The Absurdity of Teaching French

Why insist on making students learn French instead of applying the resources invested in teaching this language to other languages that are more in demand by the market such as English, Portuguese, German or Mandarin?

EDITORIAL

The design of school and college curriculums is supposed to be primarily based on the objectives of the political social project being promoted by the government, which should prioritize preparing students for incorporation into the national economy, complemented by cultural elements which should cover the ENTIRE population of the country.

If we accept the aforementioned argument, we should be surprised by the news reported on Nacion.com regarding the inclusion by the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) of Costa Rica, of new French programs, with which they promise to raise the quality of teaching of that language in schools in the country.

At a time when the rigidity of high unemployment (10%) and unofficial employment (47%) which Costa Rica is suffering from is under discussion, and one of the main causes cited for this rigidity is the lack of preparation of the unemployed to join current forms of production of goods and services, government authorities need to explain the reasons for promoting the dedication of state resources and the time spent by students to teaching and learning French. It is essential to explain why those resources would not be better spent on better teaching of English, and in other cases, teaching languages which are much more in demand in Costa Rica, such as Portuguese, German, or Mandarin.

In the XXI century the influence of France in the field of diplomacy is disproportionate in relation to the relevance of that country in the global economy. The use of French as an official language in global international organizations persists without any demonstrable practical reason that indicates what the benefits are for the inhabitants of the countries that assimilate those institutions. The only explanation for the persistence of this situation is habit, added to the disproportionate presence of France in diplomatic areas, especially the extremely strong lobby exercised by the French embassies around the world. And we are not saying this in order to undermine the historical importance of France in the development of Western civilization, but it is a simple description of the current reality.

The international diplomatic corporation embedded in the thousands of international organizations, being the corporations that they are, have interests that often differ from national ones, which ought to be served exclusively. The very strong French lobbying in favor of the teaching of their language often relies on the need for local government officials to cultivate relationships that will help them continue their careers in international organizations. 

We would indeed be glad if it was refuted with an explanation given of the reasons why young Costa Ricans should devote time and effort to studying French at the expense of improving their English, or learning Portuguese, German, or Mandarin, which are the languages that are currently most in demand in the market.

If the decline of France as a political and economic power in the 60's made the compulsory study of French an absurdity, 50 years later it is a serious blunder that shows how far away some Central American governments are from reality and the needs of their citizens and the economies that they should be managing.

Source: Central America Data Express