This is bad — real bad.
 
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures told The Daily Reveille on Tuesday that four language programs — Russian, Portuguese, Japanese and Swahili — will be cut completely.
 
I’m a lover of languages, and an intense believer in their benefit. I’ve experienced firsthand how learning another language can have innumerable benefits for any learner.
 
It’s really tough to blow up or shoot the same people that helped you work on your irregular verbs. Really, tough.
 
The profound benefit of being immersed in a new culture, experiencing other ways of life and gaining a relationship with friends who become so close they become your family should be more than enough.
 
But I’m realistic, and as a business management major I understand I’ll need more than anecdotes and poetry to convince you.
 
A study done by Rosetta Stone in 2005 showed that if you know just one foreign language, you will make, on average, $10,000 more per year.
 
Interested yet?
 
I once saw an offer for a job, only several years ago, offering a $650,000 salary to someone who knew Russian, given they were willing to move to Russia and had several years of experience with their degree.
 
Military pay also goes up significantly — up to $1,000 per month for those who know a second language, and up to $500 per month for those in the Reserve and National Guard, according to Military.com.
 
Friends and colleagues, I’m hard pressed to think of a single student I’ve met who hasn’t taken a class they strongly believe they’ll never use, and not once has it been their language class.
 
I was fortunate enough to take Greek and Hebrew here, and I can say their benefits to all my other classes cannot be understated. It’s no wonder Greek and Latin have been a part of classical education since its inception. You studied the maths and sciences, but you were also expected to know Socrates, Plato and what the word eudaemonic means. It’s on the same level, and I have no idea where the University’s priorities lie now if not with the full education of its students.
 
Let’s be honest with ourselves. If you want to learn French or Spanish, you can buy language tapes and make a couple of new friends. If you think you can pick up Russian or Japanese without a teacher, though, you’re sadly mistaken.
 
Sayonara, Japanese.
Paka, Russian.
Adeus, Portuguese.
Kwaheri, Swahili.
 
Devin Graham is a 21-year-old business management senior from Prairieville. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_dgraham.
 
 
 
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Contact Devin Graham at [email protected]