languages

I feel that people who don't speak a foreign language are at a disadvantage when it comes to the state wide writing exams. I remember taking the state English exams and a section of the test was always finding the right definition for a particular word. The words on the exam many times were words that most people wouldn't know at the particular grade level i was in, but knowing Spanish which is derived from Latin helped me so much. being able to pick out the root word, if the word was Latin based, gave me a fair advantage over those who didn't know another Latin based language. I might not use all the words I know, but I feel that I know many more words, and their definitions, than the average American student. I'm not claiming I knew the definition to all the words on the exam but I could at least make an educated guess, and not to my surprise I always did well.

Now that I am older I realize that the advantages of foreign languages are even greater. I not only was able to score high on state English exams but now that I want to learn still another language it is facilitated by the knowledge of Spanish. Never mind that the language is Italian, which is fairly similar to Spanish, but it is another language. All the Latin based languages are 'inter-communicable' which also gives me an advantage as an international citizen. Being able to communicate with many different people in many different parts of the world is a qualification that the average American student can't claim to have, unless of course their homes are interracial, but even then many opt to make english the official family language and the secondary language is forgotten or not taught at all.