Would children feel like they are on the path of opportunity by learning a new language at a younger age?

"Many young people wonder why they are in school. To learn, of course, they are told. But why and to what end, they rightfully ask. To become productive members of society; education is your portal and path to opportunity, they are reminded. But that is in the future, they protest. What does school have to do with now, today, this moment in life?" page 312.


This quote stood out to me while reading this weeks readings. It made me wonder if all children really believe that their path to opportunity will start as they get older. I wonder if they feel this way because they don't believe in themselves and think that they can't succeed in school. Have we made school too hard for Americans? I don't think so, I actually feel that were are very behind in our education. I lived in Germany when I was in middle school and my younger brother was able to go to a German kindergarten off-base. We did live off-base, but I was required to go to an American school on-base.  While hanging out with my neighbors, we would converse in English and German. I was taking German and my neighbors were taking English in their school. So we would try to help each other with our homework. It was amazing to hear that all German children were to learn English. Wow! They valued their education and made it a priority to learn new things. My brother was even learning German in his kindergarten. He would speak it fluently with us and his friends in the neighborhood. I wonder how American schools would be if we were required to learn a language and I'm not just talking about taking two classes in high school, but really learning a language and speak it fluently. When we just take those two language courses in high school, does it really stay in our brains? No it diminishes over time. But what if we were to start at a younger age, such as four and five? I wonder if children would feel like that they are on the path of opportunity by learning a new language at younger age. That is the time when learning is at its best, so why not take advantage of that time. By making learning a new language a priority, it could boost social, emotional, language, writing, and cognitive skills up. Children will feel more confident and will be able to succeed in school and in the community. The school I work for has a Japanese teacher who is also an aid. She goes to each class once a week and teaches the children Japanese. It would be amazing to have these children learn Japanese in elementary, middle, and high school so they are able to speak it, write it, and think it. I wonder what The United States would be different if every American knew another language fluently? Would America's education be different?