Premium Essay

Should High Schools Be Required To Learn A Second Language Essay

Submitted By
Words 523
Pages 3
Some superintendents, along with counselors, believe high schools should be required to take a foreign language class. There are no logical reasons behind being forced to learn a foreign language. People do not remember anything taught in their foreign language class, foreigners already know your language living in your country, some people cannot afford or do not want to travel, so it should not be a requirement to learn a foreign language before graduating high school.
Others may argue that taking a foreign language before graduating should be forced upon students. Yes, some may need to know a foreign language for emergencies. Although, there are translation apps for smartphones to use in that situation. To think learning a completely different language might be useful, one might realize only the “small talk” phrases are important. However, a specific occupation, like being in the military, would be only one of the few reasons a person would have to learn an entirely new language.
The majority of people that took a foreign language class in high school do not recall what they learned from it in the first place. Less than one percent of students acquire fluency in high school. (www.econlog.econlib.org) …show more content…
In the United States, with English being the dominant language, people do not ordinarily come across an Asian yelling “Help! Help! I can’t speak English!” speaking in an Asian dictation, because they have already acquired it. Europe is the only country that requires their high schools to learn a foreign language, but not so much in the United States. (www.forbes.com) There are no quality explanations as to why one should learn an entire language unless they have a specific occupation that is required to do so for it. Fluently speaking a different language is simple if you are surrounded with people of that language’s

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Why You Should Learn Spanish Before You Learn French?

...CSM 104 Research Essay Why you should learn Spanish before you learn French? Speaking a new language helps you to get to know another people and culture, as language and culture go hand in hand. Because language simultaneously is defined by the world around us, learning another language opens one's mind to new ideas and new ways of looking at the world. While most of us can't hope to learn the languages of more than one or two cultures other than that of our own, those that we can learn help us to learn how other people learn and think. In North American, most people choose French and Spanish as their second or third language. Many people believe that Spanish is actually more useful than French, and obviously the foreign language most spoken and studied--by far--in the North America is Spanish. Compare with French, Spanish can offer a wealth of literature of Latin language, both modern and traditional. For example, when you are reading a Latin American websites, you may find that you could gain a sense of how other people think and fee if you know Spanish. As a matter of fact, both of the languages belong to the Latin group of languages. Hence, they show some similarities too. On the one hand, French is spoken by the country of France in the continent of Europe. On the other hand, Spanish is spoken in the country of Spain in the continent of Europe. However, French and Spanish are two languages that show enormous differences between them when it comes to the pronunciation...

Words: 1469 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Strategic Management

...CHALLENGES STUDENTS FACE IN LEARNING ESSAY WRITING SKILLS IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MANGA DISTRICT, NYAMIRA COUNTY, KENYA BY NYANG’AU BENARD NYASIMI E55/CE/14078/2009 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION IN THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION KENYATTA UNIVERSITY JULY 2013 * DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for degree in any other university. Signature: ______________________________ Date: ________________________ BY NYANG’AU BENARD NYASIMI E55/CE/14078/2009 We confirm that this thesis was carried out by the candidate under our supervision as university supervisors. Signature------------------------------------------------------ Date-------------------------- Dr .Sophia. Ndethiu. Department of Educational Communication and Technology. Kenyatta University. Signature------------------------------------------------------ Date------------------------- Dr. John. Kimemia. Department of Educational Communication and Technology. Kenyatta University. * DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my loving wife Zipporah Nyasimi and our sons Philemon Siko and Enock Ongeri . * ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge the support of those individuals who made it possible for a successful completion of this work. Special thanks go to my supervisors Dr. Sophia Ndethiu and Dr. John. Kimemia for the support, guidance...

