I’m a little late to the topic but it’s something I’ve been meaning to talk about, so I’m going to try to. I honestly think that studying a second language should be compulsory. My only issues (and by extension some of the issues brought up in the thread already) are gripes I have with education systems in general, but as far as language learning itself goes, I see absolutely no reason why studying a second language shouldn’t be mandated in schools or other educational settings.
I’m multilingual myself, out of necessity (spoke two languages at home and with friends, had to learn the language of the country I lived in at school) and choice (had to take another different language class at school and was the only kid who paid attention to it, and am now learning three more languages by choice), but even if I didn’t speak or wasn’t learning so many languages, I’d hold the same stance on this. I think learning a second language is critical to be able to understand other people, not just literally in terms of speech, but being able to understand people from different cultures as a whole.
Too often have I encountered monolinguals with an extremely close-minded view of the world stemming at least in part from the fact that they’ve only ever been exposed to their own language and therefore only thinking in terms of their own language and culture. They seem completely unable to grasp concepts of different cultures, and don’t even get me started on how people are always so ready to make fun of words in other languages that sound funny in their own, or those who see people who speak with accents as lesser. Very few monolinguals can grasp that someone is speaking a language that’s unfamiliar to them and they’re trying their best but their mouths are accustomed to their own language and therefore without years of practice that language will seep through. Every language has its own unique features, from phonemes to intonation and stress patterns, and mastering several is no easy task. Yet, monolinguals (not just English-speakers but monolinguals in any language I’ve encountered personally) seem to have this strong insistence that if you’re going to speak a language, you should do it flawlessly or not at all, because I speak this language so surely it’s not that hard. Maybe try learning another language yourself, yeah? Then we’ll talk.
But that bitterness aside, I mentioned understanding different cultures, and I really stand by that. Every language is a product of the culture it comes from, and the two are inseparably intertwined. By learning languages other than your native one, you already start to gain a better understanding of different cultures, and imo find it easier to understand people who are different from you. And that’s important! Things that may seem polite in one language and culture are rude in another, and many monolinguals don’t grasp that social rules are not universal and vary heavily by what language you’re speaking in. Admittedly, I’m a little bit of that in the opposite direction: I’m very aware that different languages have different rules on politeness etc, but I’m appalled at English’s lack of a formal register, because what do you MEAN I have to address my superiors in the same way as I do my peers? Obviously, I still do it, because I understand that in English that culture of respect just doesn’t exist in the same way as in my languages. It’s a product of a culture very different to my own, and the structure and vocabulary etc of the language show just that. Things like idioms and metaphors are further proof of that in every language.
So yes, I do think studying a second language should be compulsory in schools. I think everyone should be required to try and think in ways unfamiliar to them, in languages they start out unfamiliar with, at the very least to be able to try and understand other people and their cultures, traditions, and more. To only speak one language severely limits your world experience imo, and often brings about this sort of… ‘need’ to have a lingua franca in people? I think (and I may be wrong) this is particularly bad among English-speaking monolinguals, who often insist that everyone should speak or learn English, that it is or should be a ‘global language’ when… obviously, the numbers show otherwise.
My only issue is, like I said, with the education system. While I do think everyone should be required to study a second language, I think grading it heavily takes away from the experience. You could argue that not being graded will lead students to slack off and not study at all (which is what happened when I was in middle school as the only kid paying attention to our ungraded foreign language class), but I think if the language is taught in a way that’s engaging enough, that can be resolved at least a little. If kids don’t want to learn at all, that’s their loss, but just sitting in the classroom will have some sort of effect on them. Something or the other will have to rub off! I’m just strongly against grading things like language learning bc like some others have mentioned, it puts unnecessary pressure on being able to produce quantifiable, desired results, and takes away from actually learning the languages.
I think it’s critically important to study and learn languages. What I don’t support is modern education systems and the intense focus on grades over learning. So I guess in the end, my stance is that even if not mandated in schools, everyone should be required to learn a second language by some means, be it talking to a native speaker, taking lessons independently from school, or anything else. Obviously like some people have said, there are people who cannot handle learning multiple languages due to intellectual disabilities or other reasons, and that’s perfectly okay. If you can, though, I think there’s absolutely no reason to be a monolingual with zero grasp of any other language. Even if it’s so much as knowing how to say “hello,” “goodbye,” and “thank you,” I think people need to learn more languages than one.