LANGUAGE SKILLS OPEN DOORS

If you speak three languages, you are trilingual; if you speak two languages, you are bilingual; if you speak one language, you are American.

Donna Ellis, teacher of Spanish at Cape Girardeau Central High School, hopes someday that punchline becomes obsolete.

To help her along the way, Missouri's education department has awarded a $6,500 incentive grant to improve students' language skills, cultural awareness and knowledge of geography.

"Second-language acquisition is vital to our global economy and job market," said Ellis.

A recent article in Changing Times The Kiplinger Magazine said the big career winners in the 1990s will be those with a second language.

Engineers, accountants, brokers, computer systems analysts, international lawyers and paralegals, health professionals and travel agents can enhance their earning potential and job prospects by learning a second language.

Otis Baker, Missouri's assistant commissioner for instruction in Missouri agrees: "Second-language acquisition is vital to our global economy and job market. Language acquisition is needed at government, business and academic levels. America needs professional business translators and to enhance cultural education. There is a strong connection between language education and economic competitiveness."

Students are discovering that language acquisition, in addition to a job skill, may be a college entrance requirement.

"Almost every college requires two and up to four years of a foreign language just for college entry," Ellis said. "Almost every college requires 10 hours of a foreign language to graduate."

Ellis says students should learn a foreign language, and she is quick to recommend Spanish. By the year 2010, she said, Spanish will be the number one language in the world.

With the grant money, Ellis plans to put more reality into the classroom. She has purchased a computer with CD-ROM to run a variety of language programs.

She also purchased 52 episodes of "Destinos," a soap opera in Spanish. To follow the story line, students must understand the dialogue.

"Living in Cape Girardeau, students don't have that much exposure to `the real language,'" she said. "These videos help students understand the language through context."

She also bought an assortment of books, magazines and other reading materials in Spanish.

Ellis's students of Spanish report they have had opportunities to use their new language skills in the "real world."

Jeremy Welch a high school senior enrolled in Spanish V, plans to enter the Navy and become a language expert. He will utilize scholarship options available, thanks to his knowledge of Spanish.

Robert Felker, a sophomore enrolled in Spanish III, has attend a "total immersion" language institute the last two summers. "Learning a foreign language is important to me to knock down a few more barriers in my future," he said.

Jason Leggett, a senior and student in Spanish V, works at Burger King in Cape Girardeau. He often uses his language skills on the job.

Heather Englemann, who also works at Burger King, and Jeremy Robinette, who works at Ponderosa, both agreed.

Kelly Russell, a senior student in Spanish IV, did modeling in San Diego and Los Angeles. She spoke Spanish daily.

Juniors Casey Erlbacher, Catherine Bergerson and Brandi Schumacher traveled to Europe over the summer. They discovered that nearly everyone there speaks two or three languages.

Brian Little, a junior and student in Spanish IV, vacationed in Denver, Colo., this summer and found many people who spoke Spanish. He even ordered a meal in Spanish.

The message is getting through, Ellis said. Last year 483 Cape Girardeau students were enrolled in Spanish; 160 in French; and 133 in Latin. All three language programs experienced an increase in enrollment from the year prior, and Ellis expects this year's totals to be even higher.