Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Why Americans Should Learn a Foreign Language Argumentative Essay

Good Essays
521 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Americans Should Learn a Foreign Language Argumentative Essay
Argumentative Essay Why Americans Should Learn a Foreign Language Steve Fidel once has written, “A person who speaks three languages is trilingual; a person who speaks two languages is bilingual; a person who speaks one language is — American.” In spite of the fact, that English language one of widely widespread in the world, it should not use that as an excuse for native born residents of the United States to avoid studying another language. There is a set of arguments why it is necessary to study foreign languages. Two of them it is cultural aspect and expansion of business opportunities. During studying foreign language people start to understand the culture and history of other nation and their own language and culture much better. Also, studying foreign language helps people to keep their mind opened for new things. Evona York has said that, “Sometimes learning a foreign language helps you understand your own language and culture better through comparison, or through the relationship between the foreign language and your mother tongue. For instance, studying Latin in high school taught me an incredible amount of English, because English has so many words that come from the Latin.” Someone can tell that, it is not important to know language and culture of other country and other nation. However, “globalization removes barriers between people.”(Pieracarla Santucci) If the people want to be successful in this world he or she should speak in several languages. To remain monolingual is to stunt your educational development, to restrict your communication and thinking abilities, and to deny yourself the ability to fully appreciate and understand the world in which you live. Learning another language opens new opportunities and gives you perspectives that you might never have encountered otherwise. Personal, professional, social, and economic considerations all point to the advantages of learning foreign languages. People, who know several languages, can find prestigious and highly paid job much easier, than people which do not know foreign language. The knowledge of foreign languages opens the business opportunities for career growth. Many international companies prefer to have employees which know at least one foreign language. Someone can tell that he or she does not want to work in the big international company. They happy to work in small family business and they do not need to know foreign language. However, we talk about USA. In this country in any business it is necessary to know at least one foreign language- is Spanish. Even, to find a job as the car seller or the cashier in the Wal-Mart is much easier, if you know not only English language but also Spanish. Studying of foreign languages opens greater opportunities for the each person. It is an opportunity of communication with people of other nations and an opportunity to learn their culture and their mentality. Also studying of foreign languages opens greater opportunities in the business. For survival in the global community, every nation needs people which know foreign language.

(http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,660203468,00.html.Americans' need foreign language skills in global community.By Steve Fidel.Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007 10:43 a.m. MDT )

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Argumentative Essay

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Lund 1 Aaron Lund Professor Dorn English 102 15 November XXXX Preserving Yellowstone’s Winter Wilderness Although a few recreational snowmobilers destroy fragile ecosystems and harass animals as they ride through the wilderness, most love and respect this country’s natural heritage. That’s why they brave the cold to explore what is left of wild America— including Yellowstone National Park. Unfortunately, however, even respectful snowmobilers are unwittingly damaging what they love. Because snowmobiles create both air and noise pollution and because their use in the park strains the already lean budget of the park service, recreational snowmobiles should be banned from Yellowstone National Park. In 2002, the Bush administration, under pressure from the snowmobile industry, proposed to reverse the National Park Service’s 2000 plan that would have phased out recreational snowmobile use in Yellowstone. In addition to reversing the earlier plan, the new policy would increase the number of snowmobiles allowed into the park per day. This policy is a step in the wrong direction. It may be hard to imagine that 1,100 snowmobiles a day (the proposed limit) could cause an air pollution problem in a park half the size of Connecticut, but in fact they can. The air pollution at park entrances has already become so bad in winter, according to environmental reporter Julie Cart, that fresh air has to be…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article “Beyond Survival English” by Tamar Jacoby the author presents her opinion and explains how language can really help you in life and how many people still learn new languages even when there 30 or 20 years old they still try learning a different language. To help them they take classes. They go to a class for a couple days a week for a and hour or two. Either some are trying to learn english or some learn spanish those are two languages a lot of people try to learn and a lot of people don't use their ability to speak two languages but it can help you in many ways for example for a job. If you apply for a job and you speak two languages you have a better chance of getting that job.…

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Being able to speak many languages help individuals talk more and not be so quiet. As mentioned in the essay Silence by Maxine Hong Kinston, she was silent when she had to speak English for the first time. No one wants to be known as the quite person in school. Most bilingual people come from families that have parents that were born and raised in different places. People that are bilingual can get a good job and get paid a lot of money. Also for people who know a second language it makes it easier when they go to school because they can meet people from different states that speak a different language. Like in the essay Silence, Kingston was not the only Chinese girl that did not speak, but there were more that felt shy to talk as well. People…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Knowing the English language can make you more desirable to employers when going for a job interview. For example Latinos who talk very little English make 31% more money than a Latino who knows no English (xxxx). But a Latino who can speak fluently English will make up to 67% more then one who does not speak the language at all (xxxx). English is used in all schools in the US to teach children so for parents to know English makes it easy to communicate with their children and the teachers since they bounce back and forth between their primary language at home and using English when in school. If you learn English, you won’t just have access to a greater proportion of the vast amount of knowledge available on the internet; you’ll be able to educate yourself still further by being able to read books and newspapers…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Besides that, if I speak on my own language, I have the ability to do my work and I can have more time to learn English by reading…

    • 183 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ece 315

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In America, there is a predominant growth in multiple ethnicities and cultural backgrounds; leading to the usage of multiple languages in the American culture. There is a growing need for many people to learn and utilize multiple languages within the workplace and within one 's own personal life. The importance of bilingualism and the knowledge of multiple languages is ever increasing, and therefore becoming more important for the younger generations. The push for knowing multiple languages and becoming bilingual has many potential negative and positive effects.…

