What?!? Why "waste time" on a foreign language???

Wow, I was pretty blown away by a recent column in the Washington Post titled "Why Waste Time on a Foreign Langauge?". He argues that not much fluency is gained in two years of HS language courses. Who ever gave this columnist the idea that learning a second or third language is easy? At the beginning of every Spanish course that I teach I have my students answer several questions in writing. This information is between the student and I, as their teacher. It gives them an opportunity to let me know if they are shy, if they have any special needs, typical background information (Have you ever studied a foreign language?, Have you every visited a Spanish-speaking country?) and more. I always ask them to explain to me what they would like to get out of the course. I am always inspired by their answers to this question. They are driven, they want to learn, they are excited at the prospect of being able to communicate in Spanish. Often they respond with statements like "I want to be fluent.", "I want to be able to hold a conversation." and other ambitious goals. I work hard to design my course to help them reach their goals, but what people often don't realize is that learning another language is a lot of work! Of course people aren't "fluent" in two years! As a Spanish teacher I am continually working on my fluency. In fact, I usually opt to say that I am "proficient" in Spanish instead of fluent. To me fluency comes to one after years of study and immersion into the language for several years. My aunt, who came from Greece to Michigan 25 years ago is fluent in English, but she is still learning. And to be honest, I learn more about English daily! I was happy to see Language Magazine's staffer, Kate Sommers-Dawes response to the article in a letter to the editor. I appreciate her much more eloquent response! :-)