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It is not uncommon to meet "regular" people in Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, etc who speak three or four different languages. We should be teaching foreign languages EARLY in our schools and especially the Arabic, Irdu, and Chinese languages.
That brings us to another point, where would we get the teachers? Use the old "Build it, and they will come" routine from the movie Field of Dreams. Create the curriculum and attract the teachers!
"Just a thought"--borrowed that line from Nitwit.

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The writer and LC are correct that language is certainly an important part of education.

It is perhaps inappropriate to compare the US to Switzerland in this regard however. Europe -- particularly western europe -- has a large number of countries with different languages concentrated in a relatively small area. It would be as if Eastern NC, the Piedmont, Western NC, Virginia and South Carolina all had different languages. I suspect regular folks here would speak three or four different languages as well.

However it is not necessary for us to learn one new language to talk with the folks 10 miles down the road one way and another language to talk to the folks 10 miles the other way. Consequently, we have the luxury to more carefully consider whether to learn a different language and which language(s) to learn.

Today the reflexive position seems to demand Spanish and Mandarin! The recent wave of immigration has certainly brought many Spanish speakers to our area. However, this country has seen large waves of immigrants in the past from Asia and Europe. Typically the second generation are English speakers and ultimately there is little long-term economic gain from teaching our kids the language of the immigrants. (However there may be important cultural gains.)

The evidence suggests that the same thing is happening now. Young hispanic immigrants and the second generation of these immigrants are English-speakers.

As for Mandarin, this too seems to be a reflexive choice. In the past emerging economies (Japanese, German, Korean, etc.) have prompted similar calls for education in these languages. Certainly there is some benefit in any of these choices.

What troubles me is the lack of a dialog on the part of our educators as to which language or languages would be the best choice for our kids to learn. Aside from magnet programs, our schools have made this choice with little community input. Many children from the elementary level on must participate in Spanish or Mandarin programs.

However, is it clear that these are the best choices? Perhaps they are -- but this is far from manifestly obvious. If one examines the international corporate presences in the Triad one might consider different choices. According to the website of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, we have more German, Canadian, Italian, Japanese, British, Swiss, Swedish, French, Dutch, Belgian, Brazilian, Danish and Austrian companies here than those from China or Spanish-speaking countries.

On this evidence, one might at least consider the possibility that when it comes to seeking economic development gains from foreign investment this area may have a greater appeal to and greater prospects with European Union countries, Canada and economically awakening Brazil.

Surely these matters should be addressed before embarking on a county-wide mandatory language education program. Decisions regarding language education bear on our area as a whole and should be thoroughly aired before community leaders and organizations from the business, governmental, and cultural arenas in addition to our county school officials.

If this sounds like a new refrain in the increasingly loud call for regionalism then so be it. If this area seeks economic growth and a better quality of life then we must act in a coordinated and reasoned manner.

Finally, we must acknowledge that language acquisition is no panacea. It is merely a small piece of a solid education. In the Triad area we are transitioning from a manufacturing economy. We look to other segments of the economy for our future.

We hope to bring in high tech jobs. We've had some recents successes in this and want to gain momentum.

We wish to expand the established service element of our economy.

We want to see our strong colleges and universities grow.

And we are emerging as a state and regional mecca for the cultural arts.

The latter directly contributes millions to our economy. Perhaps equally importantly, our economic development organizations see our strong music, theater and arts presence as a draw for young professionals and corporations. (In another example of failure to understand the local economy and failure to dialog with community leaders and development organizations, our schools recently slashed music and arts programs in our schools.)

Our children must be competent in math, science, english, music and art. They also must have robust physical education. Each of these elements plays a crucial role in the economic, cultural and physical health of our children and our community.