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Alexis_J_M t1_j9dnn98 wrote

Reply to comment by Kesshh in [OC] % of American students taking a foreign language class by state by ASoloTrip90000

Language instruction is most effective if you start it really young. Some schools offer immersion starting from kindergarten.

5 year olds still have enough brain plasticity to end up fully bilingual.

If you wait until high school the magic learning window is fully closed.

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Kesshh t1_j9dnypf wrote

While that is true biologically, in practice, kids will not learn when they are not ready, not in the right environment, not being taught correctly, not having the right teachers. Forcing everyone into a mold never worked and never will. That is THE biggest problem in our education system and education theory.

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makingthematrix t1_j9e8wdl wrote

In EU countries, teaching English as the second language usually starts at 12 or earlier. It's required. The percentage is close to 100%.

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moepsenstreusel t1_j9eg9js wrote

Yeah, but English is really fucking useful.

It's the world's second language. In a fair few countries, kids already speak English before they start school because of the TV shows in English.

Things often look very different when looking at any other foreign language.

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makingthematrix t1_j9ejryn wrote

It seems to me that in the case of US, teaching Spanish to children should be just as important as teaching English in many European countries.

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[deleted] t1_j9jfvod wrote

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makingthematrix t1_j9jnfsw wrote

I think this is the first time I read that I should learn English to speak to a customer.

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[deleted] t1_j9tn21z wrote

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makingthematrix t1_j9u3qgj wrote

And you can't see any good reason why a person who already knows English should learn another language?

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vtTownie t1_j9erj3n wrote

Worlds second language?

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[deleted] t1_j9jemg3 wrote

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vtTownie t1_j9jers8 wrote

Ahh okay; I was thinking world overall, of which it’s most widely used language not in a country sense of “French is the country’s language but English is the second most common” sort of thing

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krautbaguette t1_j9eql0i wrote

I think for many schools it starts at first grade here in Germany bow, and there are kindergartens offering English too. By age 12 you typically pick a 2nd foreign language

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PBFT t1_j9dpp50 wrote

It also comes with the cost of a decreased English vocabulary compared to monolingual kids of the same age. The gap closes by adulthood, but there’s an argument to be made that a lot of schools need to prioritize English when you consider how poorly their students perform in reading literacy.

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