Are we doing a disservice to our kids by not teaching them spanish?

Sorry this is long but this is what happened today...

So I was having a casual conversation with someone about homeschooling and they asked if I was going to teach spanish. I said no I do not plan on teaching if DD wants to learn it when she is older then that is up to her. The lady looked at me like I was depriving my kid of some vital skill. She asked what language I was going to teach her. I said we plan on teaching french and japanese. She asked how will my DD get a job if she doesn't know spanish. I replied that last I checked we live in America which was an english speaking country.

She said I was doing my DD a disservice by not teaching her spanish. I told her that maybe we are doing our children a disservice by making them think they need spanish to work in an english speaking country. That maybe we should require spanish only speaking people to learn english so they can adapt to our culture instead of us adapting to the culture they left behind in their own country.

All she kept saying was I was wrong for not sending my kid to a public school to learn how to get a job as an adult. I wanted to strangle this woman.... Sorry had to vent.

So my question is are we really doing a disservice if we don't teach our kids spanish?

 

I don't think you are doing a disservice to your children. I never learned Spanish, I learned German. So does that make me less of an American? I don't think so. This is an english speaking coutry and I am so dissapointed that we feel we have to learn another language to be able to communicate with people who are no longer living in their country. I agree with you that they should be the ones learning english. If you went to France or Germany they would not "have to" learn english so they could communicate to you. You would need to learn that countries language.

Teach your kids whatever language you want. Maybe you should have asked her how many high school kids she knows that can still speak spanish 1-2 years after they graduate. Most high school kids don't even really learn spanish. I don't know anyone who actually benifited from high school spanish. The most they learned were bad words, how to swear and how to be rude. They didn't learn things that would be helpful, like how to ask directions, or where the bathroom is.

The lady sounds like she is against homeschooling and just found 1 topic to pick on. Ignore her, she is obviously uneducated about homeschooling.

 

Personally, I'd say it's far more useful to teach children Spanish than other languages because, like it or not, Spanish has become a de facto second language in the US. Its prevalence and importance will only increase over time. No matter what your politics might be on the subject, it's simply a fact that many people in this country speak Spanish and not English. And how many products can you now find that do not provide information in both languages? It would serve your children very well to speak Spanish because it's always more important to look to the future than to cling to the past. It's also a fact that children learn languages more easily when they are young.

 

There are many opportunities in the job market for those who are bilingual. My daughter earned money in college translating medical records between the two. As the only Spanish speaker working in a pediatrician's office, she was called upon all the time to translate because many of the parents could not speak English. Fluency in both languages undoubtedly increases your chances of getting a job.

 

Perhaps your right Steve however Minthia has a point to how many of those kids who learned spanish in High School still use it after graduation except when ordering spanish drinks or taco bell?

I can say I have used the french I learned but have never used the spanish I've learned aside from eating at taco bell. I am actually surprised that in our city they've not started teaching the kids spanish and somalian. seeing how they are the two biggest ethnic groups in our area.

Thanks

 

While Spanish is definitely the most prevailing second language in the US, that doesn't mean you are required to teach it to your children. I don't believe it will effect them negatively in any way. We live in Arizona where half the population doesn't speak English (off topic but sometimes I wonder how much money the state would save if they didn't translate everything into Spanish, but rather expected them to learn English). My dh speaks fluent spanish but he's never gotten a job based on that qualification.

I will probably teach my kids Spanish but that is only because both dh and I speak it. If we spoke French we would teach them French. I'm not teaching my kids another language to further their career interests in the future but rather to expose them to other cultures and to get a high school credit. Do what you want to!

 

StoneFamily...I completely agree with your point of view. Although Spanish may quite possibly be a handy language to know, I was allowing my dd to pick the language she wanted to learn. After all, language is an elective where I allow for freedom of choice. I will explain to my kids that spanish maybe helpful for all the reasons stated but like you I think we live in an english speaking country so those who work here need to speak english. No offense to anyone...I grew up with Italien speaking grandparents...who also spoke english..so I am not in anyway offended by people speaking another language or anything.

Anyway..I hate people who put there nose into someone else's business. I get so tired of people acting as if they have to make sure I am covering all the requirements since my kids are not going to ps. yeah..because ps turns out the greatest minds! lol.

