What do you think about this? In my country one of the presidents tried to take English out of the high school curriculum and include an indigenous language. I know that some of those languages are dying, but I think that taking English out of the education is a big mistake. I think that this decision should be more regional and that it should be a plus, it shouldn't exclude English.
Hi Jess. Yes, I so much agree with you.
Charlyn Amoin
Why can't we have both? In my country, our languages are included alongside English and French. Considering how widely spoken English is, it is certainly a mistake taking that out of a school's curriculum.
Kevwe A.
I think the intention is good -- to keep the indigenous language alive. However, I think it's impractical for them to replace English with it. Might be better to offer learning the indigenous language as an elective.
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ikay
Hmm, at an emotional level, I prefer that indigenous languages be taught, but at the practical level, teaching English is more useful.
In the 1960s, just right after Singapore/Malaysia split, we pursued different language policies. Singapore went with English as main language of instruction, and it's one of the reasons why it became a global hub for business - good availability of people with good English. Our neighbor, Malaysia, went with Malay first, and it's part of the reason why they haven't been able to develop as quickly.
Malaysia also has a bilingual policy, so Malay + one other language.
My Malaysian Chinese friends do gripe about it, because they go to either Malay-English schools or Malay-Chinese schools, and their families end up spending money to pay for English or Chinese enrichment lessons outside of school. At the end of the day, your ability to acquire an extra useful language ended up depending on your family's financial resources.
Yes! I think that the idea of excluding English is a way to slow down progress, I'm pro conservation but it should be always a plus. There's a Hebrew school in my city that teaches Spanish, English and Hebrew, a French school that teaches Spanish, English and French. So, I believe that it's possible for the children to absorb more than 1 language while they are making their native language better :)
