U.S. government encourages schools to teach foreign languages vital to economy, security

Many schools are teaching other languages than they offered when we were in school. Translators are always needed and these bilingual or multilingual people will be in great demand, with many career options. - - Donna Poisl

by Karen Keller/The Star-Ledger

French class? Passe. Latin? Finis.

Try Chinese, Arabic and now, Hindi.

The future of the United States depends on it, according to the federal government, which is pushing schools to teach students foreign languages deemed vital to the country's economy and national security.

Edison heeded the government's call three years ago, becoming the first school district in the nation to use federal money to teach Hindi, India's major language. Next fall, Piscataway High School will also offer it.

The government wants more students to learn Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Russian, Japanese, and hundreds of regional languages from Iran, Turkey and India as part of its 2006 National Security Language Initiative. The program was created as a result of the 9/11 Commission's conclusion that the U.S. needed more skilled translators to be able to intercept surveillance.
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