<!--`QuoteBegin-KevO44`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KevO44)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->If all the world spoke English, there would be no need for Foriegn Language Classes in School. So they could put more time in Science and Math. The children would get a better education, and the masses would get smarter. Then before you know it the world would be a better place.[/quote]
oh dear...
1) why english? cantonese is the language spoken by the highest number of native speakers on the earth. english is the `most-learned` language (as `non-maternal` language), but that's only cos it's spoken in the usa, and it is well on its way to not being the majority language there any more (asà que quizás deberÃamos todos empezar a hablarnos en castellano, que después de unos treinta o cuarenta años el inglés será la lengua del pasado...). and most `non-anglophones` would laugh at you if you suggested they convert to english as maternal language. cos let's face it, why should they. why don't you learn their language.
2) you learn all the maths you need in later life by the time you're 14 years old. after that, you only use the maths you learn if you become a teacher, scientist or academic. why devote more time to that at the expense of languages?
3) languages are one of the things that make people generally more intelligent - not just better at languages, but better at learning in general. same goes for music (and maths, incidentally 8) ). why stop people learning languages when it makes them more intelligent?
4) learning a language, like learning about geography and history, comprehends learning about a culture different to one's own, which opens peoples' minds, helps people understand each other and helps the people of the earth get along with each other. despite its huge internal divisions, the usa is the most `inward-looking` country in the developed world and it hardly needs any more cutting off from the rest of the world. need we remind you that us external politics are what caused the less than stable situation in the near east. (plus, a person with an open mind wouldn't have suggested that everyone speak english for their convenience.)