 

I think I need to clarify. I didn't mean that learning spanish was not benificial, I meant that in highschool most kids do not learn the language as well as they should. I know from my experience learning German and my friends and families experiences learning spanish that if you really want to learn you need to take it in college, or live in a coutry that speaks that language.

Let me just put you in my shoes for a minute. I went to 3 different highschools in 2 different states and every one of them didn't teach foreign language very well. For example: I had a japanese woman who taught german. German was her 4th language and english was her 7th language. She didn't teach us pronouns, adjectives, etc, she taught in "blue", "red", or whatever color marker she had that day. Nobody understood anything. This was at the top rated highschool in the western part of the state. There were numerous complaints lodged and nothing was done. The next year I had a 55 year old woman who wore lingere to class. I am NOT joking. This was the same school and they have a very liberal dress policy for the teachers. She didn't teach very well because she was too occupied with looking sexy. I didn't really learn german until I went to college. In my first semester of german I learned more than I did in 4 years of highschool.

My husband had the same experience. He didn't really learn spanish in highschool either. He learned it when he graduated and went and lived in CA for a few years. He said that he learned more in 6 months from the locals in CA than he did in 4 years of highschool. I know so many people who say the same things.

Yes spanish can be benificial but at the same time, I don't think we should force everyone to speak it. There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to bilingual.

 

I have this even crazier idea that all public schools should be required to teach Classical Latin, but that is just me. We are doing Classical Latin and Koine Greek (both dead languages but make up 80% of the English language) as well as Sign Language and Modern French with Modern Spanish in waiting. Obviously, I do think at least one language is highly beneficial, but not absolutely necessary and I don't agree that the second language to learn must be Spanish. I look at it this way, with so many children being taught Spanish in public schools, finding people who speak both English and Spanish will be a dime a dozen in the next few decades. While people who are bilingual in ANY other language would be more rare and specialized and perhaps more more highly paid because of it.

Just a thought....

 

If my children want to learn Spanish, fine. But I am NOT teaching it and they can wait until they are old enough do on their own. It is in no way a disservice to our children to not teach them Spanish, unless you are planning to move to a Spanish speaking country.

What IS doing a disservice is those parents who move here with their children who do not speak English and not teaching them English. But I have noticed that every culture seems to take the time to learn English when they come here except certain Spanish speaking ones. So their children are doomed to mowing yards for life, or hammering roofs. Those parents are the ones doing the disservice.

One must remember, the USA is a big country. There are only some parts of the country that have Spanish speaking groups. I live in Texas and know far more people who speak Chinese or Finnish. But those people take the time to have their children learn English.

Have you ever wondered if the public schools do the bilingual education like they do...teaching and testing in Spanish to those populations, so that they can maintain the status quo and not allow a hispanic person to work their way up in the real world and the international business world and so on? I do not approve of that. (but then again, I do not approve of legalizing anchor babies or allowing people breaking the law on government property, in otherwords, illegals enrolling in the public schools, why are they not arrested when they arrive?)

 

We are only teaching Spanish because we have a church that does mission trips there , I want to teach French and ds is learning it on the side but I never took Spanish, I took French so I choose to teach it as well> Ds and dd have learned some words in japanese and other languages as well before learnning anny spanish.
I do not think its a diservace but I would leave it open to if your kids want to learn it go for it then.

 

My oldest plans to learn German and maybe French. Motivation (to me) is important when studying a foreign language. She is interested and motivated to learn these. She learned some Spanish at her former Dept of Defense school in K-2nd grade and really dislikes it (for some reason). She has absolutely NOT desire to learn it. French is the pick for the Olympics not Spanish so it interests her more....kid logic...gotta love it. We're not there yet but I took Spanish in high school and I haven't used it enough to say I would have been deprived if I had taken another language or none at all.

 

I don't believe the lady had any right to tell you what you should and should not teach your own children. However, all three of my kids have had a year of Spanish already. Out of choice, not pressure. Oldest DS has had a year of Latin, and plans to continue this year. He loves languages (which we found out due to the beauty of homeschooling), and wants to finish high school with at least 2 years of Latin, 2 of Spanish and 2 of French. Again, his choice.

Our co-op is offering German, and while this would be a fantastic opportunity for him, DS is not taking it because he is not interested in that language.

We are in a community with a large population of Spanish and Japanese speaking people. There is also Basque and Chinese. Any of those would be a language to learn to be beneficial here, but it is still an elective in our home, not a necessity.

