Mandatory language classes- By Jack Ginsberg

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           Language is the most effective means of communication and one of the most important things that created our modern day civilization. Today in schools around the nation students shuffle into their mandatory language classes only to tune out the teacher and leave having gained nothing. I believe the current language education system in our school is flawed. Some might falsely think that languages are less important than things like math and science but they would be wrong. Spanish is very prominent in the US having 41 million native speakers. That means if you can not speak Spanish you cannot communicate with over 11% of people living in our country.
          People living in Sparta may not think this language barrier affects them but it can be seen even in north eastern suburbia. A handful of people I work with speak exclusively Spanish and despite their qualification and competence at their job it can still be very difficult working with them. I can barely communicate with them even after years of Spanish classes. Its not like I've been failing these classes and not paying attention either, I have scored at least a B plus in every single one and still cannot hold a fluent conversation with a native Spanish speaker.
          I don't think you can fault the students for this either. In the Spanish classes in Sparta high you are taught random words and things that aren't super relevant to learn the basics of a language. I would rather learn how to ask for directions and order from a restaurant than how to use the proper tense of blew or how to tell someone I want to climb a tree. I feel if Spanish classes focused more on your ability to understand and speak Spanish on a basic level rather than more trivial information more native English Americans would speak fluent Spanish.


Image result for student sleeping in spanish class

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2019 at 12:26 PM

    Agreed! While I personally believe in the importance of learning another language, be it Spanish or any of the others taught at our school, it is hard not to feel as if the class is a waste of time with the content that is currently being taught within them. When 42 minutes of a students day is spent learning about how to say the different types of bags in German or other senseless nouns it is difficult to see yourself progressing with the language. As a result, many students complain about the idiocy of forcing a certain amount of foreign language classes. As you said, the real enemy here isn't the classes themselves but the frivolous content taught.

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  2. DanielleSeptember 20, 2019 at 8:37 AM

    How to climb a tree! That made me laugh. Maybe we need a more immersive environment.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2019 at 2:55 PM

    Yea a lot of languages focus on stuff like that. Last week we just listened to french music for a day straight and the teacher never said a word. Language classes are weird

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2019 at 11:07 AM

    I agree with you completely. We always seem to be learning terms that are completely random rather than things we can use to make conversation.

    ReplyDelete

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