Second language requirements at universities

[Barreldriver]

Greetings folks. Tonight I would like to discuss second language requirements at universities. The university which I attend demands that students with my major and related majors are to study a foreign language for two years as to fulfill a general education requirement. I am interested in how others here would perceive the necessity of this.

I myself do not think this an appropriate demand in that I do not intend to travel abroad nor am I to participate in a trade which would demand that I be bilingual. The requirement has distracted me from other studies in that it takes me an atypical amount of extra studying in order to achieve success in the necessary coursework (German in my case) leading to a neglect in subjects more relevant to my pursuits. So far I have managed but it gets to be aggravating.

I would not suggest an abolition of such courses merely a reform of who ought to be required to take such courses (ex. those whose future trades require extensive global travel or communications with peoples in other countries).

[Comte Arnau]

Regardless from their practical use, the knowledge of languages always broadens your perception and insight of things, specially when they really differ from yours. This is something that is only perceived once you know them. I can understand why this annoys you personally, I'm talking from a more general point of view. But believing that a language is just for communication is comparable to believe that a modern mobile is just a tool for phoning.

[Barreldriver]

Regardless from their practical use, the knowledge of languages always broadens your perception and insight of things, specially when they really differ from yours. This is something that is only perceived once you know them. I can understand why this annoys you personally, I'm talking from a more general point of view. But believing that a language is just for communication is comparable to believe that a modern mobile is just a tool for phoning.

Beyond a doubt I can see the benefits aside from typical communications but should such courses be mandatory in universities? I would think that the decision to engage in such studies ought to be left up to the individual, especially when language studies could potentially interfere with coursework more relevant to a students goals.

[Comte Arnau]

Beyond a doubt I can see the benefits aside from typical communications but should such courses be mandatory in universities? I would think that the decision to engage in such studies ought to be left up to the individual, especially when language studies could potentially interfere with coursework more relevant to a students goals.

Yes, I can see what you mean, and I agree with you, they should not be mandatory, unless the language is really needed in that career for some reason.

These days here universities are starting to demand B1 and B2 levels (intermediate to upper intermediate) in English, even in those universities in which students didn't expect that at all as the careers are not directly related to the English language. I've heard many people complaining about it being mandatory too.

[Loddfafner]

I think it should be mandatory in more universities and at early stages of schooling. It is a lot of work but the exertion is like bodybuilding in that it strengthens your ability to handle a wide range of seemingly unrelated tasks. If you can learn a language well enough to think in it, it will strengthen your thinking in English. Knowing in your bones just how differently grammar can work tends to have that effect.

In general, America would be in a stronger position if more of us could speak other languages and keep track of what is going on elsewhere.

I wish I knew German well enough to read Nietzsche in the original, without the filters that translators have put on his work.

[Loddfafner]

If hard courses that were not directly related to occupations were not mandatory, few students would take them, and would only do the work for trades that may become obsolete even by the time they graduate. Most employers can train you in the basics of the job once you are hired. It is the hard stuff - math, language, literature, etc - that give the strength and flexibility of mind that make you more genuinely useful to your employer.

[Barreldriver]

I think it should be mandatory in more universities and at early stages of schooling. It is a lot of work but the exertion is like bodybuilding in that it strengthens your ability to handle a wide range of seemingly unrelated tasks. If you can learn a language well enough to think in it, it will strengthen your thinking in English. Knowing in your bones just how differently grammar can work tends to have that effect.

In general, America would be in a stronger position if more of us could speak other languages and keep track of what is going on elsewhere.

I wish I knew German well enough to read Nietzsche in the original, without the filters that translators have put on his work.

Your stance is reasonable. I would suggest though that if we make that the case that we do as you suggested at the beginning of your post in that we start these courses at an earlier age, I was not exposed to foreign languages until I entered the university and I think that to be the major issue in these studies.

[Comte Arnau]

Your stance is reasonable. I would suggest though that if we make that the case that we do as you suggested at the beginning of your post in that we start these courses at an earlier age, I was not exposed to foreign languages until I entered the university and I think that to be the major issue in these studies.

I guess that is the major problem. In Europe, we are used to deal with several languages from the first stages of education.

[GeistFaust]

I find that you can find a practical use for language. The ability to speak a different language broadens the horizon of your conceptual understanding and approach to the world around. It re-shapes how you perceive and absorb your experience and the objects within it. It also allows you to possibly communicate with people in a different way, which is a big issue in America with all the Mexicans.


I personally think they should learn to speak English, but if I come accross one of them knowing some Spanish would be nice. I think that the German language are very important if you want to further your studies beyond the bachelors level like I might do.


It allows you to get a better grasp at the initial historical documentation or philosophical writings, which you just can not get in the same context in the English version. I am required two or four semesters of a foreign language. Something like that I think. Learning a new language can introduce new schemes and patterns to think about, and change the way you experience yourself in the world.

[Damião de Góis]

It could be worse. I had to take physics courses which had little to do with my degree. Mechanics was ok but Electromagnetism was way off and very annoying to do. I would have changed it for French, German or Italian in a flash.