Mandatory Arabic?

[WickedKitchen]

This one is interesting...because it would be mandatory...and it's Federally funded.

MANSFIELD (CBSDFW.COM) – Some Students at Mansfield ISD schools could soon be learning Arabic as a required language. The school district wants students at select schools to take Arabic language and culture classes as part of a federally funded grant.
The Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant was awarded to Mansfield ISD last summer by the U.S. Department of Education.
As part of the five-year $1.3 Million grant, Arabic classes would be mandatory at Cross Timbers Intermediate School and Kenneth Davis Elementary School. The program would also be optional for students at T. A. Howard Middle School and Summit High School.
Parents at Cross Timbers say they were caught off-guard by the program, and were surprised the district only told them about it in a meeting Monday night between parents and Mansfield ISD Superintendent Bob Morrison.
The DOE has identified Arabic as a ‘language of the future.’ But parent Joseph Balson was frustrated by the past. “Why are we just now finding out about it?” asked Balson. “It’s them (Mansfield ISD) applying for the grant, getting it approved and them now saying they’ll go back and change it only when they were caught trying to implement this plan without parents knowing about it.”
Trisha Savage thinks it will offer a well-rounded education. “I think its a great opportunity that will open doors. We need to think globally and act locally.”
Mansfield ISD says in addition to language, the grant provides culture, government, art, traditions and history as part of the curriculum.
Some parents had concerns over religion. “The school doesn’t teach Christianity, so I don’t want them teaching Islam,” said parent Baron Kane. During Monday’s meeting Morrison stressed the curriculum would not be about religion, but about Arabic language and culture, similar to Spanish curriculum already in place in the district.
Kheirieh Hannun, was born in the Middle East but raised in the U.S. She believes giving students the option to learn Arabic will give her son and others like him the option to learn more about their culture. “It was surprising, but I think it’s okay, and it will help come down on the stereotype.” Hannun says she is hopeful the class could broaden the minds of not only students, but also parents.
The FLAP grant was awarded to only five school districts across the country, including Mansfield.


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I would probably be useful to know that language, I agree but publicly requiring it certainly makes a statement.

[tom502]

Sounds dumb to me. I could see Spanish, and even Chinese, but not Arabic, but then...... maybe they know something we don't?

[lxskllr]

I'm not seeing the usefulness of learning Arabic, unless they intend on getting into the defense industry. Latin would be more generally useful....

[tom502]

Well, with the many Arabic people coming into the US and their high birthrate, and how Islam is affecting the laws, I think they are forseeing an Arabic speaking Muslim future for the USA.

[Mykislt]

I wish there was an option of Learning Arabic in my school. I am not at all surprised that parent associated Arabic with Islam (typical American thinking, if I may say so), but 10% of Arabs are Christians. The Arab language spans such a big area of the world, and it is a global language, I view it as I do Russian, which is invaluable if you are in a certain part of the world, and has a different alphabet to Latin, but not so useful outside of that part of the world. If Zionist Jewish/Hebrew/Yiddish schools were federally funded in Lithuania (and by a LARGE extent) until 1939, under a dictator, why would just the Arabic Language not have its place in democratic America?

By the By: Thomas Jefferson, one of the greatest Americans, taught himself Arabic source: link

[lxskllr]

If Zionist Jewish/Hebrew/Yiddish schools were federally funded in Lithuania (and by a LARGE extent) until 1939, under a dictator, why would just the Arabic Language not have its place in democratic America?

Not sure what you're saying here. I'm dubious of the value of learning Arabic, and equally dubious of the government mandating specific languages to teach, but I don't have a problem with learning foreign languages in general.

[Mykislt]

Not sure what you're saying here. I'm dubious of the value of learning Arabic, and equally dubious of the government mandating specific languages to teach, but I don't have a problem with learning foreign languages in general.

I'm just saying, that any prejudice (on cultural grounds) against teaching Arabic is unprecedented, seeing as how there was no such prejudice in a near Nazi state.

I agree with you on the fact that it is not as useful as a language such as Spanish in America.

[truthwolf1]

When my wife went for her citizenship she said that the majority were Somalis in the room. My guess is that there are higher numbers coming from Africa/Middle east now as of late in many other cities.

[sgreger1]

I think learning Arabic would be great, but I hardly think it should be part of the mandatory curriculum, and they definately shouldn't do it without telling the parents. Oh, and this is a giant waste of taxpayer money.

I always wanted to learn Arabic, but I don't see much advantage to children learning Arabic. If any language is required learning in the US it's spanish. For the business types you may want to learn chinese, but the arabic language isn't good for much unless you are in military intelligence or you are an interpreter for the DOD or something. I certainly don't think it should be mandatory, but perhaps an elective class.

