The Importance Of Multilingual Education In The United States

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Multilingual education in the United States goes back further than most would think. Growing up I was only taught English, until the fourth and fifth grade when we were allowed to take french classes if our grades were high enough. It is crazy to think that I can still remember some french. Learning another language has more advantages than disadvantages. Wouldn't you want to be able to travel the world one day, and actually be able to communicate with people that speak languages other than English. Four years later I learned that it is required to have two credits of a foreign language to get your diploma in Louisiana, it helps students to realize the importance of speaking another language besides English. Although, I think a lot of high …show more content…

The more diverse the United States’s should make us more unique and known to others worldwide, but it often comes up that some people don't like too much of change and differences. People tend to be comfortable with the things they are used to, so things like multilingualism may not be something that everyone appreciates and agrees with. An individual that is multilingual should have more advantageous and should be something that everyone is encouraged to do. Being multilingual educated allows one to have more job opportunities and allows your connection with others to go deeper.The evolution and origins of multilingual education in the US, is not something one should be against. Having multilingual education in the United States allows us to have a better understanding and appreciation of other …show more content…

In the 1840’s almost half of America’s immigrants were from Ireland, and over 5 million were German immigrants. In a 2000 census more Americans claimed German ancestry than any other. Between 1880 and 1920 America was becoming very urbanized and industrialized which caught the attention of many immigrants, leading to more than 20 million immigrants coming to America. Although the rapid increase in immigrants began to decline one WWI started. Then Congress later established a law requiring all immigrants over the age of 16 to take a literacy test. This helped to limit the number of immigrants coming into America. When million of immigrants came to the United States in the nineteenth century their languages came to the United States as well. According to the history channel many immigrants came to America during this time to seek greater economic opportunity and even for more religious freedoms. The first federal legislation that puts a restriction on immigration was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited the immigration of all Chinese laborers. A few years later Ellis Island was established in the Upper New York Bay, which was the country’s first federal immigration station, which operated from 1892 to