The primary goals of the world language program in Fairfax County Public Schools are to ensure that students:

• Communicate in languages other than English.
• Gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
• Connect with other disciplines and acquire information.
• Develop insight into the nature of language and culture.
• Participate in multicultural communities at home and around the world.

These goals include a comprehensive focus for instruction that takes language learners beyond the classroom. In the world language curriculum, students will not only learn to communicate with native speakers of the language, but they will do so with the cultural knowledge necessary to interact appropriately.

Benefits of Being Proficient in More Than One Language at an Early Age

(From the Center for Applied Linguistics)

• Has a positive effect on intellectual growth.
• Enriches and enhances a child's mental development.
• Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening.
• Improves a child's understanding of his or her native language.
• Gives a child the ability to communicate with people he or she may not have had the chance to know.
• Opens the door to other cultures and helps the child understand and appreciate people from other countries.
• Gives the child a head start in language requirements for college.
• Increases job opportunities in many careers in which a second language is a real asset.