Why do I have to study a foreign language anyway???

So you’re in a foreign language class… now what?  Believe it or not (hint of sarcasm) many students have no interest in taking a foreign language and resent being forced to take the class for a graduation requirement.  However, foreign language is not the ONLY class they are obligated to take!  So why does this complaint seem to be a recurrent theme among students?  They bemoan the obligation to fulfill a foreign language requirement and yet say nothing regarding some of the other required courses?  Maybe this is because in general people have a fear of the unknown.  But is learning a language really the ‘unknown’?  What I mean is that we all had learned our native language pretty fluently by the time we were 3 years old!  We’ve all done it before, so learning another language should be like riding the proverbial bike, right?  Exactly!  So, let’s get back on that bike and learn a language!

Ok, but ‘why?’ you ask.   Obviously, there must be reasons that most universities require foreign language courses.   (Most schools require that students take at least 2 years of the same foreign language to be admitted, and there are more stringent requirements for the more prestigious schools.)