From that point of view, learning a foreign language is akin to
developing a taste for Mahler: refined but inessential. Being bilingual is not lucrative; it is decorative.
Yikes.
Students
often ask me “how will it look to colleges?” if they drop a course. The general
answer is this: colleges want to see students continue to challenge themselves
at the highest level in every discipline they pursue. Students often opt out of
advanced foreign language in favor of loading up on advanced courses in disciplines
they perceive as more "rigorous"--most notably science. They feel
that is a fair and even trade, maybe a better one in the eyes of colleges and
certainly a more pragmatic one for future careers. But, as Charlemagne once said, “To have another
language is to possess a second soul." Is adding a zero or two to the end
of your annual salary worth the cost of doubling your soul?
No comments:
Post a Comment