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identity Formation

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    We as English as second language students, frustrate at the beginning due to the lack of communication with others and for instance, most of the time, we feel the impulse to connect with other people that speaks our language. For some of us who came from countries where the Gregorian alphabet is not used, the learning process becomes even harder. Pronunciation or speaking is a challenge too because most of the time we are betrayed by our accent. However, once the English skills start improving due to the acculturating process, we assimilate that there is no going back and we look forward to master our English skills. Learning foreign languages opens our minds to new ways of thinking. While there are some people that learn a language because of interest or they want a challenge, we have to learn in this case English because of a practical need for…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Speak Argumentative essay

    • 1020 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Speak”, by Laurie Halse Anderson characterizes of Joyce and Jack Sordino being neglectful and incompliant for parenting towards their daughter, Melinda Sordino.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the persuasive argument All Students Should be Required to Study a Foreign Language, posted on 123helpme.com the writer makes the argument that all Americans should have some type of formal education in a foreign language. The writer gives a few good reasons supporting his claim. The benefits given are better race relations for the country as well as an improved foreign interest. The writer is basing his claim on the solid assumption that language is the most fundamental aspect of a culture and when doing business abroad language barriers can be a burden. The argument even goes on to say that incorporating foreign language into the American society will create a more well-rounded society.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not only would this enrich the economy and culture of the associated country, but it would allow the education of its youth to be furthered. By encouraging kids to enroll in foreign language classes in school and emphasizing the importance of remaining dedicated to the course throughout high school, those benefits can be possible. Although it may take some extra effort, the asset of learning a foreign language outweigh the amount of work that one would have to put into learning it. The cons that come with being unilingual are clear when considering all of the advantages that multilinguals have over them; while one multilingual Canadian photographer in Ecuador is successfully capturing the beauty of the Galapagos Islands with her new Ecuadorian memory card, a monolingual American photographer is struggling to translate the address of her motel into Spanish, so her cab driver can drop her off. Therefore, It is essential that English-speaking countries cease to be monolingual, for it is a grave disadvantage that is “hurting our country in more ways than we realize”(Source…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Human beings around the world know that America is known as the land of the free. Many also come to this land for opportunity. Today more than half of the American population can agree that children of illegal immigrants have the right to obtain a public education in America’s education system. Americans support this idea would like to obtain a stronger society, obtain the American Dream and uphold the Bill of Rights. While nativist, who oppose illegal immigration believe that the illegal immigrant’s children are costing our government system too much money.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Others

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Knowledge of a second language gives you a competitive edge. We need to make ourselves more valuable to prospective employers. The country is becoming way more diverse. This is a useful career move to make. Say your company merges with a foreign company and moves abroad. It would be very useful to you to know a second language. Many careers are available for bilinguals, Flight attendants, Sales, Geologists, paralegals, travel agents, bank tellers and social workers. This may even be a necessity with these types of employment. Employees of major companies go to other countries for business trips or to live. Interpreting as a career has sky rocketed.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people seem to forget that the purpose of schooling is to “educate students so that they have choices when they graduate” (Bilingual Education Is Necessary). By allowing students the option to learn another language, they are broadening the students choices for their future occupations. Furthermore by adding language classes, the school will also benefit from the enriched staff resources. Teachers teaching other languages will “bring added knowledge and teaching and managing strategies” (Bilingual Education Is Necessary) which will help multicultural schools. Not only will these teachers assist the school, they will be able to connect with certain students more than other teachers. Along with the assistance, these bilingual teachers will bring an understanding and acceptance of other cultures. By both learning another language and appreciating its unique culture, the global economy has the possibility to prosper due to the knowledge of language and culture being “a pillar of economic achievement” (Bilingual Education Should Be Increasing but It Is Declining). With the global economy prospering from a labor force that does business in many different languages, being bilingual should be sought after…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Education leads to a brighter future.” Quite a clichéd phrase, actually. So popular, that people tend to forget the true significance of it. It is known that Latin America faces numerous problems that makes looking into the future a discouraging view; but we fail to realize the lack of education may be the root of these issues, including violence, unemployment and poverty. Even though education is widely available in Latin America, people are not yet engrained with the idea that education can be a facilitator for a superior life. Economic issues that stem from unemployment and poverty have led to the notion that education is wasted time that could be better spent working. The time has come for the acknowledgment that education is a way out of a negatively oriented future, not a nuisance. A vicious circle in Latin American life is poverty. Statistics from Oxfam International show that 31% of young adults without a high school diploma live in poverty, compared to the 22% of young adults who have it. In the middle of what seems to be a never ending economic crisis for Latin America, education seems to take a secondary position; as a result analphabetism increases, crime increases, welfare goes down and people continue suffering. What seems to be the macroeconomic trend is that population groups tend to have levels of school directly proportional to their income, which again directs us to poverty. Education can prevent citizens from being unprepared to face the constant changes in the labor market, this may be achieved through regulatory educational policies that help the underdeveloped part of the population. Crime is not unfamiliar to Latin Americans, this now trivial occurrence stains their lives and keeps the seed of fear deep within them. In a situation of deep poverty, crime is the easy way out. Education can not only help keep children and teenagers off the streets, but can facilitate…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people don’t see the opportunities that bilingual education programs can have on any person. Bilingual education programs have “a positive effect on intellectual growth” on a child’s mind. Bilingual education programs also produce good listening skills. Lastly it gives job opportunities when the time comes to get a job. Bilingual education programs should not be abandoned because it has a positive effect on intellectual growth, produces good listening skills, and gives job opportunities.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays