It is important for students K-12 to learn a foreign language

There is not always direct correlation between the learning of a language and the learning of a culture. To once again reference my own foreign language experience, I learned very little about the Spanish culture itself. Knowledge of the various words and phrases did not give me any more insight into the culture itself. While, of course, different textbooks may have different methods and lessons, to say that learning a new language will provide insight into the culture is not 100% true. The learning of a second language places an extra cognitive strain children. It limits the number of words that a child can learn in a set amount of time.[1] The learning of a language in later years can seriously hinder a child's ability to entirely master this second language. Children who start learning a new language in later years will always have a "foreign" accent, which can cause misunderstandings and impede future opportunities in using that language professionally.[1] A study also found that bilinguals are slower to acquire vocabulary than are monolinguals, because bilinguals must divide their time between two languages while monolinguals focus on only one language.[2] Another issue is an increased academic load that can take time away from both outside activities and even other classes.[2] It takes time to master a language, and that time is not something that all students have. Mastering a foreign language would also require extra studying and effort outside of class on the part of students. Let's say that a student takes a Spanish class five days a week, with a 45 minute class period. For the sake of argument, we will leave out holidays and potential shortened days, and say the average days in a school year is 180. Multiply that by 45 to get 8,100--the number of minutes the student will spend in Spanish class. This translates into 135 hours in the 36-week school year, or 3.7 hours a week. A study suggest that, with 5 hours of studying a week, it takes a person 3 years to be fluent in Spanish (Class I Language).[3] By the end of the 2 year period you propose, children would not be fluent. The same study suggests that, with 10 hours of studying per week, one can be fluent in 1.5 years--[3] roughly 2 school years. A student would have to put in an extra 5.3 hours of studying per week to achieve fluency, and that effort is one most will not exert. One argument is that a second language makes it easier to find a job, but if students do not achieve fluency while in school, as I suggest previously, the likelihood of them learning it later in life is small. Another point I made was on "foreign" accents, which can cause misunderstandings. This also relates back to the various dialects every language can have that a single class cannot possibly address. The issues of immigrants not being able to speak English in America is essentially irrelevant to this conversation, except on one point. Forcing Americans to learn another language to, as I said, cater to people how cannot speak English, creates a vicious circle. More immigrants will not learn English, armed with the thinking that, since we all speak their native language, they do not have to learn the language. This hinders their assimilation into American society. This begets a further need for students, and even adults, to learn a non-native language. But, I digress, as this point has little to do with the crux of the debate. You state that two years of a foreign language should be a graduation requirement. This may very well be too much for some students, since, as I previously stated, foreign languages are very difficult for some to learn. Some states have no foreign language requirement, and taking a foreign language is entirely optional. This system is far more reasonable, allowing students a choice in whether or not they would like to learn a second language, and also not putting their diploma on the line if they have trouble mastering the language. Sources [1] http://everydaylife.globalpost.com... [2] http://www.babycolumbus.com... [3] http://languagesurfer.com...