Building a Nation of Polyglots, Starting With the Very Young
by Joseph Berger
Seven-year-old Cooper Van Der Meer is learning Spanish as a second language.That's right. This American native is lucky enough to be in a school system that considers the acquisition of languages so important in today's polyglot, globally entwined America that students start learning a foreign language in kindergarten. With an economy that recognizes few geographical borders, and with people from all over the planet becoming our next-door neighbors, more Americans are demanding language instruction earlier in school.
The New York Times, 11/14/2007