U-46 to expand dual language program

One of the times when I was most impressed as a reporter came when I attended a school board meeting in Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300.

At that meeting, a young child, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, addressed the school board and public in Spanish, with perfect grammar and a convincing accent.

What impressed me was that the child came from an English-speaking home.

But upon further reflection, it shouldn't have been that impressive. After all, much of the rest of the world is bilingual without thinking twice about it. And in most countries (besides our own), people who speak two or even three languages are hardly considered special.

That's why I was pleased to learn that Elgin Area School District U-46 is expanding its dual language programs so that more students from English-speaking homes can share the advantages of the district's ethnic and cultural diversity.

As a student of literature, I cannot doubt for a minute that there is no real substitute for reading Cervantes in Spanish or Dante in Italian just as Shakespeare can be most deeply appreciated in its original English.

True, literature appreciation should hardly motivate major educational decisions. But with talk of competing in a global marketplace becoming almost cliche, literature is far from the only reason for students to learn about other languages and cultures.

How can the next generation of business graduates compete for jobs in Latin America, China and India if they can't communicate with their co-workers in the language of their dreams and aspirations?

How can coming graduates develop humane and culturally sensitive responses to global emergencies like famine and AIDS without knowing anything about the people who are most affected by those crises or having the ability to interact with them?

The answer is simple: they can't.

Sadly, I grew up at a time when foreign languages were not typically introduced until high school, when it is much harder for most people to learn and retain a language.

With all the research we have showing the benefits of bilingual education, we shouldn't make the same mistake with the next generation.

America once had a long history of isolationism. It took two devastating world wars to shake us out of that stance. Perhaps resistance to bilingual education is a vestige of that earlier attitude.

But if we truly want to live up to our rhetoric about being the greatest nation in the world, it is unacceptable that we should put most American students at an automatic disadvantage compared to their peers in Europe, South Asia and China.

Intensive foreign language programs like those that will soon be implemented in U-46 are no longer an option.

In 2010, they are a must.