I think this is more about getting the younger generation acclimated to the idea of middle eastern culture, since in the future we are likely to have more contact and interact more with the middle east. So all in all this is probably just more of a waste of money than an attempt at bringing the caliphate to America lol.

[sgreger1]

I wish there was an option of Learning Arabic in my school. I am not at all surprised that parent associated Arabic with Islam (typical American thinking, if I may say so), but 10% of Arabs are Christians. The Arab language spans such a big area of the world, and it is a global language, I view it as I do Russian, which is invaluable if you are in a certain part of the world, and has a different alphabet to Latin, but not so useful outside of that part of the world. If Zionist Jewish/Hebrew/Yiddish schools were federally funded in Lithuania (and by a LARGE extent) until 1939, under a dictator, why would just the Arabic Language not have its place in democratic America?

By the By: Thomas Jefferson, one of the greatest Americans, taught himself Arabic source: link

Arabic is widely spoken throughout the world, but really in America it is not something one needs to know. I would take it as an elective class, as I always thought it would be advantageous to learn arabic, but I don't see why it should be MANDATORY education here in America, considering there are no other languages that are mandatory here except english. If aynthing these kids should be learning spanish, everyone to the south of us speaks it and we have to share space with the hispanics more than any other culture. Knocking down our language barrier would be the first step. If I learned arabic right now, I would be hard pressed to run into someone else who speaks it.

[sgreger1]

I'm just saying, that any prejudice (on cultural grounds) against teaching Arabic is unprecedented, seeing as how there was no such prejudice in a near Nazi state.

I agree with you on the fact that it is not as useful as a language such as Spanish in America.

No one has a problem with teaching arabic. Arabic has been offered in our schools since as long as i've been alive at least. What is happening here is they are mandating that every student learn arabic, which is something no one else has done in America considering no one speaks arabic here. No one has a problem with Islam being taught, only that it is being forced onto people as opposed to being offered as an elective class.

[Premium Parrots]

English was supposed to be the global language. wtf happened


I think the kids should learn to read, write and speak english properly first.
put down the cell phone and give your thumbs a rest



just sayin

[Mykislt]

No one has a problem with teaching arabic. Arabic has been offered in our schools since as long as i've been alive at least. What is happening here is they are mandating that every student learn arabic, which is something no one else has done in America considering no one speaks arabic here. No one has a problem with Islam being taught, only that it is being forced onto people as opposed to being offered as an elective class.

Well it's not Islam that is being taught, and it is only mandatory for little children: "Timbers Intermediate School and Kenneth Davis Elementary School", so it doesn't sound like a serious program. Now I do agree, that if you are going to make a second language mandatory, then is should most likely be Spanish (or French if you are in Louisiana, or whatever else is relative to where you live), instead of Arabic, but just the fact that a second language IS mandatory, and I mean any language, is a good thing. When I lived in America, only in middle school was there an OPTION for not a single language, but a class called "foreign languages" which as like an introduction to a few languages (of course, for 8th graders there was an option for German, French and Spanish), so in my eyes, any foreign language is welcome, even if it is not as useful as some other language. It's not exactly forcing children to learn it, because they can, likely, go to another school nearby if they hate Arabic. And also, why force any education? Why force children to learn trigonometry if they are almost certainly not going to need it?

[lxskllr]

And also, why force any education? Why force children to learn trigonometry if they are almost certainly not going to need it?

Math is a little different. Regardless of the future need, it teaches logical thought processes, which is extremely useful when dealing with computers, and making your way through life in general. Besides, people don't know what they're missing by not knowing some simple trig. It can be very helpful with day to day problems.

A second language isn't that useful at all if you don't have someone to talk to. It opens up a new literature source, but there's enough to keep someone busy if any language, and it's complete works disappeared from the earth. I'd liken it to learning art. It's nice, and sometimes convenient, but not essential.

[Mykislt]

Math is a little different. Regardless of the future need, it teaches logical thought processes, which is extremely useful when dealing with computers, and making your way through life in general. Besides, people don't know what they're missing by not knowing some simple trig. It can be very helpful with day to day problems.

A second language isn't that useful at all if you don't have someone to talk to. It opens up a new literature source, but there's enough to keep someone busy if any language, and it's complete works disappeared from the earth. I'd liken it to learning art. It's nice, and sometimes convenient, but not essential.

Well just like trigonometry has cognitive benefits, Arabic provides a wide range of cultural and professional benefits. Did you know that despite efforts to recruit individuals with critical language proficiency such as Arabic or Chinese, shortfalls remain at 39% (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009).

Just because knowing English is enough (not quite), doesn't mean that any language doesn't provide a great advantage. 4 out of 5 new jobs in the U.S. are created as a result of foreign trade.