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| Obama's right on |
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| Written by Melisse Skelton / For the Tracy Press | |
| Tuesday, 15 July 2008 | |
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When it comes to educating students on foreign languages, the Illinois senator is on target. I have to disagree with Mark Joyia’s letter about Barack Obama’s comment regarding foreign languages (Your Voice, "Obama’s jaw-dropper," July 12). I, for one, completely agree with the senator. All over Europe, students are taught other languages from a very early age. Most of the time it is English, and yes, this happens even in inner-city schools. I feel as though Joyia misinterpreted the senator’s statement. Instead of looking at the comment as an insult, I look at it as something that needs to be changed in the U.S. Our primary and secondary schools, unfortunately, are sorely lacking in some aspects, one being the early introduction of another language. I am a senior at University of California, Davis, and my sister is a senior at Tracy High School, and neither of us can speak another language fluently. Both of us started taking language classes in the eighth grade. I agree with the senator that it doesn’t seem right that visitors to America can speak our language, but we do not teach our children languages used in other countries. It is true that two or three years of language is required in high school (well, at least at Tracy High), but I believe language training should start from first grade. Are we as Americans so self-centered that we cannot see the benefit of being able to speak other languages fluently? We have cultural presentations, learn about other religions and travel to other countries in groups, but we don’t feel it necessary to teach our children to communicate in those countries? I am not insulting "70 or 80 percent of the American public," as Joyia stated, but am agreeing with Obama insofar as that the lack of language training in this country needs to be changed. • Melisse Skelton is a graduate of Tracy High School and a senior at University of California, Davis. Trackback(0)
Comments
(50)
I totally agree with the author. Having grown up in Europe until the age of 9, I already knew how to speak 3 languages by third grade. It was much easier to learn a foreign language during my early years of education than when I was in high school. I think our whole education system needs to be reformed and include language instruction in the early years.
I agree that learning a foreign language can be very useful and should therefore be a focus of our education system. That said, I also believe there are more fundamental flaws in our education system that make other disciplines more important than learning a second language such as learning English! I cringe when I visit with teenagers around Tracy. Whether it be cultural issues, lack of educational discipline, parental influence (or lack thereof) a fundamental understanding of English grammar is sorely lacking. Even the pronunciation of common words is terrible.
Also, many of our kids are struggling with reading comprehension (English) along with poor grasping of what should be common math and science skills. We need to fix these problems first and then focus on having them learn another language. Fortunately for our nation, English right now is the international language of science and commerce. It is no wonder that other nations put a heavy emphasis on learning English. In the end, while I agree that bilingual capabilities are a great asset, we should focus on basic principles in our education system first. One way we can do this is to make schools, teachers, and administrators accountable. Increase the pay of educators by at least 2 fold. Make it a real profession that will bring in the best our society has to offer... but remove tenure. In the end, emphasis on education should be a family focus. We have to ask ourselves why children from families of some immigrants (particularly those from Asia) perform well in English, Math, and Sciences while multigenerational American families fail to provide the same emphasis. Our country, education system, etc are broken from inside out starting with the home.
OBAMA is (saying) doing whatever that it takess to get into office. Including to appeal to the left side in welcoming aliens. He is simply 'slamming' the current because he KNOWS it is the thing to do to get him more votes. Minorities are mostly democratic minded. To say that 'we need' to learn is a stance of a socialistic minded liberal and besides, who cares about france. We have laws about earning your citizenship here and the ones who are here illegally are kin to the ones here legally who are the ones who will be voting for OBAMA 'just because' it helps them personally to get thier family here on a pass. OBAMA is weak! He is the start of another Jimmy Carter era and our nations security will be weakened. Obama is flip-flopping on most issues and you can't say he has not. He will be leading us into a bad spot in several issues. By the time you figure this out it will be too late, and he knows it.
American education should be the great equalizer, but it can't be. It is true, students will do better in school if the family places value in obtaining knowledge and learning beyond what's in the textbook. Learning another language is a critical skill not only for the advanatges it brings, but also for the linguistic insights.
Obama's comments do not make him an elitist, but he will definitely lose the Jerry Springer vote. Flip-flopping is not bad. Many great leaders (including Ambraham Lincoln) have had a change of heart. It led to the end of slavery and the signing of Civil Rights Laws under Johnson. I am undecided as to whether to vote for Obama or McCain. However, comments made about foreign language or flip-flopping on important issues will not fact into my decision.
Melisse, I brought up four seperate comments that either Obama or his wife have made. If you add up the people that own guns, are religious, or do not speak a foreign language, Obama HAS insulted 70-80% of the population.
