Language in the Public Schools

When I was in high school, I made it all the way to Spanish III, which was an honors class.  You would think that by the time I was finished with the class, I would be able to compose complex sentences in Spanish.  That is not the case.  After three years of Spanish, I was only on the same level of Spanish as an elementary schooler.  I understand that the Spanish-speaking elementary schooler has many more years of experience under his or her belt.  However, when you think about all the young children in other countries that can understand their native langurage and another language, you start to feel a little discouraged when you compare our students to their students.  American students are way behind when it comes to lerning a foreign language.  While other countries start teaching foreign languages at a young age, we wait until our students are in high school to teach them foreign languages.  Why do we do this?  Studies have shown that the later you learn a language, the harder it is to retain it. There are now people that are proposing that we start teaching foreign language at a younger age. I think that this is a wonderful idea. Learning a foreign languages opens so many doors for students. First, it helps them learn more about their own language by comparing the grammar of their language with the grammar of the foreign language. Second, with the way world is globalizing, having a background in another language could provide several job opportunities. Third, learning another language reminds kids that there are many perspectives on life. It helps us to become citizens of the world.