To the editor:

I appreciate the Saturday Column of May 14, regarding the emphasis on foreign languages in the global marketplace.

I am a longtime resident of Lawrence, with a degree in Spanish from Kansas University. I am currently teaching high school Spanish in south-central Kansas. There is a great need for Spanish speakers in this area due to several local industries with high percentages of their employees coming from Mexico and Central America. These large, international industries are right here in middle America. The communities here are ill-equipped to handle the influx of Spanish speakers.

I would like to point out that proficiency in a foreign language takes more than two to four years at the university level. If our students are to enter the job force in the global marketplace as fully prepared “global players,” it is going to require a concerted statewide effort, starting in the elementary schools, to improve foreign language education.

The United States is one of very few countries in the world that does not require its students to learn a second language as part of mandatory curricula in all schools. This needs to change as foreign language skills become increasingly critical in the global marketplace.

Thank you for bringing this very important issue to the attention of your readers. Let’s all get the message to our local and state representatives!

Michelle Tamburini,

Anthony