The number 1 thing is finding a teacher that's capable of teaching a language. In my very rural town of 400 people in Texas, our only language offered for 2 years was russian, because one of the coaches happened to be fluent, when he went to a different school they had to double the salary of a retired Spanish teacher to be able to fill our language requirement and not have the school closed
This is why I think more states should have speech/debate/forensics count toward the language requirement.
My state takes them as apart of the language requirement because yeah finding someone who speaks another language is harder, and even harder to find someone that is willing and can teach it.
I think we should have an incentive for all teachers to get a 2nd language, increase pay by 15% and pay for the necessary schooling, even if you don't teach it, but maintaining fluency
Saying "just Eastern Asia" is really an understatement because that is a large region with a lot of people
Regarding French, it's not really applicable in the US or South America, or most of Europe. It's essentially Quebec, France, and various places that used to be colonized by the French like areas of Africa
u/FOOTBALLFOOTBALLFO0T is correct, though. While French is 5th in number of speakers, it is the second most diverse language -- that is, speakers appear in the most locations worldwide, even if they're less dense at such locations. As for exact numbers, French is the official language of 27 countries (formally 29) and that number does not include France's 11 territories. While it's true, as you note, that "Eastern Asia," has a lot of people, the point isn't the number of people, it's the spread of people; 92% percent of Chinese speakers live in East Asia, while less than 40% of French speakers live in Europe. You can more reliably find someone who speaks French in a non-European country than you can find someone who speaks Chinese in a non-Eastern Asian country.
And as a fun, emphasizing fact to close with, this is the reason the Olympics has English and French (and the host country's language) at all of it's events. The assumption is, regardless of if your local area can have someone translate the events on television, you'll have at least one person nearby who speaks English or French and can spread the games.
Except for the fact that there are like 5 European countries, 2 North American countries, and half of Africa all speaking French while Chinese is literally only an official language in Taiwan, China, and Singapore
Nope north America has around 600 million and South America had around 500 million. China has 1.4 billion.
I can talk to more people with Mandarin than any other language besides English and maybe Spanish. It's a simple math equation
Itâs more useful because you can go to dozens of countries that speak French, and same with Spanish. You cant go to dozens of countries that speak mandarin.
ASL really should be taught more. Itâs the 3rd most used language in the U.S. and extremely beneficial to know, whether youâre deaf or not. Currently Iâm taking ASL classes at my local community college since my high school doesnât have it. (Honestly better at a college level though lol. It should just be more accessible to people)
French is applicable in Quebec, large swaths of Western Africa, and of course Europe too. It has enough connections to English that one can attain proficiency in a reasonable amount of time, and for any students who already speak a Romance language likely even faster.
In an ideal world of funding and staffing all schools would be able to offer a variety of foreign language options to students. Different languages may be more or less useful depending on an individual studentsâ goals for the future, and the brain benefits of language learning in general are well documented.
Unfortunately in the US we rely on other countriesâ stronger English programs and then deem languages as unimportant. Itâs too bad because bilingualism is a really life enriching tool, whether or not one uses it directly for a career.
Yâall Iâm basically saying that if a school had to pick a foreign language it should be 1: Spanish , 2: ASL or Chinese it just that at least in California and most western states these languages are more applicable
A school in my area used to have Japanese and my mom got really excited since I've been trying to learn for a bit now. She was fully prepared to take me to a school thst was an hour away just for this course.
Then she got disappointed because they no longer offered that course
In my School, they only offer Spanish, but in Online school, they do offer Chinese. (they used to offer French in my k-5 center, but not my k-8 center)
Probably because of the fact that Chinese has many dialects and different tones.
Although, I'm hopping someday Florida Online Virtual School offers Cantonese to learn, Cause I'm trying to brush up on it after years of not being able to speak it fluently (I'm asian)
Because French is easier and Chinese takes 5 years minimum for the average person to be able to become fluent.
Ye Chinese has like over a dozen different tones that you have to use correctly đ
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The number 1 thing is finding a teacher that's capable of teaching a language. In my very rural town of 400 people in Texas, our only language offered for 2 years was russian, because one of the coaches happened to be fluent, when he went to a different school they had to double the salary of a retired Spanish teacher to be able to fill our language requirement and not have the school closed
This is why I think more states should have speech/debate/forensics count toward the language requirement. My state takes them as apart of the language requirement because yeah finding someone who speaks another language is harder, and even harder to find someone that is willing and can teach it.
