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Would You Want Your Child to Be Required to Learn Arabic in School?
Filed under: Education: Big Kids, Education: Tweens, Education: Teens
Two Texas schools have scrapped their plans for mandatory Arabic classes. Credit: Joseph Barrak, AFP / Getty Images
Two schools in Texas were about to make classes in Arabic language and culture mandatory, according to a report from CBS News in Dallas, but the program is on hold after protests from parents. Parents' concerns ranged from anger over not being informed of the classes to worries about the curriculum including lessons on religion.
According to published reports, the schools were offering the classes because of a federal grant. The strange thing, for me, is the "mandatory" part. Putting aside the fact that the mere mention of the word "Arabic" can inflame passions in our highly-charged political environment, I would prefer that my kids have the option of choosing which language they want to learn. I think I would feel the same way if the schools decided to require the kids to take Chinese. Language requirement, yes. One specific language requirement, no.
Back to the issue at hand -- these two schools were going to have mandatory classes in Arabic, but for now, they're not. The classes would be paid for by a federal grant. The local Department of Education said that they considered Arabic to be a "language of the future," which appears to be the reasoning behind the idea of making the courses mandatory. And sure, learning languages and cultures is important. But maybe give the kids a choice? Would you want your child to be required to learn Arabic at school?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
2-09-2011 @ 1:36PM
Linda said...I think it is ridiculous to make learning arabic mandatory in texas schools or any other american schools! Texas is primarily made up of Hispanics and spanish isn't mandatory! And thank god since being hispanic myself, I never learned to speak fluent spanish. You can imagine my horror at having to "lie" about being bilingual just to obtain a job in an american state.Infact, most of the grocery stores here have food label in spanish, sales ads are in spanish, i forget I live in the USA.
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2-09-2011 @ 5:33PM
Mom & Raven said...THis is the subtle way of the low level gov't giving up with requiring that USA speaks ENGLISH.
It's also their way of giving up American culture "to the Arabs" that are slowly taking over USA and nobody sees this coming, with all the mosque being "planted" all over USA........where eventually they will take over just as the Muslims took over the original Christian country of Egypt which is now known as "Muslim Country".
Being required by any US school to learn ANY language other than only English is UNAMERICAN.
I'd have these F'ing schools closed down for subconsciously condoning the other countries taking over USA, because that's exactly what they're doing.
They should have an Arab teacher taking math, and if there's any student that WANTS TO go out of their way to learn a foreign language such as Arabic, and there will already be an Arabic speaking teacher on staff that they can use for a following semester to accommodate those interested to learn "his language".
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2-09-2011 @ 6:00PM
Alicia said...Considering there has never been a requirement that any citizen speak any language because the US does not have an official state language or religion, you sound like a paranoid nutjob. Also, considering Egypt only had a span of about 200 years during which there was a well-organized majority Christian presence, I wouldn't call it a "Christian nation." Furthermore, no one is taking over America any more than the Italians did at the turn of the 20th century. Finally, we no longer live in a nationalized world. Thanks to the internet, we have globalized economy that requires communication with people of many different nationalities and religions in many different languages. Anyone who wants a high-paying job in business or government in the next 30 years had better have at least a basic grasp of some other language, besides English. In fact, children should be taught a language of their parents' choice starting in kindergarten. Arabic would be a good option to offer, considering how much trade we have with the Middle East (check where we get our cotton from). I do agree with the article that it should just be one of several options.
4-05-2011 @ 9:54AM
NANCY said...ABSOLUTELY NOT! English is our language. All others is voluntary!
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