Reply to Which "world language" would you steer your child toward?

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Reply to "Which "world language" would you steer your child toward?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you will be living in the U.S., I say Spanish will have the widest applicability.  If you want to work in diplomacy or intelligence, then so-called in demand or hard languages set you up, i.e. Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Urdu, Pashto, etc.

The teachers of any of the languages will need to focus on building your child's conversational ability.  I recently learned Polish (already speak Russian) at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI).  This was my first time in language learning since joining the Foreign Service 15 years ago as most of my career has been in Russian - speaking or non-language designated jobs, and I have to say I was very impressed with the emphasis on practical speaking and comprehension skills.  That is where the focus needs to be in order for your child to begin to develop fluency.  [b]It does no good, IMHO, to learn declensions, verb conjugations, etc.  That can come in the rubric of learning to speak.[/b]  If the language learning can occur in small groups or one-on-one even better.

As your kids get older, they should be put in positions - work, volunteer, etc. - where they can use their langugage skills. When I was learning Russian I volunteered at the JCC to help resettle Soviet Jews in the U.S.  It helped tremendously with the Russian.

Good luck! [/quote]

Regarding the bolded, I disagree.  Many (most?) people can't learn a foreign language just through conversation - the basics of grammar, conjugations, etc. must be learned at the same time.  Trying to put together a sentence in a foreign language just doesn't work unless you know how to structure it and the correct grammar to use.  Otherwise, it's just gibberish.  An example would be the completely ineffectual FLES program, currently being disputed on another thread.  The teachers simply talk [b]at[/b] the students, expecting them to pick up the language through a one-sided conversation.  No real instruction is going on and my daughter says that the kids are confused and frustrated.

Anyone learning a foreign language has to be taught from the ground up, and that means pairing grammar and vocabularly instruction along with conversational opportunities.

I do agree, however, that small groups and/or one-on-one settings are ideal.  [/quote]

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