Gul Mohammad Ahmadi - 14

Schools should not force children to learn a foreign language.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is true that some people claim that a foreign language should not be one of the mandatory subjects studied in schools or in the university. While it seems to me that it is crucial for every single student to learn a foreign language, I completely agree that they should not be compelled to learn a foreign language during their school years.

On the one hand, it is undeniable that learning fereign languages is very useful for children. Knowing a different language helps children have better chances in studying and working in the future. For example, nowadays, a plenty of students who are studying in engineering and medicine department are facing with many dificulties because of their lectures and study books which are all in English. In additon, learning other languages assists children to understand more about different traditions and cultures, which may encourage matual understanding among people in different nations and promote the globalisation.

On the other hand, I believe that children should not be forced to learn a foreign language because of many reasons. Firts of all, learning under pressure does not bring about a pleasant result of studying to children. Furthermore, if we force them to learn a foreign language, not only do they feel stressful and become coward, but also they may lose their passion and motivation in studying languages and other lessons, as well. For instance, when I was a child, I could observe that most of our teachers and sect leaders (imams) compelled the kids to attend religious lectures and unfortunately a majority of my classmates came across with mental diseases and lost their consciousness.

To sum up, although there are some people who argue that learning a foreign language should be optional and not a compulsory subject for school pupils, from my perspective, learning a foreign language is vital for every individual student; yet, it should not be by imposing force.