Words: 21036 - Pages: 85

Premium Essay

Essay Writing

...one more year very few would say yes. I would, not because I like school, not because I enjoy spending six hours cooped up inside, but because I could use one more year to just be sure I am completely prepared for college. Along with this I feel that because we are required to take tenth grade graduation test and most of our tenth grade year is spent preparing for this test.  Highschool students today are highly prepared for the world, but that one extra year in high school could possibly be spent taking time on preparatory courses in college type setting. Students get thrown into the college setting which is a major shock to them due to the major differences. Maybe doing this our freshmen's first quarter wouldn't be as much of a change. Because we have to take the graduation test in tenth grade we don't learn anything that year. We need another year due to that, so we should go one more year to make sure we are ready. Scoring Explanation This essay demonstrates inconsistent skill in responding to the task. The writer takes a position but displays no recognition of a counter-argument to that position. Development of ideas is thin with general statements to explain the first idea (Students get thrown into the college setting which is a major shock to them due to the major differences) and very little explanation of the second idea (Because we have to take the graduation test in tenth grade we don't learn anything that year). There is some indication of an organizational...

Words: 1910 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Acc503

...W. P. Carey MBA Admissions Essay Questions – Evening MBA and Online MBA MBA Applicants are required to submit answers to essay questions during the online application process. Essays may be typed in the document below, saved and uploaded in one document when requested during the online application. Responses to each essay question should be no more than two pages using 1.5 line spacing. Please begin each question on a new page. Essay Question #1 Explain how your past accomplishments have prepared you for the W. P. Carey MBA. “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” A famous saying from the movie Forrest Gump pretty much describes my situation. In my earlier life, I never thought I would come to US for my master of engineering, work as an electrical engineer at Force10networks (it was acquired by DELL recently), and now pursue an MBA. My past accomplishments that have prepared me for the W.P. Carey MBA include teaching mathematics in Taiwan, coming to US to improve myself, earning my engineering masters at the University of Arizona, and working as electrical design engineer at force10networks. Before I came to US, I had taught mathematics from high school level to college calculus for seven years. The reason that I like teaching is I like to sense students’ issues of learning mathematics. I like to communicate with them, and to help them succeed in achieving...

Words: 1911 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Doc, Pdf

...CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Context Nowadays, in UCSI University, scholars need to learn another language besides their own mother tongue. They will like to learn English language which is the second language we can learn. As a language, there are a lot of skills which we must learn, such as, reading, writing, listening and speaking. What actually reading is? Reading means the action or skill of reading written or printed matter silently or aloud. Moreover, it is also mean as the process of constructing meaning from written texts. Hence, it is not a skill that students must learn separately from other processes. Reading skill combines many complex activities include categorizing, building key terms and concepts for a subject, measuring one’s reaction to a subject, making new connections, abstracting, figuring out significance and developing arguments. In learning English Foundation subjects, there are some reasons for us to read. By reading books, we might become an interesting person. This happens because we can use information that we get from books or magazine to impress ourselves to friends or future employers. Besides, reading also can help us to learn how to write correctly. In this case, we will get good grades and also can impress our future boss who will promote us because we can express ourselves 3 correctly. The next reason for reading is to help us in developing our imagination to write many excellent stories. For doing some event, we also...

Words: 7216 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Teaching Portfolio

...To Whom It May Concern: I am writing in regards to a high school position at your school I believe that my enthusiasm for Social Studies, students and learning would make me an excellent candidate for this position. I believe as educators we are ourselves are constantly learning what works and what doesn’t work by our diverse students and it is essential as teachers to keep in mind the needs of each and every one of our students. I am confident that my lesson plans and curriculum are designed to fit the requirements of the New York State Standards and the Common Core, which also reflects my contribution as a teacher to the classroom. I have a strong understanding of student development and have been consistently recognized by my cooperating teacher and her administrators for the relationships I create with my students in conjunction to the functionality of the classroom. My purpose in the classroom is to create a free space where students can engage in critical thinking, making inferences and supporting their ideas and opinions with primary and secondary sources. I believe it is important to utilize up to date pieces of information to engross the student’s attention and participation in the classroom. Being that our students are technologically savvy I also believe it is important to incorporate technology into lesson planning. I am also fluent in Greek and am to communicate with students and parents from Greek-speaking households in hopes to promote their parents...

