Trying Out a Foreign Language?
We hear a lot about globalization and the many changes it is bringing. One -- which has not achieved much attention -- is the need to learn other languages. If we are going to compete on a world-wide basis, our children are going to have to be fluent in a range of foreign languages. Now some of our English-speaking compatriots across the ocean are trying to do just that through a pioneering plan that has been started in the schools.
Specifically, several major areas in England are offering children in the early primary grades the opportunity to sample six different languages. The children can then decide the ones they would like to pursue when they transfer to high school. The goal is to eventually have the children start foreign language at seven years of age. The results of the program will be published later this year. At this point, it represents an intriguing idea that we ought to think of pursuing on this side of the Atlantic.
