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[Poll]

Should schools require students to learn Spanish?


Yes, across the country (please specify starting grade)
  19% (10)
Yes, but only in certain states (please specify state and grade)
  5% (3)
No
  75% (39)


Total Votes : 52
(last vote on : 12/28/2011 7:00:18 PM)
(Poll will run till: -- )
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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 2:49:23 AM   
DeviantlyD


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quote:

ORIGINAL: JstAnotherSub

quote:

ORIGINAL: Selectivelight

Fast reply -

Spanish? No, absolutely not. If you were to name a country that has a more viable economic impact, such as Germany, Japan, China, or India, I'd say yes.

I am of the opinion that Spanish is a waste of time to anyone who doesn't plan on visiting a Spanish speaking country. If you're making it compulsory, you'd be much better off teaching Latin. When is the last time breakthrough technology came from Mexico, Spain or Honduras? How about the Dominican Republic, or Argentina?

When was the last major political contribution made by Ecuador? When is the last time the US has been deeply concerned about the far-reaching political consequences of something El Salvador did? What do you think of the social impact of the opinions of the good people of Honduras is?

Furthermore, most states can't manage to teach -one- language beyond a rudimentary level. Don't you think we should fix this first?

So no, I don't think schools should require students to learn Spanish. If you want to do something positive for these kids, bring back the arts and music.





re the bolded...really? Where do you live.  There are many places now where it is a job requirement to be bilingual.  The times are a changing and not knowing spanish is going to become more of a handicap for many.

Course, it will have the same effect on those who only speak spanish and refuse to learn english I suppose.



The reason for the job requirement of knowing Spanish (in some areas, certainly not where I live) likely has more to do with the immigrant (illegal and otherwise) population and less to do with doing business with Spanish speaking nations.


quote:

ORIGINAL: sunshinemiss

Again, I don't see any reason to learn a dead language when you get the EXACT SAME benefits from a living language.


Well, as someone pointed out, it is a foundation in many languages. If a child learned it early enough in life, it might make learning other languages easier. So that would be the benefit. Mind you, if a child learns early enough, they pick up other languages much more easily regardless. At least that has been my observation of those people who were bilingual from a young age. For example, my father never learned English until he started primary school. When he finished school, he picked up a third language very easily. He is not the only one I have seen this with.

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 4:00:17 AM   
sunshinemiss


Posts: 17673
Joined: 11/26/2007
Status: offline 		Yes, I understand that (and btw I studied Latin in school - and then I studied Spanish). Because I've studied both languages and actually study language now, I'm sticking to what I know to be true. Just because something comes from Latin doesn't mean it doesn't offer the EXACT SAME benefits. If you know Spanish, you can easily learn the other romance languages (just like if you know Latin). If you know Spanish, you can understand a lot of medical and legal jargon as well as understanding root words (just like if you know Latin). They are often the same in Latin and Spanish.

You can not learn Latin as a child - who will you talk to? But you sure can learn Spanish. The reason people forget languages quickly is because there is no interaction with them. Who are you going to interact with in Latin when you are 8? But you sure can interact in Spanish with a bunch of kids, you can experience the language on television, the radio, the internet.

1. There are four skills needed to learn a language - the passive skills (listening and reading) and the active skills (speaking and writing). One of those skills is virtually unavailable in this day and age to the general populace (listening). The active skills can be done, but who's going to listen to you adn read what you've written? Certainly not anyone outside a teeny tiny specific niche.

2. There are three types of learning styles - auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. With Latin only one (visual) is available to the learning audience. That leaves a huge portion of students unable to easily learn the material. Couple that with the inability to maintain common usage of the Latin language, you have a recipe for easily forgetting the material. You know what I mean. You learn it long enough to take the test, and then you forget it. This is one of the biggest reasons to learn Spanish and not Latin - because it is a COMPLETE language and not a partial language (to the general populace - of course there are people who still speak Latin. Visit the Vatican.)

3. The part you are forgetting is that a lot of the words that you want people to learn in Latin are EXACTLY THE SAME in Spanish. There is no benefit from learning them in Latin. If you know Latin, then yes, the roots of other romance languages would be easy to understand. The same is true if you know Spanish. Same roots, same information.

4. Languages are living things. They change, evolve, integrate information from other cultures and languages. The Spanish of today takes into account the advances from the last couple of thousands of years which Latin does not. There are swaths of information that are irrelevant today and even MORE words that have been created that are not in Latin.

5. Finally, remember that the Latin that you are talking about was NEVER the Latin of the people - it was only a high falutin' scholarly language. It evolved into all the Romance Languages. Even during the time of the Roman Empire, the street Latin was different than what scholars used. It would be like telling people that they must learn English - but the only TRUE English is Shakespearean English.

There is no benefit from learning Latin over another romance language. The benefits of using an active, living language greatly outweigh the learning of Latin.

best,
sunshine

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 5:53:58 AM   
DomYngBlk


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Status: offline 		We should all learn spanish and probably add in some mandarin or hindi.

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 5:59:57 AM   
GreedyTop


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quote:

5. Finally, remember that the Latin that you are talking about was NEVER the Latin of the people - it was only a high falutin' scholarly language. It evolved into all the Romance Languages. Even during the time of the Roman Empire, the street Latin was different than what scholars used. It would be like telling people that they must learn English - but the only TRUE English is Shakespearean English.

[/quopte]

but that is the Latin that has spawned many of the languages, as far as I can recall from my Grandfathers lectures to me on languages.

the basis is the same.. root words.. evolving, naturally.

regardless if Latin itself is now mainly used in medico/legal professions, it's ROOTS still stick in the romance languages.  I stand by my assertion that learning latin at a young age gives the child the firm foundation to learning French, Spanish, etc..

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 6:55:02 AM   
sunshinemiss


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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 6:59:39 AM   
Aylee


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quote:

ORIGINAL: sunshinemiss

You can not learn Latin as a child - who will you talk to?


Just to be difficult, Butterhead could talk to the other half. He speaks Latin and Greek. And has knowledge of a few others. That whole historian thing, ya know.

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 11:02:29 AM   
Selectivelight


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Joined: 9/30/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aylee


quote:

ORIGINAL: sunshinemiss

You can not learn Latin as a child - who will you talk to?


Just to be difficult, Butterhead could talk to the other half. He speaks Latin and Greek. And has knowledge of a few others. That whole historian thing, ya know.


Or how about the other hundred children in your immediate age range, - just to piss off all the non-Latin speaking teachers. You treat it like you're trying to teach a single individual Latin, but you're trying to apply Spanish to the whole community. Which is it?

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 12:51:56 PM   
Hillwilliam


Posts: 19394
Joined: 8/27/2008
Status: offline 		I'm saying no. Here is why.

Yes, it is an awesome idea for a child to learn a second language.

WHY Spanish, though?

when I lived in miami, there were OVER 100 languages spoken in that county. WHY was Spanish so damn special?

EVERYONE in the US needs to be conversant in English. PERIOD. Second languages are great but there should be options besides Spanish.

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RE: Should schools require students to learn Spanish? - 4/4/2011 10:47:12 PM   
GreedyTop


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quote:

ORIGINAL: sunshinemiss

*head / desk*


sorry,. honey.. I missed your prior post...

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