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The ability to communicate in another language can really only be a positive development for any individual group.

peteey 8y ago
How are you judging positivity? Classroom time should be spent on the most important things. Learning for the sake of learning is meaningless. There is no value in knowing how many dots are on the ceiling. The classroom time could been spent learning something more meaningful. For example, cursive writing should not be taught. I would suggest only praising skills that help a child economically or make life fulfilling. I do not consider learning different ways to say a word as fulfilling as history, art, or philosophy.
- lotyrin 8y ago
  Reductio ad absurdum. Could just as easily say any of the following: I do not consider learning how to smear grease on a canvas could be as fulfilling as <whatever>. I do not consider memorizing dates and people's names as fulfilling as <whatever>. I do not consider ruminating on some made up dilemmas to be as fulfilling as <whatever>. Second language learning is a hell of a lot more than learning a foreign vocabulary. People like different things (to say absolutely nothing of the other half of how you justify investing in learning -- the economic value of having mastered a second language). Even if it were possible that your individual tastes were some kind of universal truth and we're all just unenlightened -- what have you done to enlighten us here -- the value of the things you like must be self evident? Is everyone just an NPC?
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  First - a lot of grade school is just babysitting. It's definitely not a cramped situation of required learning. Point being, there's little lost opportunity cost here. Assuming kids are getting the fundamentals ... there's lots of time for more, decent learning. Second - any second language skill is going to be immensely useful as a learning tool. It really helps one understand language and communication. Third - Chinese, it would seem, is likely going to be a useful language in a country receiving considerably Chinese investment.
- namarie 8y ago
  Do you really think learning chinese won't be economically helpful in the coming decades? Also, what makes you think learning a different language is just "learning different ways to say a word"? This only makes you seem uninformed on the subject. Do you speak more than one language?
bluGill 8y ago
That is only true when the other language is one that someone else you want to talk to speaks AND the other person doesn't speak your language. Unfortunately there are thousands of different languages in the world, it doesn't matter what language you speak somebody exists who doesn't speak it and then you cannot communicate. Alternatively, if the other party has already invested in learning your language there is less benefit to learning theirs. (less is not zero) Is any language a good choice? The world changes all the time, over my lifetime English has been the best choice for the majority of people - in part because the majority of language learners have chosen English making it self-reinforcing (which isn't to discount the other reasons to learn English). However history is not always a predictor of the future. Even if history is the best overall your particular future might make Kazakh the best language to learn. (I picked Kazakh because you have probably never even heard of it before) Don't forget that time spent learning a language could be used for something else. Language is useful to know, but it isn't the only thing and you cannot possibly learn all the useful things there are to know. You have to choose and your choices will both open and close doors to your future. Good luck choosing.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  "That is only true when the other language is one that someone else you want to talk to speaks AND the other person doesn't speak your language" Don't agree. It's good for self development even if you'll never use it very often. Language is an extremely powerful human concept. It forms cultures. They say Germans are candid and direct? Well, maybe that's because there's usually only one way to say something in German! In English, you can almost always say something that has two meanings, at the very same time. Learning a language is like visiting a completely foreign culture and it can change your view of things. It's like having an extra limb. Life is very long, there's plenty of time to learn all sorts of things. A second language is useful, which is why there are all sorts of options in grade school. And Chinese is a pretty good option.
  - bluGill 8y ago
    You have reduced language to no better than learning to knit, but I won't disagree.

How are you judging positivity? Classroom time should be spent on the most important things. Learning for the sake of learning is meaningless. There is no value in knowing how many dots are on the ceiling. The classroom time could been spent learning something more meaningful. For example, cursive writing should not be taught. I would suggest only praising skills that help a child economically or make life fulfilling. I do not consider learning different ways to say a word as fulfilling as history, art, or philosophy.

lotyrin 8y ago
Reductio ad absurdum. Could just as easily say any of the following: I do not consider learning how to smear grease on a canvas could be as fulfilling as <whatever>. I do not consider memorizing dates and people's names as fulfilling as <whatever>. I do not consider ruminating on some made up dilemmas to be as fulfilling as <whatever>. Second language learning is a hell of a lot more than learning a foreign vocabulary. People like different things (to say absolutely nothing of the other half of how you justify investing in learning -- the economic value of having mastered a second language). Even if it were possible that your individual tastes were some kind of universal truth and we're all just unenlightened -- what have you done to enlighten us here -- the value of the things you like must be self evident? Is everyone just an NPC?
sonnyblarney 8y ago
First - a lot of grade school is just babysitting. It's definitely not a cramped situation of required learning. Point being, there's little lost opportunity cost here. Assuming kids are getting the fundamentals ... there's lots of time for more, decent learning. Second - any second language skill is going to be immensely useful as a learning tool. It really helps one understand language and communication. Third - Chinese, it would seem, is likely going to be a useful language in a country receiving considerably Chinese investment.
namarie 8y ago
Do you really think learning chinese won't be economically helpful in the coming decades? Also, what makes you think learning a different language is just "learning different ways to say a word"? This only makes you seem uninformed on the subject. Do you speak more than one language?

bluGill 8y ago

That is only true when the other language is one that someone else you want to talk to speaks AND the other person doesn't speak your language. Unfortunately there are thousands of different languages in the world, it doesn't matter what language you speak somebody exists who doesn't speak it and then you cannot communicate. Alternatively, if the other party has already invested in learning your language there is less benefit to learning theirs. (less is not zero) Is any language a good choice? The world changes all the time, over my lifetime English has been the best choice for the majority of people - in part because the majority of language learners have chosen English making it self-reinforcing (which isn't to discount the other reasons to learn English). However history is not always a predictor of the future. Even if history is the best overall your particular future might make Kazakh the best language to learn. (I picked Kazakh because you have probably never even heard of it before) Don't forget that time spent learning a language could be used for something else. Language is useful to know, but it isn't the only thing and you cannot possibly learn all the useful things there are to know. You have to choose and your choices will both open and close doors to your future. Good luck choosing.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
"That is only true when the other language is one that someone else you want to talk to speaks AND the other person doesn't speak your language" Don't agree. It's good for self development even if you'll never use it very often. Language is an extremely powerful human concept. It forms cultures. They say Germans are candid and direct? Well, maybe that's because there's usually only one way to say something in German! In English, you can almost always say something that has two meanings, at the very same time. Learning a language is like visiting a completely foreign culture and it can change your view of things. It's like having an extra limb. Life is very long, there's plenty of time to learn all sorts of things. A second language is useful, which is why there are all sorts of options in grade school. And Chinese is a pretty good option.
- bluGill 8y ago
  You have reduced language to no better than learning to knit, but I won't disagree.