Can someone please explain to me why it is so important that high school students are required to take two years of a foreign language.

 

The reason I bring this up, last week while in Ocean Isle, NC for vacation, Sunday morning we went to mass and it just happened to be the Spanish language mass. I asked DLG (3 years removed from 2 yrs. of Spanish) & DLG 2.0 (who just finished her 2nd year of Spanish) if they could tell me just one sentence of what was being said and they looked at me like I had 2 heads. :no: They, like me, were able to pick out certain words.......but a whole sentence, NOT HAPPENING!!! And both of DLG's had passing grades in Spanish.

 

I took two years of Spanish back in the day and struggled just to pass and today I can count to 10 in Spanish and that's it.

 

IMO, it's a waste of two years when they could be taking classes that will better prepare them for life after high school.

It's a very nice skill to have if you have teachers that are demanding and conduct good classes. I had a bit of a hodgepodge in high school as far as that goes, but I came out of Latin and Spanish classes in college with some serious game in both languages. It's hard to keep up with, but being able to follow along with some Spanish has been massively helpful in my professional life.

 

If I were fluent, it would be huge for my business.

^ What Randy's BFF said.

 

It's great to have, and people who study at least one different language tend to be more intelligent for it, But, we do not teach foreign languages correctly in the U.S..

CovCath requires 2 years. I took 3 years of German and I can confidently say that I can speak it sufficiently. But I cheated since I was born in Germany and I spoke it at home with my family.

 

Of all my friends who took Spanish, I don't think any of them can speak it at all. I agree; I think immersion in a culture is a 1000x better teacher than instructional textbooks.

So that when the Illegals to this country from the south, take over this country we cant say we didnt understand them, as we were educated to be able to.

I took 4 years of Spanish in High School and another 2 in college. It was an immense help when I was in Retail and worked in neighborhood that had a large Hispanic population. Also with the growing Hispanic population in the US, I believe as we move forward, having at least a foundation in Spanish will be very important. The issue with any second language is if you don't use it, you lose it. Where I was fairly fluent 17 years ago, I'm not so fluent now. I can still understand most of what I hear, but struggle in trying to respond.

 

All that being said 2 semesters/trimesters of spanish isn't enough. My high school taught spanish as a year long course. Using it everyday is the key to being able to use it functionally.

You take it to expand your thinking. I'm sure you don't use geometry, biology or Chemistry on a daily basis either. A lot of what we learn in school is how to learn, not necessarily what we learn.

You take it to expand your thinking. I'm sure you don't use geometry, biology or Chemistry on a daily basis either. A lot of what we learn in school is how to learn, not necessarily what we learn.

 

I'm stunned...

Most of what we actually teach in High School are actually building blocks for a higher education.

How else are you going to communicate with your boss in the coming years?!

You take it to expand your thinking. I'm sure you don't use geometry, biology or Chemistry on a daily basis either. A lot of what we learn in school is how to learn, not necessarily what we learn.

 

Good point. I can't say I've used any sciences or higher level math classes since I took the final exams in those courses. Those general education courses help round out your education, exercise your mind, and help you decide what you may want to do in the future.

I agree that the current system of teaching foreign language is silly and not well thought out. If we started teaching at younger ages in school it would probably be a lot more helpful.

 

You have two classes required in HS then in college a majority of kids don't take any further education in that language.

 

The other subject areas listed above do have requirements in their subject field once you get to college. So you are building a foundation for higher education.

 

I would be all in favor of teaching a language at a much younger age and taking it much more serious.

Speaking is one thing. Understanding it coming back at you is another. I can speak spanish relatively well, but I have a hard time disseminating what is being said to me in a conversation.

 

Of course I'm an older dog. Tricks come slower.

Speaking is one thing. Understanding it coming back at you is another. I can speak spanish relatively well, but I have a hard time disseminating what is being said to me in a conversation.

 

Of course I'm an older dog. Tricks come slower.

 

I speak Klingon...just in case. tlhIngan Hol