View Content #6974
| Contentid | 6974 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Article: Building a Nation of Polyglots, Starting With the Very Young |
| Body | From http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/education/14education.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Building a Nation of Polyglots, Starting With the Very Young By JOSEPH BERGER November 14, 2007 The United States, often fiercely chauvinistic and sometimes outright isolationist, has never considered the ability to speak a foreign language an essential talent. Unlike many Europeans and Asians who learn languages in primary school, most Americans do not get the chance until high school or in the grades just before — at too advanced an age to soak in quirky words and syntax with the nimbleness needed for fluency. That is why traveling Americans resign themselves to speaking menu French or Spanish. But with an economy that recognizes few geographical borders, and with people from all over the planet becoming our next-door neighbors, more Americans are demanding language instruction earlier in school. Martha Abbott, director of education at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, said that while there is no reliable data on the trend, her organization keeps learning of more school systems that think paying for elementary school language teachers is money well invested. Read the entire article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/education/14education.html?_r=1&oref=slogin . |
| Source | New York Times |
| Inputdate | 2007-11-18 05:06:20 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2007-11-18 05:06:20 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | 2007-11-19 00:00:00 |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