Just my two cents... MT3

(I took two years of high school Spanish and can conjugate verbs, but can't actually carry on a conversation. I spent a month in Japan and converse in THAT better than Spanish because I was immersed in the culture.)

 

Oh, and on a little side note (not off-topic but almost!), my oldest two attended our church's preschool for 3 yr and 4 yr olds. The teacher would count to three for things like drinking at the water fountain, etc. She would pick a language (of the month I think), and teach the kids to count to three in that language. Japanese, Hungarian, Chinese, Russian, etc... My kids got a kick out of being able to (at 3), "say" things that made sense in another language. We expanded on that in our homeschooling, and learned to count to ten in several different languages.

 

That lady can say that I'm doing a disservice to my kiddos as well. English first others second. They know the basics of some other languages but not enough to do a full conversation. Then again my kiddos are still young. I don't see myself formally teaching it until it's required and then I will get something. For now I and DH are happy with just having them learning the basics in different langauges because it's fun. We get those forgien language CDs from the library and try to sing them. So far in my lifetime only my medical termnology class has helped me with my daily doings not knowing some other language.
So I don't there is nothing wrong not teaching another language unless they want to or you have to for high school years. Even then you could take a class in college. Now days they just push it younger because it's easier to learn at a younger age, according to research.

 

You'd think so, wouldn't you? But, for the reason quoted by someone above, learning Spanish in school does not mean you're fluent. My older daughter, while homeschooled, started learning Spanish from a former missionary lady. By the time she reached high school age and attended a Christian school, she was already ahead. She decided to continue with Spanish in university, another four years, in addition to her biology. In other words, it took 11 years of constant study to be able to perform translation work. No matter what languages we choose, homeschooling provides the flexibility needed to get a head start to fluency.

 

I realize this is a sensitive subject, but I'm going to jump in again with both feet - gulp.

Spanish is different from the other languages. We see almost all government signs and documents now in both English and Spanish. Cooking directions and ingredients on every food in the supermarket is in both English and Spanish. Indeed, instructions on the packaging of just about any product are in English and Spanish.

Five years ago, the Hispanic population in the US was close to 42 million people. By 2050 (when our children will be middle aged), that number is projected to be over 100 million. To put this in perspective, the population of the US today is about 300 million. Fewer than a quarter of immigrants from Spanish speaking countries speak English when they arrive in the US. Many take the time to learn English, but it's tough to learn a new language as an adult. For sure, the language spoken at home, and hence the children's native language, will remain Spanish. The percentage of people speaking French or Chinese or Finnish and the rest is miniscule compared to the number speaking Spanish.

These are the facts on the ground: Spanish is rapidly becoming the second language in this country and will continue to become more important. This is why I mentioned before that we should strive to keep politics out of the discussion. If we want our children to thrive as adults, it makes sense for them to speak the language soon to be spoken by a quarter of the nation's residents. It wouldn't surprise me at all if, within a decade, it becomes mandatory for all children to learn Spanish to graduate high school. Within 25 years, it wouldn't surprise me to see our government declare Spanish an official second language. How would our children, then adults, fare in such a situation? For sure, it would help them immensely to have learned the language well as a child - because it's really tough to learn languages as an adult.

And I can testify to that. When in Wales, I tried to learn Welsh and failed. Working for an Israeli company, I tried to learn Hebrew and failed. At school, I failed both French and German. Trying to keep up with my daughter's Spanish was hopeless. I have no aptitude for languages. It's supposed to be one of the best gauges of intelligence, so I know I must be pretty stupid. (And after expressing my opinion above, you're probably convinced of that anyway. )

 

However, it has also been mentioned that being immersed in a culture makes the difference and Spanish is the most common language in the U.S. after English and it is growing. This is why I believe that in the next few decades the market will reach a saturation point when speaking Spanish and English will be not be all that uncommon.

 

Don't listen to her. There will always be people critical of your choices. Spanish could be beneficial depending on where you live, but you have chosen what you think is best. So go with that. My kids are learning 4 languages and Spanish isn't one of them

 

It would surprise me, since even English has not been declared as the official language of the U.S., first or otherwise. States have stepped up on this subject, but not the federal government: http://www.proenglish.org/issues/offeng/states.html