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I think the article's headline point is true for me in one odd way. I grew up in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, and by chance the school district where I grew

I think the article's headline point is true for me in one odd way. I grew up in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, and by chance the school district where I grew up had mandatory foreign language instruction (German) for all elementary school pupils in grades four, five, and six. (One member of the district staff was a German refugee who came over to the United States after World War II. She set up German classes delivered over the Twin Cities educational TV station, now a PBS affiliate station, and at the appointed hour, television sets in elementary classrooms all over the school district were tuned to her instructional programs. I think the school district also made an effort to hire new elementary teachers who had had some German during their higher education.) My German is nicht so gut, but this early exposure to foreign language study (few Americans begin study of a second language before secondary school) got me started in the process of understanding what it takes to learn another language. Our school district had the usual mix of French, Spanish, or more German in junior high (I continued with German, a heritage language in my family) and added Russian in senior high, which I took. So when I went into university and tried out the Chinese major program, I was sufficiently successful to keep going in that major subject. Quite a few of my classmates from my school district studied interesting languages like Arabic and ancient Nahuatl and linguistics while in university, and several aspired to become, and at least one became, foreign service officers. So in this simple manner a difference in the local schools in my town propelled the mobility to new places of many of the alumni.

minimax 13y ago
few Americans begin study of a second language before secondary school Are you sure about that? I grew up in Texas and I remember taking Spanish in elementary school.
- vinbreau 13y ago
  I went to school in S.E. Texas. We had French and Spanish in high school, nothing else. The French class was solid, but the Spanish class was lame, all we did was crossword puzzles and word exercises. I took it for two years and did not learn the language due to the poor instruction. I knew schools in the bigger nearby cities sometimes had German, but not my school. Also, the foreign languages were not mandatory classes. There was no incentive or push to learn a second language, most adults in my area thought it was useless and that students should be focusing on agriculture and not foreign languages. As such my high school had: Agriculture, Horticulture, Cosmetology, Auto-Shop, Animal Husbandry, landscaping.. but no focus on foreign languages or science beyond the basics.
- dlhavema 13y ago
  i grew up in phoenix, az and didnt learn a second language until 7th grade, and that was a pretty basic class.. it didn't get very much beyond "the ball is red" until highschool
- mpyne 13y ago
  I've been to schools in about 4 different school districts in 3 different states (VA, PA, FL). None offered foreign language classes before high school. Of course, this is also just anecdotal but I would certainly be surprised to hear that an elementary school or middle school were offering foreign language classes, especially if those classes are not tested for on the standardized exams that drive school ratings.
- techsupporter 13y ago
  Same here. We could take Spanish or French in middle school and elementary school is just a haze at this point. When I graduated in the 90s, a foreign language credit was on the minimum high school requirements to graduate and two credits were required under my district's recommended plan. Most of us took two semesters of Spanish but a friend of mine took one Spanish and one German. Our school district wasn't even all that large or well-off (though it is now, thanks to suburban sprawl in north Texas) and we had Spanish, French, German, and (I kid you not) Latin.
- tjr 13y ago
  We had Spanish in elementary school in St. Louis, but (in my school anyway) it was more of an occasional special topic bonus class rather than a semester/year long study.
- stonemetal 13y ago
  It is all over the map, I know of at least one district in Texas that has an immersion program where 50% of your class time is in Spanish starting in kindergarten. I know of a (private) school where by 8th grade you have had 4 years Spanish and 4 years French. The public schools I went to had neither. The earliest you could take Spanish was sophomore year of high school, and at most you could take 2 years of it.
Dewie 13y ago
> My German is nicht so gut, but this early exposure to foreign language study (few Americans begin study of a second language before secondary school) got me started in the process of understanding what it takes to learn another language. Or at least what it takes to learn another language according to the school system.

minimax 13y ago

few Americans begin study of a second language before secondary school Are you sure about that? I grew up in Texas and I remember taking Spanish in elementary school.

vinbreau 13y ago
I went to school in S.E. Texas. We had French and Spanish in high school, nothing else. The French class was solid, but the Spanish class was lame, all we did was crossword puzzles and word exercises. I took it for two years and did not learn the language due to the poor instruction. I knew schools in the bigger nearby cities sometimes had German, but not my school. Also, the foreign languages were not mandatory classes. There was no incentive or push to learn a second language, most adults in my area thought it was useless and that students should be focusing on agriculture and not foreign languages. As such my high school had: Agriculture, Horticulture, Cosmetology, Auto-Shop, Animal Husbandry, landscaping.. but no focus on foreign languages or science beyond the basics.
dlhavema 13y ago
i grew up in phoenix, az and didnt learn a second language until 7th grade, and that was a pretty basic class.. it didn't get very much beyond "the ball is red" until highschool
mpyne 13y ago
I've been to schools in about 4 different school districts in 3 different states (VA, PA, FL). None offered foreign language classes before high school. Of course, this is also just anecdotal but I would certainly be surprised to hear that an elementary school or middle school were offering foreign language classes, especially if those classes are not tested for on the standardized exams that drive school ratings.
techsupporter 13y ago
Same here. We could take Spanish or French in middle school and elementary school is just a haze at this point. When I graduated in the 90s, a foreign language credit was on the minimum high school requirements to graduate and two credits were required under my district's recommended plan. Most of us took two semesters of Spanish but a friend of mine took one Spanish and one German. Our school district wasn't even all that large or well-off (though it is now, thanks to suburban sprawl in north Texas) and we had Spanish, French, German, and (I kid you not) Latin.
tjr 13y ago
We had Spanish in elementary school in St. Louis, but (in my school anyway) it was more of an occasional special topic bonus class rather than a semester/year long study.
stonemetal 13y ago
It is all over the map, I know of at least one district in Texas that has an immersion program where 50% of your class time is in Spanish starting in kindergarten. I know of a (private) school where by 8th grade you have had 4 years Spanish and 4 years French. The public schools I went to had neither. The earliest you could take Spanish was sophomore year of high school, and at most you could take 2 years of it.

Dewie 13y ago

> My German is nicht so gut, but this early exposure to foreign language study (few Americans begin study of a second language before secondary school) got me started in the process of understanding what it takes to learn another language. Or at least what it takes to learn another language according to the school system.