English - The Language You NEED to Know

On the front page of the Week in Review section of Sunday, 4-14-96, The New York Times, Michael Specter had the following to say, under the banner "World, Wide, Web: 3 English Words," about the importance of English in this ever so changing world that educators love to tell us about:

...for now if you want to take full advantage of the Internet there is only one way to do it: learn English. English, which has more than ever become America's greatest and most effective export (carrying with it immense cultural power). It has been estimated that there are now more people who speak English as a foreign language than who speak it as their first language. English is already the language of diplomacy, scientific discourse, and air traffic control."

Imagine. To believe administrative advocates of multiculturalism and our school district's highly paid language instruction staff, one would have concluded that English was as dead as Latin; which by the way has more use than some of the other language courses they are proposing.

There's the smell of JOBS and TENURE in the air...again.