Arabic mandatory at city public school

[Sixx]

You gotta be shitting me.....

“Arabic has been identified as a critical-need language"







An upper Manhattan public elementary school will be the first in the city to require that students study Arabic, officials said yesterday.

Beginning next semester, all 200 second- through fifth-graders at PS 368 in Hamilton Heights will be taught the language twice a week for 45 minutes — putting it on equal footing with science and music courses.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/arabic_mandatory_at_city_public_UdLomjOOnZNfjDfs6Y QrUN#ixzz1vqjhv9dE

[BrendenF11]

That is some fucking bullshit. There is no reason for arabic to be taught as a mandatory language, I would say this would be the liberals shoving this crap into the studies of our schools. If, and that is a fucking tremendous "if", any language should be taught to American children it should be french, for business purposes. It is a highly universal language much like English. Arabic on the other hand, well we're not dealing in camels for any kind of trade.

[goinloco1]

wtf? pretty much a worthless language. there are so many different dialects. each friggin country and tribe has their own.
If I had a kid in that school he wouldnt be for long.
Fucking schools need to get back to teaching the basics instead of dumbing down the kids with all these mandatory bullshit classes.
If i had a kid that wanted to learn it thats fine, but forcing it on kids isnt. I can see nothing but a whole lot of pissed off people over this shit

[gazzthompson]

I don't really see much of a problem, we had to learn German for 3 years (in till I dropped it) . Mandatory language lessons are a good idea, not just for the use of the language (which for most will be useless) but its good to have on a CV. I would of preferred a more exotic language , like Chinese or something.

[Sixx]

Sure you don't see a problem with it Gazz. We all know why.....typical response from you against us AC redneck amerikuns :P :)
German is more useful than Arabic.

Arabic would only benefit American citizens that would become linguists in the military/government sector in order to aid in killing our Muslim enemies/prevent future attacks. We are short, especially in the USAF. Washout rate is high....and way too many dialects.

Arabic businessmen, oil crooks etc speak English.




Also Mr. Gazz,
Tell me how many nice/fun elective courses, music, and art programs/courses that have been ditched in NY public schools due to funding issues? Go on....tell me.

Yet they can manage to find the funds to teach a mandatory complex language course that is not necessary in our country x2 a week 45 min in duration.

If someone wants to study Arabic, go to college/university. Or get a Rosseta Stone disk :)


But being serious, I have an issue with it being mandatory. Our youth needs creative learning and involved programs in school to keep them off the streets and out of jail/prison.

Those types of classes have been cut due to funding, screwing our youth hard. Same with necessary tools like Desktops, laptops, and updated books. (believe it or not, some schools still have 80's era books)

[MadeInRu]

@ Gazz,

I think the biggest issue here is that it's a mandatory lesson rather then a choice. I can understand the necessity of learning foreign languages and all the benefits it offers. But why not to give a choice, like French, German, Spanish or Arabic for example? So each person can choose which one the want to learn.

Arabic is a complicated language and certainly not the first choice of many, hell even i would go for Chinese over Arabic any day of the week.

[gazzthompson]

@Sixx i have no idea why them other classes where cancelled , i was just commenting on this. Language skills are brilliant, as i said not just for the actual language itself.

@MIR

Availability of teachers? i didn't get a choice, it was just German. its not practical or realistic for most if any schools to offer that wide of a range.

[Sixx]

Lol Gazz.


Seems like you are just counter posting as usual.
Get a clue dude.

Doesn't it get old? I can post a thread and know exactly what your comments will be like.....regardless of subject matter. Kinda like our broken record right-wingers.



I thought you were an open minded free thinker. What would your comments have been if it were a mandatory Hebrew class?

Or how about keeping religion out of schools? Arabic is the universal language of Muslims and the Koran.




Tell the truth, you just counter posted because of the word "Arabic" was being used.

[gazzthompson]

I would support it if it was Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi , Russian , Bengali.... As i said, its not just the language itself but the skill of learning it. Depending on the teachers available to teach it and if its practical of course.

It helps the school, kids like it, parents like it and they can opt out. Seems everyone is happy.

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120524/hamilton-heights/hamilton-heights-kids-learn-arabic-first-of-its-kind-program#ixzz1vpDB40td


Students and parents at P.S. 368 are enthusiastic supporters of the program.


Any parent who adamantly opposes the classes will be given alternatives, organizers said.

If everybody is happy, so am i. I would of preferred Arabic over German , sounds a lot more interesting and the cultural differences make it more interesting as well.

[eaglethebeagle]

Actually I think this is a good idea as we will need our kids to know arabic or at least have the root of the language so that when they enter the military academies they can fine tune their dialect depending on region of middle east specialization to then be able to work in the CIA or spec ops and help us kill the fuck out of more terrorist.

