DARIEN, Conn. The following letter was written by Kristin Edwards of 76 Noroton Ave.
I am writing in support of having Foreign Languages as part of the elementary curriculum in Darien. My children have been participating in Lingua Kids after school at Hindley for several years (Spanish and now French), but I feel strongly that it should be part of their regular schoolwork. Foreign Languages are one of the few things that differentiate the private schools from our exceptional public school programs. I learned French and Spanish in elementary school and went on to major in French in college. I also learned German as an exchange student in high school and studied it in college as well. My children are aware of this and are excited to learn new languages to broaden their horizons and have enjoyed meeting my friends from other countries. In our area, where Spanish is spoken so prevalently, I feel it is so important for our kids to have a strong understanding of the language.
Learning another language and about other cultures encourages tolerance and acceptance. It opens up the world to these kids, who are often sheltered here in our town. Being able to communicate in a foreign country or to visitors in our country is an invaluable skill. Just knowing one additional language facilitates ones ability to communicate in any foreign language. I am personally grateful for my own knowledge of foreign languages. I am also glad that I started at an early age, when it is considerably easier to take up a second language.
I am in favor of the BOE to add the new Foreign Language Program to our elementary curriculum. It is worth every penny.
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