Words: 18748 - Pages: 75

Premium Essay

Economics of New Immigration Proposal

...probably shouldn't be! During the junior year of high school, students and, to a greater extent, their parents start to fret about getting the teenager into a college. Most of these students are unable to be admitted to first-rate schools like Williams College or the Ivy League institutions, but they and their parents believe that a college education, from any school, is necessary to succeed in the 21st century. However, Edward E. Gordon reports in an article entitled "Creating Tomorrow's Work Force" (The Futurist, August, 2000) that 70% of the workers in the coming decades will not need a four-year college degree, but, rather, an associate degree from a community college or some type of technical certificate. Thus, moms and dads, who foot the bill, delude themselves that going to any four-year college will make their sons and daughters literate, analytical, culturally aware, technologically advanced, and therefore employable. In America today, there exists a goal that the majority of the nation's youth should go to college and that access should be the byword for higher education. On the surface, this sounds like a great idea; in reality, it is not. Access in its most-extreme form--open admissions--was instituted at The City University of New York during the turmoil of the 1960s. Any student who had graduated from high school, with no regard given to grade point average (GPA) and/or the SAT scores, was allowed into one of the CUNY schools. Today, while that policy is officially off...

Words: 2816 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Yec/Oec

... during which the world of science and modern thinking started to shape the literature of the times. The study of literature then moves into the Romantic period, and then the Realist period, both of which shaped American Literature at its core and brought about significant changes to the style, structure, and purpose of literature. The introduction of Modern literature includes the literature of the early 1900s, including the Harlem Renaissance, and then Post-Modern literature brings students into the study of current day texts. Overall, the course includes literature spanning from the 1500’s to current day, and introduces students to some of the greatest authors and works in American Literature. Genres that are included are: nonfiction essays, diaries, sermons, letters, and...

Words: 1428 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

5 Steps to a 5 Ap English Langauge

...Copyright © 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-180360-1 MHID: 0-07-180360-2 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-180359-5, MHID: 0-07180359-9. E-book conversion by Codemantra Version 1.0 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill Education eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com. Trademarks: McGraw-Hill Education, the McGraw-Hill Education logo, 5 Steps to a 5 and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill Education and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property...

Words: 76988 - Pages: 308

Free Essay

Language Learning

...office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Bilingual Research Journal Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ubrj20 Language Learning in the American Southwestern Borderlands: Navajo Speakers and Their Transition to Academic English Literacy Gloria Dyc a a University of New Mexico-Gallup Available online: 22 Nov 2010 To cite this article: Gloria Dyc (2002): Language Learning in the American Southwestern Borderlands: Navajo Speakers and Their Transition to Academic English Literacy, Bilingual Research Journal, 26:3, 611-630 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2002.10162581 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/termsand-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly...

Words: 8847 - Pages: 36

Free Essay

A Good Essay

...an effective writer. In fact, though we may all like to think of ourselves as the next Shakespeare, inspiration alone is not the key to effective essay writing. You see, the conventions of English essays are more formulaic than you might think – and, in many ways, it can be as simple as counting to five. The Five Paragraph EssayThough more advanced academic papers are a category all their own, the basic high school or college essay has the following standardized, five paragraph structure: Paragraph 1: IntroductionParagraph 2: Body 1Paragraph 3: Body 2Paragraph 4: Body 3Paragraph 5: Conclusion Though it may seem formulaic – and, well, it is - the idea behind this structure is to make it easier for the reader to navigate the ideas put forth in an essay. You see, if your essay has the same structure as every other one, any reader should be able to quickly and easily find the information most relevant to them. The Introduction Want to see sample essays?Check out our Sample Essay section where you can see scholarship essays, admissions essays, and more! The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is also known as the "thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective introductory paragraphs are so much more than that. Before you even get to this thesis statement, for example, the essay should begin with a "hook" that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read on. Examples of effective hooks include relevant quotations ("no...

Words: 1845 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Sample Essay

...说明 1. 本资料来源于英文版《How to get into the top MBA programs》,作者为Don Martin. 2. 第一部分为115份真实的ESSAY, 分别来自于17个不同背景的申请人. 3. 第二部分为对21个常见ESSAY问题的分析,包括问题的关键,常见错误,正确的回答方式. 个人认为这一部分比真实的ESSAY更重要. 4. 由于文件采用扫描和文字识别方法输入, 可能存在一些错误. 5. 此文件仅供CHASEDREAM网友参考使用, 请尊重原书版权, 切勿用于商业用途. Xiearmyxiearmy 零四岁末于美国穷乡僻壤 Chapter I Application Essay Examples INTRODUCTION This appendix contains 115 actual essays written, by 17 different applicants, for leading MBA programs. They address dozens of different essay topics. The applicants and their essays have been selected to give you the widest possible range of materials from which to profit. The first four applicants all applied to the University of Chicago. They were chosen by Chicago’s admissions director, Don Martin, according to my desire that they be from four very different people and of average quality for those admitted. In other words, these essays will show you exactly what you are competing against. They are of perfectly acceptable quality, but they should not discourage you. If you follow the lessons of this book you should be able to surpass each of these efforts. The second set of three applicants—Melissa, Doreen, and Carol—is taken from Columbia University’s files. Columbia’s admissions director, Linda Meehan, was asked to supply several applications, again from people of widely differing backgrounds, but this time of superior quality. I think that this group’s applications...

