All public schools in the United States should be required teach foreign language up to highschool.

also, my opponant said: "High schools should offer foreign language classes, as should middle schools and even elementary schools. But they should not be forced on the student. " i don't know where he went to elementery and middle school, but i don't remember being able to choose classes in either elementery or middle school. therfore, by advocating offering these classes in middle and elementery school, and by advocating that they be offered in high school, my opponant advocates the exact same thing i am, that they are required in elementery and middle school, and that they are offered in high school. ok, onto the debate: first my opponant states: "First, he asserts that by not requiring foreign language classes to be taken, we're forcing people to learn English to visit here. However, this is simply wrong. I went on vacation in Italy, I don't know Italian. I was fine. Perhaps I would need to know Italian to LIVE there, but that would be a burden I should bear. Don't live in Italy if you don't know Italian, don't live in the US if you don't know English. Any problems you have by not following this advice are YOUR fault, not the fault of the country that didn't require its children to learn your language. " ----- i don't doubt that you were able to get around in italy, but, i also don't doubt that you met people there who spoke your native language(english) and that it would have been easier and more enjoyable if you understood what the majority of people were saying. Because of the fact that knowlege of italian would have helped you, and because people there helped you by speaking your native language i belive that teaching students forign languages would allow them to better enjoy themselves abrod and would allow them to travel easier. Also, i'm sure it was a releif to be able to speak your native language there, and, if you were an immigrant/visitor to the united states, it would be helpfull to be able to speak your own language, even if it is to help with learning english. ________ my opponent stated that: My opponent makes statements like "by not teaching other languages in school, we force other countries to speak english, which in turn damages their language and the culture attached to their language. " Since when am I advocating that we stop teaching foreign languages? I am simply advocating that it should be a choice class, an elective. Also, there's nothing forcing them to teach English (just as there's nothing forcing us to teach Spanish, French, or Swahili). after, in his first speach saying things like: I thoroughly disagree with my opponent's resolution. Schools should not be forced to teach foreign language. AT ALL. ----- this contradicts itself. first, the con advocates that there should be NO requirement for schools having to do with second languages whatsoever, and now, says that he is advocating these classes as an elective. I don't see how i'm going to be able to debate if my opponant continues to change his stance when it suits him. and, because my opponent changing his stance every speach would make it impossible for me to debate him, i urge you to vote pro. ______ my opponent said: My opponent said: "finally, by not teaching second languages, this would almost completely stop immigration, since, our english as a second language classes are, unfortunately, very much lacking in many places, and no one would be able to understand them. (immigrants usually come from countries w/ problems or underdeveloped countries, most of which do not have required english courses, or any at all)" A> If someone wants to live in country X, they should learn the language of country X, the country should not have to learn theirs. B> Once again, I am NOT advocating "not teaching foreign languages. " I am advocating such classes being electives. C> This is a reason to better our own ESL classes, not to become a nation that bends over backwards to anyone who doesn't want to learn English. What if someone who speaks Swahili moves here? Are they out of luck, simply because theirs isn't one of the languages we'd be forcing kids to learn? Yes, they are, as is anyone else who thinks we should be learning their language so they can move here. They chose to move here, so they need to deal with the consequences. ---- A. ) would it not be easier for them to learn english if there were people who could understand what they were saying in their native language? yes. it would. B. ) again, you can cross-apply my argument about how the con contradicts himself on this point. C. ) i am not advocating that we bend over backwords, i am simply advocating that we make it easier for these people to blend in with everyone else, and, having people who could talk to them in their own language help them learn english would be helpfull to the immigrants/vacationers as well as the economy because things like this would help immigration. i would not force students to learn swahili, because it is, compared to other languages (english,french,german,spanish) a fairly small language. however, i would not mind seeing swahili classes in highschools. __________ my opponant also said: I took Russian and French classes in middle school. Can I still speak more than a few words in these languages? No. Because I, like most people both in and out of school, do not use foreign languages on a regular basis. Whatever languages you force kids to learn in 2-8th grades will soon be forgotten by most of these students. Only those interested in the first place will retain the knowledge, and they would have taken the class as an elective. ---- you remember some though, right? thefore, if a russian or frechman were to come up to you and ask you something, you probably could, after spending some time decyphering what they were saying, understand and possibly help this person. also, by teaching these classes in elementery and middle schools, allow students who find these classes enjoyable(and might not have otherwise taken a 2nd language) to take them, and to propel these students into taking them in highschool. also, by forcing these classes on the younger students they beleive that they should take these classes in highschool simply because they have been taking them for the last 6 years, and don't (like most students changing schools) like enormous changes. 2. ) 3. )