Let me clarify why I think his comments about foreign language were way of base. I went to Catholic school where they actually held back the dummies. They did not push kids through like the public schools. I skipped over 5th grade. I graduated high school at 16. I watch mostly history and news channels. I have read volumes on the Civil War and WWII. I have been fairly successful in business. I'm not the smartest guy on the planet but I think I can hold my own in a conversation with most anyone. I assume that if people like Bill Gates, Ted Turner, and Warren Buffett do not speak a foreign language that you and Obama are embarrassed by them also. Please. There are too many people in this country that cannot speak decent English, remember ebonics? THAT was embarrassing. How about the fact that most people born here could not pass the citizenship test or know what decade the Civil War was fought in. I can go on and on. Those things are embarrassing. I know the point Obama was trying to make, I just think he was way off base. One final thought. If Obama wants to push all of us to learn a foreign language so he won't be embarrassed by us, wouldn't it be fair to tell people moving to this country that if they plan to stay they damn well better learn English? Yea, we need change alright. Let's get rid of all this press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish, and 3 for Chinese garbage.
IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF ALL OF OUR CHILDREN COULD BE TAUGHT ANOTHER LANGUAGE IN SCHOOL. I SUGGEST THAT WE CONCENTRATE ON TEACHING THEM HOW TO SPEAK AND WRITE IN ENGLISH,(WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY NOT OCCURING IN THE SCHOOLS NOW) PRIOR TO INTRODUCING ANOTHER LANGUAGE.
Lyn Serpa is correct. Our students do not have a grasp of the English language. If we want them to study another language I think they should get a passing grade in English first. Why confuse our students with another language if they cannot speak/write English correctly? BTW...Can someone tell me how many languages Obama speaks other than English?
FIRST HIRE HIGH QUALITY TEACHERS TO BETTER PREPARE THE STUDENTS!
Layoffs of teachers across the nation is not the way! -amy
I plan on staying right here in the USA. I don't think I will be needing any speach classes. If i go to france, mexico or Egypt I'll take a translation dictionary along with me.
Give me a break Obama, if you and michelle are so damm embarrased of the USA then i suggest you packit up and move to france. Or maybe Libya you will be more at home there. 
What I found out by surfing the web:
Obama has claimed on numerous occasions to have become fluent in Indonesian in six months. Yet those who knew him disputed that during recent interviews. Israella Pareira Darmawan, Obama’s 1st-grade teacher, said she attempted to help him learn the Indonesian language by going over pronunciation and vowel sounds. He struggled greatly with the foreign language, she said, and with his studies as a result. Obama today admitted he speaks no foreign languages, despite railing against Americans for, ironically, not speaking any foreign languages. He also put down parents who don't make it a priority to teach their children foreign languages. I agree that our children need to speak English fluently before learning another language. It should be their choice later in life. I have no desire to travel overseas, there is so much to explore here in USA. I have been to Mexico and in a day I knew all the spanish I needed to know to get around.
Reality tells me our educational system is woefully lacking of quality teachers. Quality teachers produces quality students who would be productive in the society, enhancing it further?
English should be spoken well first before any choice of foreign language. Many countries speak two languages and speak both fluently. What is wrong with this picture? Their written/communication skills will be superior to ours and will have superior jobs in engineering/communication skills. Bill Gates was hiring workers from India to fill in his technical/engineering positions. Lots of good American jobs there, but just not enough engineers in USA. God please Help America! Bless the Democracy and Freedom. -amy Right now, math is more serious than French, let's take care of that unless the new President wants to convert English measuring system to Metric System? That is going global? The rest of the world uses the Metric system. Our Educational system needs a good overall. How? Do we even have the money to hire high quality educated teachers after we borrowed heavily from other countries? I don't see easy answer there. -amy
OBAMA HAS MANY FACES. AND THIS IS WHY HE NEEDS MANY LANGUAGES. HE ALSO HAS MANY POSITIONS ON MANY SUBJECTS THAT HE CHANGES FROM DAY TO DAY. TROOP SURGE, GUN CONTROL. OBAMA WILL AGREE TO SIT WITH THE ENEMY BUT WON'T SIT WITH US.
Why do you people think our kids are ever going to get foreign lang uage classes in grade school????? our leaders are trying to un- educate our kids now. Why do you think theres allways an excuse for not having enough money for books, paper, pencils, teachers, schools etc. If education was important to our leaders there would be enough money.
Learning a second language is great, it opens up the world. My questiion though is, which language do we teach. The French learn English, the Germans learn English, the Italians learn English, the Japanese learn English. Which one do we learn, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chineese, Japaneese. Whichever one it is will offend everyone else. Is the government going to tell me which language my children are to learn?
Just in case Obama is reading this blog:
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?' Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
fortheunderdog, That post is not only very funny but it makes a great point. The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is THE GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH!!! We, or I should say our brave troops, have saved more European arses than I can count. Hey Obama, here's some foreign language for you; sprechen sie deutsch? Fortheunderdog, good job my friend!
Hey Obama, more of my high school German is coming back to me. Here's one for you and all the Obamaites, Die tat wirkt machtiger als das wort! Excuse the missing umlaut in machtiger - don't know how to type that in. I for one, see through all your rhetoric. Sir, you are a great orator but I highly doubt your abilities to run this country. Oh, Oh!! more German coming back to me, es ist nicht alles gold was glanzt. I think I missed another umlaut but I hope that's enough to where you are no longer embarrassed by me.
Thanks mark j. That was emailed to me by a friend and I thought it appropriate for this blog. If Obama is that embarrassed of this country, has no pride in this country, and wants all American's to speak another language (besides English)...then maybe he isn't the right person to represent this country.
So why is Obama running for Presidency, thought the President will be American Born.
Oh well, the Governor of California was not born in America. Give them an inch, they will take a yard! So why not the Presidency? I don't like this. Global Constitution??? -amy
Just a short question. Yeah, I know I tend to be long winded.
In his entire political career, can anyone tell me of an accomplishment Senator Obama has made for the Citizens of the United States of America that would qualify him to be the President of the United States of America, discounting the fact he is the first black man to receive a nomination necessary to run for election to that post? Dave Hardesty
DH and MJ: I'll give it a shot, but will also compare and contrast with other candidates and past presidents. Let's start with what would best qualify someone to be president? Certainly, a vice-presidential role would be a good start. A governorship is also a potentially good background, since governors are executive branch leaders. However, as governors, they have no foreign policy experience or federal-level experience.
Senators and Congresspeople, on the other hand, have federal level experience but no executive branch experience. Also, legislative compromise doesn't really translate into direct experience managing executive agencies. Hmmm, I think the best choice would be someone with extensive federal experience managing a large agency, advising a sitting President, and being a governor. Hence, Bill Richardson would be a good choice. But, other than time in office, I see little difference in raw credentials between Obama and McCain. Running mates might make a difference, however...
Obama will bring America another disaster like the Jimmy Carter years
he is an "Empty Suit" full of "hallmark card" platitudes... all 'cotton candy" a POP-Corn fart.
Mark
Respectfully I disagree with your statement about governors not having federal experience or foreign policy experience. After all, virtually all of the California governors I can recall in my lifetime have become foreign diplomats to bring business to our state and have repeatedly given advice to seated presidents and congress on many occasions. Bill Richardson may or may not be a good choice but we do have to be practical about the situation and honestly look at his chances of being elected to the office of President. Sadly we are pretty much stuck with only two to chose from. Obama or McCain With respect to my question; Senator Obama and Senator McCain, who is better qualified for the position of President of the United States based on their accomplishments? http://www.obama08-wa.com/files/experience.pdf delineates a short list of Obama’s accomplishments, and to be fare, his web site[url= http://www.barackobama.com/ind.../index.php . Compare this to Senator John McCain’s rather lengthy list of accomplishments found on his web site, [url= http://mccain.senate.gov/publi...egislation . Not knowing either individual at a personal level, it would seem to me looking into what they have accomplished for America in their years of service, 10 years for Obama and 26 years for McCain, it is certainly something to consider when deciding on how to cast your vote for president. To put it bluntly, do you want to elect someone who is just talking about something or someone who has actually done something about it? Dave Hardesty
Dave: The alternative argument is, of course, that new blood is sometimes necessary to shake things up. Most of Obama's supporters see McCain as representing an old-school way of thinking. That's the tide that is rising and I'm doubtful that comparing scorecards really enters into that thinking. One thing that I am confident about is that Obama's rhetorical clarity (as compared with the almost dysfunctional Bush) means that I will be able to understand him. McCain is generally clear, as well, although his burst of anger over, for instance, a question of whether his war service really translated into any sort of ability to lead the country is troubling.
It's sort of interesting to think that one of the hallmarks of claims to the seat of the presidency over the past generations (and emphasized by Reagan) was the "outsider" coming to Washington to do things differently. So one could ask equally well: What do you want to see in Washington? Business as usual or change?
That is the narrative of Obama whose record is numerically smaller by virtue of simply less time in office than McCain. Now McCain has some claim to outsider status, as well, but his more recent record has been much more flip-floppy and inscrutable.
Mark
"Numerically smaller by virtue of simply less time in office." I will grant some of what you have said is true. But if you do compair their records and the 10/26 year difference one would expect that Obama would have accomplished more in the 10 years of his public life. And I am sorry, I am not conserned with the seat of the presidency over the past generations or who is considered to be an outsider. In my opinion that line of erronious thinking has brought us to where we are today. As far as flip-flopping is conserned, I believe we can also easily determine that both are more than guilty of that. So then, how else is the voter to make his decision on which way to cast his or her vote? Bursts of anger? I suppose you have not seen any of the news media on Obama's behavior along these lines as we. Don't get me wrong. I am not particularly inthralled with McCain either. It's going to come down to who we believe is the best qualified candidate out of the two we have to select from. To the regret of the Obama campaign, I just don't see and haven't heard of anything that leads me to believe he is the better of the two candidates for the office of President of the United States of America. So unless something significant occurs before this November, even though I don't believe he is the best our nation has to offer, John McCain will get my vote. Now if you or anyone has anything of significance that would make me change my thinking on this, I would appreciate it if you would let all of us know. Dave Hardesty
Sorry
Correction: I suppose you have not seen any of the news media on Obama's behavior along these lines as we. The sentence should have read, I suppose you have not seen any of the news media on Obama's behavior along these lines.
Mark D. & Dave H., Both of you make good points. Here's my line of thinking. I try not to judge people I don't actually know. Most of us are not going to have intimate knowledge of a presidential candidate. What are we to do as voters? We have to look at their history of public service and see if it coincides with what we want and our political leanings. We have to look at comments they make and if they make enough of the same sort of comments then we have to try to decipher what they are saying and who they are as a person to the best of our ability. I hope you guys would at least agree with that to some extent. Here's how all that adds up for me.
Obama and his wife are elitists. They have a holier than thou attitude. They beleive they are above being called out for deragatory comments they have made about this country and its citizens. They will not look at us as citizens but rather as loyal subjects. I like to always try and look at things with a level head and look at all sides but man, sometimes you just have to go with your gut feelings. There is just something about Obama. If I were a religous person I would swear this guy fits the description of the Anti-Christ.
MJ: I don't see the elitism, myself. Calling on Americans to look outward raises the possibility of reversing some of the problematic aspects of current US foreign policy. His comments on guns and religion in the heartland spoken extemporaneously were ill-conceived for a politician, but do reflect the general sociological analysis laid out in, for example, "What's the Matter with Kansas":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...th_Kansas? that argue that class interests have been railroaded by careful strategizing in Movement Conservatism. Is it elitist to not pander to that deception? It actually might be a clarion call to my mind for a candidate to declare that letting relatively minor issues that are unrelated to their well-being trump their economic improvement or educational enhancement is not elitism but is speaking truth to power. In general I disagree with MJ and DH and tend to want change and young blood in charge. I see intelligence, honesty and a story of invigorating excellence in the face of struggle in Obama. I see a fading edifice of failing policies in McCain. Running mates might shift my view, but it is unlikely.
Oh well, the URL device is broken for single quotes, it seems. Check out "What's the matter with Kansas" in Wikipedia.
Mark D., I agree with a lot of what you are saying but allow me to expand your reference to Obamas' ill conceived comments about guns and religion. I could care less, I don't own a gun and I am not religious. However, he did disparage a very large percentage of people in this country. Those were belittling remarks that smack of an "I am better than you" attitude. That is very unbefitting of a man running for president.
Now let's talk about his comments about our ability to speak a foreign language. Take some of the most intelligent and successful people in this country. I don't care who you pick but let's assume not all of them speak a foreign language. We should be embarrassed by them? Come on Mark. I've said this before on some posts, if he said he was embarrassed that a lot of people in this country can't speak proper English, pass a citizenship test, tell you the decade the Civil War was fought, or even the reason we celebrate July 4th, I would agree 100%. But to say he's embarrassed that we can't go to France and speak more than a few words of French. Way off base my friend. If you get past all his rhetoric and what I must admit, great oratory skills, he is very poltically naive. And again, those foreign language comments smack of an "I am better than you" attitude. Look forward to your reply.
MJ: I just don't see it as terrifically interesting, belittling or otherwise. We have an ongoing clash of civilizations, health care reform on the table, a war in Iraq started initiated from pure arrogance, continued erosion of the situation in Afghanistan, enhancement of worldwide terrorism over the past eight years, massive deficit spending, housing meltdowns and economic woes. I am much more interested in those issues than in Obama's concerns about French skills. I pointed this out as the first comment on your original letter.
Now if you want an actual issue to compare and contrast, take a look at the problem of not mandating insurance coverage in a reform effort. Now, Obama seemed weaker than HRC on that topic, given all the good economic analysis out there (as well as cross-country comparisons), but McCain is just about insane on the topic, potentially completely devastating health care through his plan. Now that is a true policy issue that needs further analysis. Beyond that, if you see Obama as talking down to you, I agree you shouldn't vote for him. I want to learn more, however.
Mark D, I agree, we have way bigger fish to fry. This is one of the most critical times in this countries history. I know I am probably nit-picking on some issues with Obama that seem trivial, I'll give you that. There is just something about the guy. Again sometimes you go with your gut.
I've said before, I am not exactly jumping up and down for McCain. If Clinton were the Democratic nominee I may have voted Democrat for the first time.
mark j,
I agree with you. If Clinton had be chosen Democratic nominee I think I would have voted for her also. Like you said, there's something about Obama that irks me. He seems to respond to McCain's statements with a sarcastic snippet, nothing of substance whatsoever.
I think I will vote for one who makes a good "vice presidential" choice, Bill Richardson? NO Clinton!
Sure would help me alot if I knew who would be appointed to the Cabinets ahead of time! Still not feeling so confident with either of them. -amy
Dave Hardesty, you raise an excellent question when you ask, "What qualifications does Obamba have to be the president?" As far as I know, there are three important ones:
1. Be 35 years old. (Check) 2. Be naturally born citizen of these United States (check) 3. Receive more than 270 electoral votes. Uh huh. After We the People check box number 3 for Obamba, you and your buddies can sit around for the next eight years and tell us how he just isn't qualified for the job he's got. Fortheunderdog, I love the story. Although it might be said that the navy, even today, isn't quite as Francophobic as the Air Farce. I remember how surprised I was on my first middie cruise to hear gruff, tatooed chief petty officers and master gunnery sergeants break out their finest Lyonnais accents to pronounce the name of the flagship of John Paul Jones (Benjamin Franklin's nom de plume, no less)
Bar Fann, big deal, Obama meets the minimum requirements. I meet two out of three. The only one I cannot meet is the 270 electoral votes that he received from a bunch of very naive, delusional voters that think he is the second coming of Christ. This man and his wife are two people that do not want to rule for love of country, they want to rule for love of themselves and their ego's.
Bar Fann
Nice to see you step around the real questions that you can't answer. I too qualify two out of three. Anything more solid? I doubt it. Dave Hardesty
Hardesty and mark j, so you are saying that John McCain is no more qualified than you to be POTUS? Even I wouldn't go that far in my criticism of him.
I think you two morons totally miss the point. I am not stepping around any questions; there is only one "qualification" to be president in this country is that the people vote for you. At the end of the day, when Obambi wraps up 400+ electoral votes and 60% of the popular votes, you two clowns will still be whining about how he isn't "qualified" to be the prez, and that the election results were somehow incorrect. You are sort of like all those New England fans who still believe the Giants weren't good enough to win the Super Bowl. Those fans are right, New York wasn't qualified to win that game anywhere EXCEPT ON THE SCOREBOARD!
Bar Fann, Nice job showing us that we now have one more juvenile mind making comments here. It is beyond my comprehension, I guess because I conduct myself in a polite manner, that adults can make disparaging remarks about others just because they have a different point of view. You must be taking over for Al(everyone that doesn't agree with me is an idiot)Galaviz. Childish behavior from adults is a sad thing. I highly doubt Dave H. or I qualify as morons. Also, I can't speak for Dave H. but I do not own a big red nose, an oversized pair of shoes, and I sure as hell don't own any white face paint.
"It is beyond my comprehension"
Beyond your comprehension? No doubt this, like most basic facts, is beyond your comprehension, but it remains true, that the person most qualified to be President is the one having the greatest number of votes, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. Did OJ kill those two people? Yes. Was he guilty? No, because a jury said so. And what's Obama doing visiting all those Middle Eastern countries and now the big picture is of him grandstanding before 200,000 German's. Who's vote is he trying to get? I think McCain said it correctly when he said that he'd also like to be giving a speech in Germany but after he elected President. I really do think Obama has ideas of grandeur and as one writer commented "He just may be the Anti-Christ". This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.
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...find fault with his Yes vote on the horrendous FISA act.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/09/obamas_fisa_vote_goes_against.html
Who is this guy, really? At this point, doesn't matter -- he's not an aged, addled man with an itchy nuclear trigger finger.