Language Training, Job Creation and Global Security

Why must we teach foreign languages to American children now?

 

(12/15/2010)

 

Peter C. Wang, CEO

Wang Foundation

 

The collapse of the twin towers in 2001 plunged Americans into an age of anxiety only two years after entering a new millennium. The downturn of the global financial market in 2008 further aggravated feelings of insecurity and uncertainty. More than ever, Americans are now concerned about being able to maintain a sense of wellbeing. With the staggering unemployment numbers, ordinary Americans are increasingly worried if their children will be able to enjoy the standard of living and level of security as they did while they grew up.

  The United States is facing unprecedented challenges from three areas: economy, environment and security. With ample raw materials and cheap labor, emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam are draining manufacturing jobs from America at a disturbing rate. Due to an ever growing addiction to fossil fuels, climate change and other ecological disasters have started to batter the United States at an alarming pace. With an increase of religious extremism and terrorist activity, the sense of danger and insecurity has penetrated into every corner of American life.

To a large extent, the challenges above are global issues which cannot be solved by Americans alone but require international cooperation. Yet, despite the fact that the United Nations is located in New York and America gives out more foreign aid than any other country, internationalism has never been a strong tradition in this nation, which has often favored isolationism. Time has changed for America. No longer the savior of Europe as it was after WWII, and no longer the lone superpower after the collapse of the Soviet Union, America needs to take a long and hard look at the current world situation and redefine its role on the global stage.

As an old Chinese saying goes, “If you know yourself and know your enemy, you can achieve one hundred wins without failure.” However, most Americans, including people in key positions who guide and guard the country, do not know very well the competitors, enemies or even friends of America. The reason is quite simple: most Americans do not have the foreign language skills to understand others, friend or foe.

Foreign Language Learning and Global Security

The world is a dangerous place and it is getting even more so with looming nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, terrorist attacks in Western metropolises and digital disturbances in cyberspace. Knowledge of foreign languages, more than ever before, has become a critical component of American national defense.      

Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Farsi, Urdu, Korean, Hindi and Turkish are considered critical languages to America; but other than first generation immigrants to this country, how many Americans can claim to sufficiently master the above languages in order to safeguard the welfare of our nation? Unfortunately the answer is a disturbing “too few.”

The tragedy of the 911 terrorist attack revealed to us the importance of human intelligence and information processing to our nation’s security. Foreign language proficiency is essential to protect American interests at home and abroad. The military and economic confrontations of the future are likely to be information-based. Not knowing the languages of the competitors and enemies of America means that we will fight them in the dark, as American troops were repeatedly ambushed in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other places.

However, knowing a foreign language will shed light onto another culture, and knowing a culture will help us to understand the thinking and behavior of other cohabitants of our planet. Only by understanding them can we win them as friends, working together to face global challenges, or decisively defeat them as enemies in order to liberate the American people from fear and anxiety.

No matter whether we fight Islamic extremists in the deserts of Central Asia, track narcotic traffickers in the jungles of Latin America, confront East African pirates in the open sea, or trace sleeper terrorist cells in the virtual world of cyberspace, America needs talented professionals in foreign languages to keep her people safe and her land free.

In her recent article “Leading through Civilian Power,” Secretary Hillary Clinton stressed “the need to elevate diplomacy and development alongside defense—a ‘smart power’ approach to solving global problems.” In my opinion, the smartest way to enhance American soft power is to invest in foreign language education in our public school systems. When a generation of Americans who can understand others in their own languages comes on the international stage, perhaps they can finally figure out a way to advance American values without military force. It will take linguistic ability win the minds and hearts of other people.