Words: 76050 - Pages: 305

Free Essay

12345

...ENGLISH HANDBOOK -“Welcome to my evil lair…” -Mr. Braiman Brooklyn High School of the Arts www.mrbraiman.com http://handbook.mrbraiman.com “EVIL” Welcome to my evil classroom lair. In order to become full-fledged evil “minions,” you need to read this handbook carefully. It explains everything you need to know. “English,” as you may know, is shorthand for “English Language Arts.” Being that we are in an Arts school, but one where academics must and always do come first, it is important that we approach the subject as what it is: an art form. How does one study the arts? What exactly do we do when we study drawing, sculpture, music, or dance? Well, anyone who has studied the arts will tell you that studying the arts essentially involves two things: • Learning about, and developing an awareness of and appreciation for, existing works of art in that particular form; • Developing the skills and techniques associated with the art form, in order to create our own works. In the case of language arts, much like any other art form, we will be studying existing works of art (i.e., reading books, stories and poems), and developing the skills to produce our own (i.e., writing). That’s what English Language Arts is. We will also be preparing ourselves for New York State’s Regents Comprehensive Examination in English, which we’ll all be taking in June. This two-day, six-hour, four-part exam requires no specific knowledge or content, but it does require the skills to listen, read,...

Words: 13874 - Pages: 56

Premium Essay

Argument

...UNIT 1 Special Note: The argumentative essay is a very useful test of a student’s ability to think logically. Argue: v. 1. to persuade someone to do or not do something. 2. to give the reasons for your opinion, idea, belief, etc. Argumentative: adj. someone who is argumentative often argues or like arguing. Argument: n. a set of reasons that show that something is true or untrue, right or wrong etc. When you have an opinion and try to convince your listener or reader to accept your opinion, you are agreeing with or disagreeing with something. For example: In an everyday situation, you may try to convince a friend to go somewhere or in a composition or speech class, the instructor may make an assignment in which you must support or oppose the use of nuclear energy to produce electricity. If you agree or disagree on an issue, you will want your reader or listener to accept your point of view. There are a few types of argumentative compositions such as: 1. Advantages and disadvantages 2. Expressing opinions/providing solutions to problems 3. Expressing arguments for and against a topic 4. Compare and contrast something or somebody PURPOSE of ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS * An argument follows when two groups disagree about something. * People can have different opinions and can offer reasons in support...

Words: 14232 - Pages: 57

Premium Essay

English Comp Final

...final project. I chose these three specific essays because each essay relates to me in a unique way regarding my life experiences. I feel that I capture my audience’s attention in such a personal way that they desire to hear more. My personal writing comes from a vantage point about a particular subject in an expressive aim. The content of my writings are equipped for people who are more advanced in life; compared to those who haven’t had experience to support a family, finances, or particular employment. My writings apply to the expressive aim of writing and have comparable lacks. In my future writing processes, I plan to sum up my essays with less redundancy and more content. I learned to touch on the major points of my writings without presenting new information into my conclusions. While reviewing my essays, I realized that I continued to repeat the same errors but made the effort to not double speak when creating my words and thoughts. Given the corrections, I was able to make improvements to my writings so that they will have a continuous, but steady flow avoiding lessening the value of the subject at hand. Throughout the review process of my writing assignment 1, I was able to learn how to conduct APA Style within in my essays. Although my professor gave me approved feedback, he also added very positive constructive criticism to be able to make improvements. My professor advised that I design creative titles for my essays. I noticed that I needed sentence improvement...

Words: 2455 - Pages: 10