Many Schools Moving Towards Mandatory Foreign Language Study

According to the American Translators Association, Kentucky has a go-ahead vote by its Board of Education, as it has begun a World Language Program Review of the state’s public high schools. The process is to implement a universal foreign language education in the state of Kentucky. Elementary schools and middle schools will have programs that require students to meet the state’s new requirements for global competency. Reviews will require schools to gather evidence to show how they integrate foreign languages and other subjects across curricula to provide students with a higher quality of learning opportunities.

Education - Pupils at primary or elementary school doing their h

Catherine Del Valle, interim vice president of the Kentucky World Language Association, acknowledges the difficulties but says the state needs global competency to remain competitive in an international marketplace. Del Valle says the end goal is to start language training early so that students will be ready to become truly proficient when they reach high school. Then she adds, “What’s the use of studying a language if you can’t use it to communicate?”

Many other states have also moved towards requiring foreign languages for student to graduate. As some states do not fully require languages for graduation, many have options that include the requirement. In Ohio, languages are not required, but for students that would like to graduate with honors, they are required two consecutive years of the same language. The National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) includes information over the following 28 States about specific language requirements.

  • California
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

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Sign Language Interpreter at Nelson Mandela Memorial is a ‘Fake’

The deaf community at Nelson Mendela’s memorial service was shocked by the “fake” sign language interpreter on stage whose signing was repetitive and unintelligible.

Nelson Mandela's memorial service

Millions of attendees, including President Barack Obama, watched this interpreter as he continued to make many gestures of gibberish. Hundreds of people joined the social media frenzy to express their anger. Several deaf groups confirmed his signing did not reflect the comments being made by the speaker.

Paul Breckell, chief executive of the U.K.-based charity Action on Hearing Loss, said: “We are shocked by the quality of sign language interpretation at Nelson Mandela’s memorial — if it could be called interpretation at all.”

He added, “the limited number of signs, the amount of repetition, lack of facial expressions and huge gaps in translation meant that deaf or hard of hearing people across the world were completely excluded from one of the biggest events in recent history.”

Many people easily recognized that the interpreter’s hand structure, facial expressions, and body movements did not follow what the speaker was saying. In addition to the misinterpretation of sign language at Nelson Mandela’s memorial, the same man was found signing at various African National Congress events.

Watch the video from the New York Times below.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qu1cs6Fhk8

At Access 2 Interpreters, we speak your language! One of the many languages that our experienced staff can assist you with is American Sign Language. Visit https://access2interpr.wpengine.com/languages/ for more information!