Foreign Language Learning and Job Creation 

Foreign language knowledge is also critical for a nation to trade with and learn advanced experience from other countries. The rapid economic development of China in the past thirty years stunned the world, but the seed of this great social change germinated in 1972 after Nixon’s visit to Beijing. The fever of learning English and other foreign languages swept the nation and has lasted more than thirty years. That fever has directly generated millions of job opportunities for Chinese teachers, trainers and textbook writers and developers. Private language schools were established to meet the language demands. People with foreign language skills have the opportunity to do business or study abroad, as well as bring home desperately needed technology and know-how. Consequently such people make themselves more employable and some of them even become entrepreneurs who create jobs for others.

Today millions of American youth are in need of foreign language education, but due to the historical lack of faculty training in foreign language instruction, their needs cannot be satisfied. Fortunately the Congress has recognized the urgency and importance of teaching foreign languages to our children and has established the Language Roadmap initiative. If implemented properly, merely the foreign language teacher training alone can create thousands of jobs for each state and give the next generation of Americans a linguistic edge in trade and other fields.  

Foreign language learning also gives an individual the choice and opportunity to lead a life elsewhere. With American industries become increasingly globally oriented, we need designers, salesman and workers to be able to “localize” in order to achieve a bigger market share. For example, since 2008 China has taken America’s place as the biggest automobile market in the world. American auto companies, while downsizing in the U.S., have been expanding and profiting in China. An American auto worker may no longer need to work in Detroit, for his new job site maybe Shanghai or Shenzhen. If he happens to speak the language of the local people, it will greatly increase his employability as an American trainer or supervisor.

More than 87% of companies in America are small business and they can also benefit from this new way of thinking. Americans still lead the world in many ways and go to other countries to teach others how to grow better food, build better buildings and manufacture better goods. This will effectively reduce the cost of transportation and maximize profits for Americans. There is no more effective way to proselytize American values than giving others the opportunities to learn from Americans. As the Christian missionaries realized long ago, the most effective teachers are those who can speak the language of the learners.   

For centuries, the huddled masses of the world’s humanity have come to America to find a better life, and they had to learn English in order to fit into a new society. Now it is time for Americans to re-learn the tongues of the world in order to go to other continents to search for employment and opportunities. In the age of global economy, we should encourage Americans to think out of the box and work out of the country.

Why Children? Why now?

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Foreign language teaching is one of the best intellectual investments. Unlike many other skills that one can acquire at any stage of life, foreign language learning can achieve better results only if started early in life. The best age to introduce a foreign language to a child is before the age of nine when he/she can master the pronunciation, intonation and accent like a native speaker.

Children in Scandinavian countries begin their foreign language learning in the third grade; children in China enter mandatory foreign language learning programs in the fourth grade. It is time for Americans to realize that we should not abandon our children to the virtual world of video games. Let us give them an opportunity to learn a language of the real world so that someday they can trade with and compete against people of other nations. Wherever foreign language learning is emphasized, trade and commerce flourish. Let us not to deprive our children of the chance to survive or prosper.

A retired American diplomat, Stanton Jue, noted that “There are more than 100,000 mainland Chinese studying in the U.S., but less than 2,000 American students studying in China. Most Chinese students from China mainland are full time students studying science and technology and other critical fields at undergraduate and graduate levels, whereas American students in China are more likely short term students or involved in summer programs. There is an urgent need for a proper balance.”

Now that China is pushing the technological envelope in high speed railways and green technology, Americans need to wake up so that we do not lose the leadership in science and technology. Perhaps it is time for us Americans to realize that we need to learn from the Chinese; but in order to do so, American students must first be educated in the Chinese language before they take the great journey west toward China.

In November 2009 Secretary Clinton announced that America would send 100,000 students to study in China in the next 4 years. This ambitious plan won wild applause in both diplomatic and business circles. However, to date we have seen little implementation of this plan. It is important to hold our politicians accountable to what they say by insisting that they have to follow up on what they have promised. After all, the future of our nation depends on the education of our children.

In short, I believe that in the age of globalization learning foreign languages should be mandatory for every American school child. Only when enough of our children can master the language of others can we safeguard our nation’s security, stay abreast in science and technology, sustain our economic growth, and find innovative ways to confront global challenges in the future.