Professor Timothy Longman, with a purview in political science and international relations, posted on social media speaking about the importance of language studies, from personal experience, and about the widespread demand that the Department of Education reinstate the Title VI program. He finishes the bluesky thread by saying “If you agree, contact your government officials to tell them to reinstate Title VI” which of course I believe is the correct thing to do. Professor Longman also emphasizes that AI is no a substitute for classroom and real world human learning of languages.
My letter to reps:
Dept of Education needs to reinstate the Title VI program to funds foreign language & area studies programs. There is no gain for America by curtailing the ability of Americans to understand and meaningfully interact with the world and there is no substitute for classroom language learning.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
Here is a portion of what Prof. Tim Longman had to say about this.
Tim Longman @ timlongman.bsky.social September 30, 2025 at 12:52 PM With the elimination not just of Title VI but of language departments at a growing number of universities, I want to speak in defense of formal language study. It has been essential for my career, but language training gives so much more than just research and career skills. I was fortunate to begin French in 4th grade and to continue in high school and college. Fluency in French is why I chose African studies, and it allowed me to research in Rwanda, Burundi, and Congo. Without French, half of Africa is closed to people. I also studied Lingala (with a FLAS) and Swahili in classrooms, and worked with a tutor on Kinyarwanda. While I always use a translator from African languages (usually into French), studying the languages has proven essential. (…) Some of you may agree that we need to learn languages but will argue that we can learn them with apps and AI. I have studied 9 languages using every available method and will strongly argue that nothing can compare with classroom teaching. The classroom allows a level of interaction, adaptation, and flexibility that other methods simply cannot provide. I have been studying Portuguese for a year now, working on it every single day using two apps, but I still struggle to speak and understand. The decline of language study in the US makes our country weaker, less capable, less intelligent, and increasingly myopic. Language opens up the world while knowing only English closes off much of the world. If you agree, contact your government officials to tell them to reinstate Title VI.
Please go follow and boost up this thread if you’re on the app bluesky. This person is considered a top expert in the Rwandan genocide, which of course I’ve repeatedly said is something that I believe Americans would do well to understand, respect, and consider.
