But you are demonstrating the will to learn. THAT is the crux of the issue. If you say WGAS, why should I put more than the minimum into you? Take the $5 I gave you and show me what you do with it. If you are buying pencils, rulers and pens, I might decide that you are worth a further investment. OTOH, if all you do is spend it on Bubble Gum, I pissed away $5 and won't put forward more.

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One of my kids began life with a Cajun-French speaking nanny then transitioned to standard French k-8 French immersion schools. She is academically bilingual and after having spent a year of university study in Paris thinks in both languages. 30-40 years ago I was bilingual spanish/english. My spanish command is now at a pre-k level and it sucks. One of the things I hope to do post-retirement is go to a spanish immersion program in Costa Rica. Then maybe an Arabic immersion in Morocco. Both programs are well regarded by gov & industry for teaching execs enough language to function.

Execs, yes. When their highest ambition is to be a teenage mom, no

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Okay, I was once a teenager.

But I have never been pregnant. Nor do I have the intent or ability to become thus.

Obviously you achieved something in your life. I'm not opposed to giving kids the option. However, making it a necessity just because it is a good thing to have and the potential exists but the basic stuff is not present is throwing good money after bad.

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I'm with you on that -- I HATE the gov making anything a legal necessity -- it is anti-liberty, I'm just saying it worked well for my kid, whom we entered in immersion voluntarily. It was more than worth the taxes we paid.

Really? How does that explain children who learn two languages simultaneously? Sure, there is the magic of the flexible mind of a child at work but I think very few of us have achieved perfection with our native tongue. Some bilingual people can't read or write either language. They were perfect in their mother tongue before they learned the second?

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

One swallow does not a spring make. Sure, there is a Mozart or Einstein out there. But to assume everyone is and trying to craft the that way is kinda silly as a way to spend money.

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05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
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03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
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With children it's a developmental window that opens and closes in the first few years. The lucky little bastards learn languages organically.

For the rest of us, it's a long, hard slog to learn a 2nd language. I understand that it is easier to learn a third language (even if unrelated to the first two) if one has a command of the first two.

I expect it's related to the different ways that children and adults learn language, I dunno.

To what end? If their job is "Would you like fries with that?", who cares? You can dispute that it is harder to learn later on. However, that is assuming a willing student in both cases. This is like grad school. People are willing to learn. Freshman year in college, I'm still looking for my next buzz and classes are somewhere when I am getting over my hangover.

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04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
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When in kollege it was a tortured PITA to learn French. But along the way I found that it was fairly easy to understand and even speak a little Spanish and Italian, and even a little Portuguese as I continued my studies. They are all Romance languages and that helped a lot.

In a manner similar to what’s stated above I studied linguistics in both French and English for a year, each. I agree one can go further with linguistics and language once one has studied another language.

Since my kollege days, I never once used the foreign language skills I so painfully acquired. OTOH, I’ve published a few times so my training in English definitely brought dividends.

To learn a language just for the sake of it is torture. Worse, failing an opportunity to use it regurlarly, for most it will vanish like sand through a sieve. Personally, I’d rather learn another musical instrument rather than another language.

Damned if I can answer that question for you. "To what end" is a question everybody needs to ask himself of every choice and endeavor of life.

As long as you are paying for it, yes. You want to spend $100K on music lessons for your child who has a bad attitude and no musical appreciation or talent, have at it. When you advocate spending more of others money, shouldn't that be a valid question? I can spend my paycheck on Twinkie and Ho His all day long. When I ask your company to buy something, I should be able to state a business purpose and what returns we can expect.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

So, you really think that people set out to become teen parents and work at McFood as a life ambition? Seems a little myopic to me.

I wonder if some of these kids had a cultural immersion opportunity discussed here, if they might not find an interest in culture or education...and maybe not end up a teen parent working at McFood? Can you wrap your head around that?

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touched by his noodly appendage

Refer to what I wrote.