[Sixx]

Gazz of course the Parents will agree with Arabic being taught. Look at the location and demographics.
Look at the Student demographics of Hamilton Heights School. look at that schools reviews/ratings....

I seen quite a few ratings showing 0% in English, Much lower than NYC average (25%) 0% is that correct lol?

That School has been severely crippled by funding cuts.
Makes you wonder why a Qatar based organization selected that school to pay for it's Arabic course. That organization probably hand picked the teachers as well.

Hmm... What is the real agenda?.....and that is legitimate question. Not fear mongering. Why does the QFI select public and charter schools in the hood?

I'm all for education. I'd like to see all languages taught as an elective....but unfortunately politics and money screws education.


This shit just doesn't add up at all. Just sayin'

[nastyleg]

My problem is this, the American public education system is such a fucking joke, and yet they are forcing a language down the throats of these children who have yet to master English. Extra curricular activities should be reserved for higher education. Yes getting rid of foreign languages in high school is what I am talking about too. If you must force a language down the throats of students it should be Spanish first in elementary schools then mandarin Chinese in high school. My $.02.

[Sixx]

Had to edit my posts lol
The photoshopped pic was making me laugh too much and I really do not like to laugh.

[MadeInRu]

Had to edit my posts lol
The photoshopped pic was making me laugh too much.

NO!! you got scared you gonna go in TO :D :D :D

[Sixx]

NO!! you got scared you gonna go in TO :D :D :D


Damn, I'm busted! :D :D

[Rick32]

Are we now so intimidated by terrorists that we are fearful of..a language?

[Clodius]

I attended a CUNY college back in the 90's and African American studies was mandatory for all. It was pretty much a bash Whitey hour as you had a bunch of losers in there venting and blaming others for their problems. I'm against mandatory anything, I mean aren't we paying for our education. Why should we pay for something that is mandated?

[nastyleg]

Are we now so intimidated by terrorists that we are fearful of..a language?

You missed the point of the class being MANDATORY. Terrorism has nothing to do with it in my opinion. I am against and language class that doesn't help student through school. Show me an Arabic school book in the elementary syllabus. ESL is necessary for the student to get through our educational program and be.able to interact with English speaking students. This Arabic class is a waste of money, time and resources. If we had an Arabic speaking neighbor I could see it as useful but then again it would take a back seat to ESL. Learn the native language of the country you're born in before you attempt to learn another.

[MadeInRu]

Are we now so intimidated by terrorists that we are fearful of..a language?

Dude, no one is intimidated by the language, whole thing is about making it mandatory and as some already pointed out, those founds can be spend on a better things in already not so perfect American educational system. I can tell you, in 1.30 hrs a week, without practice in RL, you will learn how to say how are you and goodbye. Waist of time. You really think that average American teenager of none Arabic background gonna be screaming in excitement because he can learn Arabic now? They wouldn't give a shit about it. Such Languages like Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or basically any other none western with totally different grammatically rules, punctuation and most of all alphabet can be thought at a school lvl to the kids with attention span of 15 minutes?

Those are complicated Languages for westerners and require complicated approach. More time, dedication, trips to foreign countries for practice....

This idea is nothing short of a joke really if you considering to actually learn something....

[Rick32]

You missed the point of the class being MANDATORY. Terrorism has nothing to do with it in my opinion. I am against and language class that doesn't help student through school. Show me an Arabic school book in the elementary syllabus. ESL is necessary for the student to get through our educational program and be.able to interact with English speaking students. This Arabic class is a waste of money, time and resources. If we had an Arabic speaking neighbor I could see it as useful but then again it would take a back seat to ESL. Learn the native language of the country you're born in before you attempt to learn another.


Except the class is not mandatory, despite what a poorly researched newspaper article may tell you. IB programs allow the school to pick between 75+ different languages, after meeting with parents this school happend to pick Arabic. Parents must sign a waiver, and can opt out their children if they wish. As to your other issue, the point of learning is not to "get through school", it is to aquire tools and skills you can use later in life. Ask the CIA\FBI what languages they are looking for and they will tell you Arabic and Chinese.

One public school out of the nearly 100,000 in the country is giving an Arabic language class. If you have a rational brain, it should tell you that that doesn't even qualify as a trivial concern.

[MadeInRu]

It's a waist of money not because it's an Arabic/Terror language, but because those languages are studied at the different level then 45+45 per week with no practice. 95% Of none Arabic students won't remember 5 words 1 year after they're done with school. They will have none existent pronunciation, no grammar, nothing. Opportunistic projects at that stage and age of education should be punished by law. American schools already have a "reputation", now i can see even better why... Education is not a game of let's try that shit this year, it should be educational!!!

