Should We Teach American Children Esperanto?
I came across an idea about introducing Esperanto as a foreign language subject in American schools a couple of weeks ago on the social action network, Change.org. According to the web site, “The Ideas for Change in America competition was created in response to Barack Obama’s call for increased citizen involvement in government.” The top 10 rated ideas on the site will be presented to Obama’s administration on January 16.
When I first saw the Esperanto idea, I didn’t give it too much thought. At the time, it had only about 300 votes. But I checked back today and there are now 2,682 votes, putting it in a close second place among ideas in education, and 29th place overall.
What do you think of this? Here’s the link: Introduce Esperanto as a foreign language subject in schools to help American kids succeed.
I am a HUGE supporter of early language learning. I am passionate about it. I teach my own children, I teach high school students, I devote hours to this Foreign Language Fun site, and I promote language learning whenever and wherever I can. I think Esperanto is cool. But I would not vote for this idea.
I don’t believe that any one language should be endorsed over another, and especially not by the American government. I understand that the premise is to introduce students to Esperanto first, and then to continue later with other languages. But there are people who will argue for Spanish only, or Mandarin only, or (sadly) English only. I, for one, can make a great case why children should learn French. But isn’t the important issue the fact that U.S. children need to learn languages and develop cultural understanding? I cringe when school districts eliminate choices or when individuals dismiss the value of any language.
What I want to see are diverse, high-quality language programs in elementary schools across the country with the funding to support them. But I don’t want the government deciding that all children must learn a particular language. Any early language learning will have a positive impact on future language study.
Again, I am not opposed to Esperanto. I just refuse to endorse any one language over another.
Please share your comments. I am really curious to find out what you think about teaching American kids Esperanto.
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