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PARTISAN REVIEW
language is English. It's obvious in Europe that you need to speak many
languages with people who are right next to you. It happens as a matter of
course there. Here it's not going to happen as a matter of course; it's going
to be an abstract good thing. So the only thing I can think of to be help–
ful
to you is to suggest you try to select a second language that in some
way has a "natural" or "organic" connection for the students in your district.
Edith Kurzwei1: I partly disagree with Igor. Now that American kids love
to travel, this might help inspire them, since they don't get that much out
of it without speaking some of the country's language. A few months ago,
I wrote a letter to the
New York Times,
somewhat tongue-in-cheek, suggesting
we go along with the New York State Board of Regents and offset the
cost of foreign language education by switching bilingual teachers to teach
their languages. That way it wouldn't add costs.
Chester Finn: It's not difficult to teach small children two languages.
They're marvelously absorptive and retentive and plastic at this age, and five–
or six-year-olds actually learn more easily than fifteen- or sixteen-year-olds.
Some of the most exciting schools in America are so-called bilingual
immersion schools, where teachers who speak two languages read to the
kids in two languages. The kids learn to read and speak in two languages.
By the time they are in fourth grade, they are completely bilingual. It's not
difficult to do, but Igor's political point is right. Persuading Americans that
they for some reason need to learn another language is next to impossible.
There is no ultimately persuasive rationale to convince the typical American
parent that it's essential to speak another language. Even in the Tokyo sub–
way system you can eventually find the signs in English, though it
sometimes takes a while to find them. New Jersey's academic standards are
notoriously vague in all subjects, among the country's vaguest and least
actionable, and it sounds to me like you're embarking on yet another neb–
ulous, dreamy academic standard promulgated from Trenton. My only
advice is don't try to turn a primary teacher into a foreign language teacher.
They're already having trouble enough learning how to teach English read–
ing, and that's what they should be concentrating on.
Rita Kramer: Well, since you've told us you're able to circumvent rules
and regulations, can't you get a native speaker into the classroom, a French
speaker, a German speaker, a Spanish speaker, who likes children and could
converse wi th them?
Speaker: What Rita Kramer just said is important; there are people who
successfully teach on the elementary level. I think we need to stop giving
