Sunday, November 21, 2004
Foreign Languages... Yay or Nay?
This morning I had an exam for German 102. Let me start off by saying I had nightmares all through the night, and was quite scared the next morning when I went in to take my exam. Well, my nightmares were justified because the exam was long, and it was difficult. Through the entire thing, our professor needed to keep explaining questions, and one of my classmates would whine and complain about how hard it was. She covered for me while I tried to finish everything in time. I got done just in the nick of time too!
Now that I have my little anecdote out of the way, I wanted to put forth this thought... Foreign Language should be taught in elementary school, where kids will have the best change of absorbing all of it. This is when people have the most learning capability, when they're young. I have always struggled through foreign language because I just can't pick up more than the basics. Sure, I can name the colors, count to a hundred, and ask simple questions, but anything more than a short paragraph would have me weeping in a dark corner. This is forced torture even, as it is required to graduate from UMBC... I must take three language courses, either in the language itself, or a culture class related to it. That is torture for someone who is an Information Systems major. If anything, I should be required to take an Indian language as they'll be the people who either a) take my job, or b) work underneath of me as my subordinates.
Some things are just plain screwy, and learning a new language in college is one of them! I would definitely support a movement to teach a foreign language in elementary school, when it is far more productive and useful. ¶ 9:20 PM
This morning I had an exam for German 102. Let me start off by saying I had nightmares all through the night, and was quite scared the next morning when I went in to take my exam. Well, my nightmares were justified because the exam was long, and it was difficult. Through the entire thing, our professor needed to keep explaining questions, and one of my classmates would whine and complain about how hard it was. She covered for me while I tried to finish everything in time. I got done just in the nick of time too!
Now that I have my little anecdote out of the way, I wanted to put forth this thought... Foreign Language should be taught in elementary school, where kids will have the best change of absorbing all of it. This is when people have the most learning capability, when they're young. I have always struggled through foreign language because I just can't pick up more than the basics. Sure, I can name the colors, count to a hundred, and ask simple questions, but anything more than a short paragraph would have me weeping in a dark corner. This is forced torture even, as it is required to graduate from UMBC... I must take three language courses, either in the language itself, or a culture class related to it. That is torture for someone who is an Information Systems major. If anything, I should be required to take an Indian language as they'll be the people who either a) take my job, or b) work underneath of me as my subordinates.
Some things are just plain screwy, and learning a new language in college is one of them! I would definitely support a movement to teach a foreign language in elementary school, when it is far more productive and useful. ¶ 9:20 PM