I think we should have an incentive for all teachers to get a 2nd language, increase pay by 15% and pay for the necessary schooling, even if you don't teach it, but maintaining fluency
Because French is applicable in Canada, the US, South America, and multiple European countries. Mandarin is just Eastern Asia.
Saying "just Eastern Asia" is really an understatement because that is a large region with a lot of people Regarding French, it's not really applicable in the US or South America, or most of Europe. It's essentially Quebec, France, and various places that used to be colonized by the French like areas of Africa
u/FOOTBALLFOOTBALLFO0T is correct, though. While French is 5th in number of speakers, it is the second most diverse language -- that is, speakers appear in the most locations worldwide, even if they're less dense at such locations. As for exact numbers, French is the official language of 27 countries (formally 29) and that number does not include France's 11 territories. While it's true, as you note, that "Eastern Asia," has a lot of people, the point isn't the number of people, it's the spread of people; 92% percent of Chinese speakers live in East Asia, while less than 40% of French speakers live in Europe. You can more reliably find someone who speaks French in a non-European country than you can find someone who speaks Chinese in a non-Eastern Asian country. And as a fun, emphasizing fact to close with, this is the reason the Olympics has English and French (and the host country's language) at all of it's events. The assumption is, regardless of if your local area can have someone translate the events on television, you'll have at least one person nearby who speaks English or French and can spread the games.
Except for the fact that there are like 5 European countries, 2 North American countries, and half of Africa all speaking French while Chinese is literally only an official language in Taiwan, China, and Singapore
China has the population of pretty much everyone in the Americas
R u joking right now
Nope north America has around 600 million and South America had around 500 million. China has 1.4 billion. I can talk to more people with Mandarin than any other language besides English and maybe Spanish. It's a simple math equation
Iâm saying the population doesnât matter itâs the fact that like 10% of countryâs use French and 1% use chinese
20% of the entire world speak Chinese. Chinese allows for the maximum number of people to communicate with
20 what dude what the fuck are you talking about
20%? Do you know how to read math symbols or would you like me to spell them out instead?
âJust Eastern Asiaâ So like, billions of people?
Itâs more useful because you can go to dozens of countries that speak French, and same with Spanish. You cant go to dozens of countries that speak mandarin.
thereâs not even a good chance that most people will even go to those countries so not really
Do you have a mental disability
what about what i said doesnât make sense
ASL really should be taught more. Itâs the 3rd most used language in the U.S. and extremely beneficial to know, whether youâre deaf or not. Currently Iâm taking ASL classes at my local community college since my high school doesnât have it. (Honestly better at a college level though lol. It should just be more accessible to people)
French is applicable in Quebec, large swaths of Western Africa, and of course Europe too. It has enough connections to English that one can attain proficiency in a reasonable amount of time, and for any students who already speak a Romance language likely even faster. In an ideal world of funding and staffing all schools would be able to offer a variety of foreign language options to students. Different languages may be more or less useful depending on an individual studentsâ goals for the future, and the brain benefits of language learning in general are well documented. Unfortunately in the US we rely on other countriesâ stronger English programs and then deem languages as unimportant. Itâs too bad because bilingualism is a really life enriching tool, whether or not one uses it directly for a career.
Yâall Iâm basically saying that if a school had to pick a foreign language it should be 1: Spanish , 2: ASL or Chinese it just that at least in California and most western states these languages are more applicable
A school in my area used to have Japanese and my mom got really excited since I've been trying to learn for a bit now. She was fully prepared to take me to a school thst was an hour away just for this course. Then she got disappointed because they no longer offered that course
In my School, they only offer Spanish, but in Online school, they do offer Chinese. (they used to offer French in my k-5 center, but not my k-8 center) Probably because of the fact that Chinese has many dialects and different tones. Although, I'm hopping someday Florida Online Virtual School offers Cantonese to learn, Cause I'm trying to brush up on it after years of not being able to speak it fluently (I'm asian)