In a country that has often tried to name English as the official language it seems that some people have waged an unofficial war against other languages. But one has to wonder if the implementation of foreign languages at an earlier age would reduce these hostilities and possibly even help our relationships with other cultures.
The United States has long been known as an extremely ethnocentric country, which essentially means that we as a nation believe that we’re better than you because we say so, and if it comes from America it’s better … because it’s American.
While this idea is generally applied to products, it is often applied to language as well. In 2009, the U.S. Census showed that 77 percent of the United States spoke English in the home. The data also showed that the only other language that was remotely close was Spanish, which totaled 12 percent.
Some people see that and think, ‘See? English is better.’
This thought has a lot to do with why this country is not as willing to start teaching its youth languages other than just English at earlier ages. Most schools don’t start teaching any foreign languages until high school. By then it’s just a hoop that students must force themselves to slowly crawl through to get to graduation day.
Currently, there are no foreign languages that are a part of the core curriculum that schools teach K-12. However, that will soon change. Starting in the 2014-15 school year, Tennessee will fully adopt the new Common Core State Standards, which includes the teaching of foreign languages in kindergarten. If a student grows up learning more than one language, there is a good chance that they will have a better understanding and appreciation of the cultures surrounding that language.
For a country that once prided itself on being a melting pot of cultures, it seems now that the country does more to mold us into shapes than it does to encourage us to melt with these other cultures. The problem with Americans accepting foreign languages into their country is only a small portion of a much bigger problem: the lack of this country’s acceptance towards other cultures.
While teaching students other languages at an early age is only a small step towards solving much larger problems, it is a step that would slowly start the process of solving these much larger issues.