[serpa6]

NO!! you got scared you gonna go in TO :D :D :D
Shit thats funny the whole staff got a kick out of it I am still laughing

[nastyleg]

Look, when only 72% of all high schoolers across America graduate it should bee seen as a sign for people to wake the Fuck up and focus on the fundamentals. Foreign language is an extra curricular activity. So yeah just making it to the graduation stage of high school of as I put it getting through school needs to be the goal. One book that you need to check out, not being condescending, is Lies My History Teacher Told Me. It goes to show under prepared for college because of a lack of basic knowledge.

[Rick32]

It's a waist of money not because it's an Arabic/Terror language, but because those languages are studied at the different level then 45+45 per week with no practice. 95% Of none Arabic students won't remember 5 words 1 year after they're done with school. They will have none existent pronunciation, no grammar, nothing. Opportunistic projects at that stage and age of education should be punished by law. American schools already have a "reputation", now i can see even better why... Education is not a game of let's try that shit this year, it should be educational!!!

Of course they are not going to be fluent in another language in that time frame, no one expect them to be as that is not the point. Using that logic you would consider every 4th grader who takes a violin class to to be a failure because they cant play Grand Caprice after a year. Some children are gifted at math, others music, language, art and so forth. The idea is to let your children explore and find out what they excel at.

As to your snide little "reputation" comment, yes this country certainly has its problems, but we put them out in full view for everyone to see and analyze. I consider that one of the main strengths of the USA. But if you'd like to compare and contrast systems then by all means, although that's a mighty tall glass house you're standing in..

[veritas44]

Personnel opinion...they should make it mandatory for language to be taught in school. They should start in 1st grade when the language center of the brain is still developing. Not in high school by then it almost to late.
Its a proven scientific fact that young children can learn multiple languages fluently but by the time they hit their teens the language center of the brain is developed and it is extremely difficult to process another language.
Their parents should pick a language for them when they enter 1st grade and they should be taught that language through 8th grade...they can decide for themselves if they want to continue the language through high school.
The U.S. is falling way behind and if nothing else remember those children are the ones that will be running this country one day...shit we are already running into the problem of obesity in our kids...they don't have recess anymore like they did when i was a kid because people are afraid the children might get hurt...ow well, rub some dirt in it like we did when we were kids

[Sixx]

^^
It usually starts in pre-school and up. Not first grade or so...
A lot of preschools in the northeast are teaching two languages at once. I'm sure those preschools cost a lot more.
I'm going to assume that the west coast has pre-schools like that as well.

Your opinion though seems like it's based in a perfect world. We 're not living in one.
Public education in the United States is pretty much garbage now, especially in the inner cities. Education needs serious funding.

I agree, I feel that more languages should be mandatory in public schools.
What about English? Shouldn't the English language be mandatory?( I'm not talking about it being mandatory to speak English)

[veritas44]

^^
It usually starts in pre-school and up. Not first grade or so...
A lot of preschools in the northeast are teaching two languages at once. I'm sure those preschools cost a lot more.
I'm going to assume that the west coast has pre-schools like that as well.

Your opinion though seems like it's based in a perfect world. We 're not living in one.
Public education in the United States is pretty much garbage now, especially in the inner cities. Education needs serious funding.

I agree, I feel that more languages should be mandatory in public schools.



What about English? Shouldn't the English language be mandatory?( I'm not talking about it being mandatory to speak English)


I don't know about pre school...put in public school language is not taught until high school and you have to take 2 years in order to graduate high school...by then, unless your one of those gifted people, it to late, you will not remember very much
It has nothing to do with a perfect world...it has to do with children learning a language when their brains are still soaking up knowledge.
In japan they start learning English as soon as they begin school.
When I was in high school we had an exchange student from Finland...he spoke 4 language and when he graduated he had to go back to Finland and go back t school because our school system was considered inferior.
I took calculus with him and he never opened his book.....he had already taken it in middle school. Yes he had an A in the class.

No its not a perfect world but for fuck sakes when over half the students in the schools system can't find the U.S. on a globe its time to do something or are you satisfied with graduating McDonald's burger flippers...

[Sixx]

^^
Perfect world as in money doesn't grow on trees. Schools have budgets. There is a reason why our schooling is deemed inferior.
How much tax payer money is wasted on total garbage like the war on drugs or foreign aid to countries that want our people dead? Our children should have top priority.

Yet our children are being cheated and handicapped due to greed and stupidity.
You said it yourself, these are the children that will be running our country one day.



In 6th grade I took German and Spanish. We also had French available too.
Hmmm.......maybe it's because I was in DoDDS-E schools.....not sure

[veritas44]

^^

Preachin to the choir :)

[Red_Devil]

might want to google the 10 planks of the communist party and The Communist Takeover Of America - 45 Declared Goals

just sayin'...