to be included in our schools curriculum for the many reasons mentioned before. Just think positively. “Everything you say, that is the way it is”. If you say that teaching Spanish in our schools is a disservice to the immigrants, then you are going to be right. That is how POWERFULL our beliefs can be. Now if you say that teaching languages (e.g., Japanese, German, French, Spanish, and Italian as in Fairfax Co., VA) is a “good thing” for Americans, then you also going to be right.

The fact is that if you grew up, let say in Tours, France, surely you know French, and most provably you also know some Spanish, some Basque, English for sure, and perhaps some Aragonese. Why? Because Spain is at the other side of the Pyrenees and there is very good contact (communications and commerce) going on.

If you are lucky to have an honest talk with a foreign national in their mother tongue as I been able to do overseas, and dare to ask what their people think about us, they will turn pink of shyness because they do not want to offend you. Nevertheless, if you insist, they will tell you: most Americans, “not you”, they quickly say, are dumb and arrogant. That is a general perception out there about us because we only know “American”, not English, “American”.