FOR AMERICA TO ACHIEVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN SOCIETY, IN A WORLD WHERE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DEPRIVATION ARE THE NORM, THE SPANISH LANGUAGE MUST BE RECOGNIZED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT, AND POTENTIALLY THE MOST REWARDING, PART OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE CURRICULUM. LANGUAGE PREFERENCES IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE GENERALLY FOLLOWED THE TRENDS OF INTERNATIONAL PRESTIGE, AND, SINCE THE CENTER OF GRAVITY HAS SHIFTED TO THE UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS OF THE WORLD, LATIN AMERICAN CULTURE, RELATIVELY MORE PROGRESSIVE AND SHARING WITH US A COMMON EUROPEAN HERITAGE, IS THE MOST ACCESSIBLE. THE HUMANISTIC CONTENT OF LATIN AMERICAN AUTHORS IS MORE RELEVANT TO CURRENT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES THAN THE TRADITIONAL WESTERN EUROPEAN CLASSICS. EVEN FROM A DOMESTIC POINT OF VIEW, SPANISH IS THE ONLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE WIDELY SPOKEN IN AMERICA, AND THE UNDERSTANDING AND ASSIMILATION OF SPANISH-SPEAKING MINORITIES IS ONE OF THE PRESSING PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN SOCIETY. FINALLY, SPANISH IS MOST IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT IS EASY, AND, AFFECTED MORE DEEPLY THAN OTHER LANGUAGES BY PROGRESSIVE TEACHING METHODS, IT IS A MORE VALUABLE AND PROMISING STUDY FOR THE AVERAGE STUDENT. THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "THE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BULLETIN," VOLUME 27, NUMBER 3, FEBRUARY 1968, PAGES 27-30. (RW)