I believe that students, especially at the University level,
should be required to learn about other cultures and their languages.
Individuals who chose to further education at the college level are seeking to
challenge themselves intellectually and in the end obtain a degree that will
allow them to be successful members of society. Although learning a foreign
language can be difficult, it is tremendously rewarding in many regards. You
are given the opportunity to learn about a culture that is so different from
your own. Learning about other cultures often puts your own into perspective,
which isn’t a bad thing for Americans. Also, learning about a different culture
and their language may spark an interest that you never knew you had. In
college, many students enter undeclared with no idea what they are interested
in or they change their major several times. Required courses are meant to not
only make us well rounded educated individuals, they also introduce us to different
topics and subjects that we would never see in our own fields. For example, my
aunt went into Colgate University as a business major. Her freshman year she
took Russian in order to fulfill the foreign language requirement. She ended up
falling in love with the language and their culture that not only did she change
her major to Russian, but after studying abroad there for a semester she has
decided that she is going to live there for three years.
You're right, students need to remember the reason they are going to college, to challenge themselves intellectually and be successful members of society. Our society is extremely multicultural. Just in our state alone we have a smorgasbord of different languages. Knowing another language opens you up to so many possibilities. I think that it is amazing that your aunt decided to go live in Russia. I can see myself living abroad after college, though it wouldn't have to be in a Spanish-speaking country, I'm trying to leave myself open to all my options.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Culture is an important part of society and learning about it can benefit not only one person but also a whole variety of people. Being cultured is something that i believe to be an aspect of every day life because culture not only teaches us about different groups of people but also gives us something new and exciting to explore. With out culture there would be no diversity
ReplyDeleteA foreign language really can give a person opportunity to change, even they are still not that proficient at that language. I took German class in my sophomore year, though I am still not good at it, but this experience makes me feel closer to German culture, such as their rigorous thinking habits that influenced by their rigorous language grammar rules.
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