Finally, some schools realizing that we will be competitive in business when our people know more than our own language. And they are starting in kindergarten, when it is easiest to learn a language. DP
Tony Tagliavia
WILX.com : "Un raton en la casa!" kindergarten students shout back to Lansing schoolteacher Ann Grimm.
You heard right: Kindergarteners are learning Spanish right here in Lansing.
"We have an enormous population in the country and especially in the city who speak Spanish. It's important for communication," Grimm said.
Grimm drops by Lansing's Wainwright magnet school three days a week to teach Spanish to five- and six-year-olds. They're the age at which researchers say it's easiest to learn a new language.
And the language they're learning makes sense, according to Michigan State University’s acting dean of International Studies.
"From a business standpoint, Spanish, understandably, would be an important one," Acting Dean Jeff Riedinger said.
But some say in the increasingly global 21st century, it's time to broaden language offerings.
"Looking to the future: Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Korean. A number of languages. Hindi. They're already important trading partners or becoming important trading partners," Riedinger said.
He says with all the talk about Michigan becoming competitive in the "global economy," state residents are going to have to do their part by learning more global languages.
"Our competitors are learning their own language and culture and learning our language and culture. That puts them at a competitive advantage," Riedinger said.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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