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Defunding diverse language classes is a mistake for a 21st century institution. Learning new languages empowers people to access other cultures, communicate with strangers, participate in business and foreign policy, and even connect to their own family history.
Instead of falsely portraying multilingual Americans as unpatriotic, we should consider them an asset who help the nation to engage with the world, communicate liberal democratic ideals to a broader international audience, and assist new immigrants in better integrating here at home.
Read Team Canto's latest op-ed in the Stanford Daily, co-written by Kevin Hsu, Ryan Talvola and Maciej Kurzynski: