June 23, 201511 yr Took two years of German...hardly remember any of it - waste of time...should have taken Spanish...probably would have forgotten that too though.
June 23, 201511 yr I took Latin, helps in medicine. I think they should offer a class in slang, hood, text abbreviations, and the like.
June 23, 201511 yr I took four years of Latin, of course that was long enough ago that it wasn't yet a dead language. it's been very helpful over the years in figuring out words I'm unfamiliar with.
June 23, 201511 yr Three years of French here. One class in college - biological etymology. Not a foreign language class per se, but lots of Latin roots involved.
June 23, 201511 yr I took four years of Latin, of course that was long enough ago that it wasn't yet a dead language. it's been very helpful over the years in figuring out words I'm unfamiliar with. Amo, amas, amat. Comes in handy when working crossword puzzles.
June 23, 201511 yr A lot of college kids have opportunities to travel to other countries to study for a semester. A couple of years of French might help them get through in France. Same goes for any other language. Every child in Europe is taught one or two new languages beginning at a young age. The U.S. is falling behind. If you can learn the basics in high school and become fluent in college, it looks awfully good on a resume.
June 23, 201511 yr Cheated my way right through two years of French. 2 years of spanish was brutal. Complete waste of time. I learned nothing.
June 23, 201511 yr 2 years of spanish was brutal. Complete waste of time. I learned nothing. That's how I feel about calculus.
June 23, 201511 yr I was in the advanced program in grade 3-7 and had Spanish every year but it was just basically a repeat every year because kids were moving in and out of the program. Then had it 2 years in HS, and 2 semesters at UK, and with all that I can pretty much order at Taco Bell. Don't remember much at all, of course I have been out of school a long time. A few years ago had a special needs customer at the bar that became a regular and was from Costa Rica, had to use an app to communicate at any depth with him. But we got good with the app going each way, you typed in and the Siri like voice said it out loud translated, then other person could take the phone and respond. I think it was just called translate.
June 23, 201511 yr I tell my students that you take classes in high school to become acclimated to different subjects. That acclimation may lead you to want to further pursue a subject/career that otherwise you would have never known or had an interest in.
June 23, 201511 yr 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. Taking 2 years of a foreign language is not mandatory in all KY high schools. However, it is mandatory to take 2 years of a foreign language in high school in order to get into a 4-year college.
June 23, 201511 yr Author Taking 2 years of a foreign language is not mandatory in all KY high schools. However, it is mandatory to take 2 years of a foreign language in high school in order to get into a 4-year college. I was going to add this to my original question.
June 23, 201511 yr Author 2 years of spanish was brutal. Complete waste of time. I learned nothing. 30+ years removed and I can at least count to 10. :lol2: But I agree, TOTAL WASTE!!
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