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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 valu

by 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?

by peteey 8y ago

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?