Global Understanding, Professional Success, Personal Growth

In today’s global environment, the knowledge of other languages and cultures is an absolute necessity. The study of a foreign language has always been an integral part of what it means to be educated, yet this is even more urgent today. You often hear that English is becoming the lingua franca in much of the world, and especially in Europe, most educated people speak English. So why should you bother to learn another language? Well, here are just a few reasons.

In the first place, contrary to popular belief, not everybody speaks English. But even if this were true, unless you are able to speak another language with some degree of fluency, you will always be at a decided disadvantage. For one, your monolingual, monocultural view of the world will limit your perspective, your ability to really understand global events and interactions, even if you never leave the United States. For another, you will never truly be on equal footing with people from another culture if you know nothing of their language.

Perhaps the most important reason to study another language is for your own growth as a person. Most people who have had the opportunity to live in another culture and learn another language will tell you that the experience changed their lives profoundly. Speaking another language challenges who we are, involves us in a process of becoming, and this is what growth is all about. Take advantage of this opportunity while a student in Duval County to learn another language.

Duval County Public Schools offer eight languages at various elementary, middle and high schools: American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish.