In the modern world it is difficult to find a person who does not have at least a basic understanding of English. Yet, one would be hard-pressed to find an American citizen who is fluent in a language other than English. Actually, skill in a single language is a pretty hard demand to meet nowadays. Sure, it doesn’t seem like a problem, but we’re starving our students of unique work and education opportunities and falling behind the rest of the world that does have a foreign-exchange program. It’s a pity considering all that we’d have to do is teach more languages earlier in school.

One of the first benefits of bilingual education would have to be the expanded list of opportunities that it offers to students. First on my mind is studying abroad. Nearly every single foreign country has a study abroad program, yet the program here is obscure at best. Studying abroad offers students an insight of the world outside their own little community bubble, and, as Kathy, a foreign exchange student at my school puts it, “it’s just a great opportunity to learn the language, the culture and to make friends”. People all across the world often have deep-seated (and might I mention, incorrect) stereotypes against people from other countries – what better way to dislodge these prejudices than to send students abroad to learn not only a new language but also the culture of that country? I guess those who don’t study abroad don’t understand (I’m not sure if I really do), but you can actually learn things from being in a different country – “you can learn so much from what people think in other countries and how they live,” Kathy says.

Additionally, bilingualism basically doubles the job opportunities for job-seekers – if thing’s aren’t so hot in one country, then why not move to another? You already know the language so it’s not like it’s a dramatic change in your life, and if you’ve studied there before already it’ll be even less of a dramatic change. You really can’t deny that in today’s shrinking world, it’s even more important than ever to be able to speak multiple languages – what if your company ships you out to a new country for a few months, or what if you have to deal with a client who can’t speak English? You can’t always rely on an interpreter, and translators are usually notoriously inaccurate. What better way to forge a connection with a client or customer than by communicating with them in their own language?

Don’t think I’m just pulling all of this out of my ass either – there’s plenty of proof that bilingual education trumps the traditional model. As this article points out, there exists empirical proof that bilingual education helps students learn better. Bilingual students achieve higher on all subject areas than monolingual students and even catch up to those monolingual students in English-proficiency skills. In fact, a George Mason University study (quickly referenced here – I can’t find any other public links) found that, in short, bilingual education is considerably better for students than the standard model of monolingual education.

All it really takes to implement an effective bilingual study is to start teaching foreign languages earlier. Students in other countries begin learning English (along with their native language of course) sometimes as early as their first-ever day of school, and they seem to be able to communicate fine in either language – at least, that’s what it seems like to me. The current high-school method of teaching language is horribly ineffective – many students are unable to speak fluently the language they study even though they do pass the standardized tests. Considering all the empirically proven benefits to students that bilingual education provides, what reasons are there not to start?