So let's design a curriculum with BOTH a heavy emphasis on economics AND foreign language. And why you pick only 4 languages makes little sense. Latin, Greek, and Spanish are easily foundational structures and readily available in many schools. No one can convince me that setting high standards in the realm of language arts is somehow detrimental. Do you realize just how much time is wasted in a given day at most schools? We should be able to teach, and expect the students to retain, at least twice as much.
And it should be a choice. There should always be the option to opt out, so to speak. But, in a Darwinian economy (and society), I have a feeling most kids can easily be convinced that learning as much as possible is of utmost priority. By teaching a kid well, you can produce an intellectual monster.
The reason why I chose 4 languages should be evident to you, JRH, unless you are dumber than I was inclined to believe.
Chinese (1 Billion Plus Chinese)
Hindu (1 Billion plus Indians)
Japanese (130 Million Japanese, the largest investor group in the United States, outside of Great Britain which speaks English)
German (Another major economic power)
To mention the others is to ignore the fact that in just those four languages any one can easily approach Over half the population of the World, including the two fastest growing populations and communicate. Your mention of the romance languages fails to account for the fact that Europe is in decline and will not likely be of any great influence in the next 50 years outside of Germany which remains the world's largest exporter.
But if we are going to argue about languages, then we can ditch everything but English, as it has become the universal language of science, engineering and technology.
