Having been in the foreign language service industry for many years, I have developed a deep appreciation for the importance of language learning and cultural awareness in schools. Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way. Because of a lack of appreciation for language learning and cultural awareness, we see how communication barriers are not being overcome. Whether it is in hospitals, social service meetings, boardrooms or government, the challenges in bridging the language and cultural gaps we face as a society are not being met by the solutions presented in our schools. Even the U.S. State Department recently had trouble translating a simple phrase from English into Russian, which was kindly pointed out by the Russian President on live television (although, in the State Department’s defense, they have issued statements that the U.S. is in critical need of foreign language speakers). Too often there is insufficient emphasis placed on language learning and cultural awareness both on the part of school administrators and the students themselves. Sometime budgets dictate the caliber of foreign language programs, but even when budgets are sufficient, both school administrators and students too often do not have an appropriate appreciation for these invaluable subjects and do not allocate the necessary resources or attention.

Of course it is easy to rant about the importance of language learning and cultural awareness and the lack of appreciation shown by some individuals and institutions. However, that does not bring our population any closer to remedying this situation. While it is difficult to effect such a change and many advocates are already doing what they can to make a difference, AES Languages is joining the fight. We are volunteering our resources to reach students at local elementary and middle schools through an outreach program. Our goal is to convey the importance of language learning and cultural awareness to students in the hopes of inspiring them to make the most of their foreign language classes. By demonstrating how tangible the work they are doing in their classrooms is to their lives, we hope to help them enrich their lives and academic experience and see the world from different and exciting perspectives.

We are very excited about this program and will offer more details in the weeks to come. If anyone would like to offer advice, suggest helpful resources or know of a school that would be interested in having us talk to their students, please let me know!