This year President Uribe has declared that all schools, public and private, in Colombia must start teaching English and that all schools must become bilingual.

Prior to this, the bilingual schools in this country have been able to capitalize on this for the last several years charging big prices for students to be able to attend their school.  Although that depends on the teachers hired and how qualified they are.

Colombia is to be commended for being one of the first countries to actually make it a mandate that all students must learn English. They are doing this because they realize the importance of students needing it for better jobs.

The majority of the entities represented here is very excited about this and feel that it is a step in the right direction.  So many of the students in Columbia have an aspiration to go to either the US or Europe, and while I don’t expect that to slow down, I do believe that those students who are on top of this will be those who are determined to have a career which will require the English language.

What I do wish would happen is that the US would also require our students to learn a second language, especially Spanish. If countries would offer a 2^nd language from kindergarten through elementary, they would be ready to choose another language by the time they go to junior high and high school.

I encourage all comments, debates and opinions on this matter, because in most all other countries, it is a requirement to learn two, three and many times five languages before students can graduate.

What do you think? I look forward to hearing from you! peppermintmocha@chosen4action.com