Should students be required to take at least 2 years of foreign language classes to graduate high school? Within Harlan Community School, you are not formally required to take any foreign language classes to graduate. But a question that could be posed within the school is, is it worth forcing students to take these classes?
I think overall there are some positives and negatives to this idea. The positive that is shown after requiring these classes is the increase in knowledge overall. Students who take foreign language classes usually end up being more advanced in other classes due to the heightened knowledge of another language. Another benefit is that students who take a foreign language and stick with it can get better jobs and better opportunities in the long run. Some students may eventually find it easier to get a better job with an even higher pay rate due to the ability to speak another language. The last pro I will mention is the fact that if you even start it earlier, as in elementary school, it widens a younger student's brain and makes their knowledge more flexible.
Contrary to the pros of this idea. Some cons come along with this requirement. One of them is that forcing a student to take a foreign language may take away from a student within the classroom who wants to be there and is eager to take on the challenge of learning a new language. It takes away some one-on-one time with those who are striving for achievements such as their seal of biliteracy. Another con is that along with requiring a student to take a class, you are bound to have more students failing the class than if the class was chosen. Students are more likely to try a class if they have chosen to take it off their free will.
Overall I think that both the positive and negative reasons are reasonable. But, in the end, I think that it is better to not require it. I feel like the students who want to push themselves and strive for a better future will choose to take on the challenge of a foreign language. So to sum it up, I believe we should keep it as a non-required elective.
Do you think we should have to take 2 years of foreign language to graduate?
Are you in a foreign language right now?
Do you think they should start teaching younger kids different languages?
Replies
I think that students should be able to choose if they want to take foreign languages or not. Some people have a hard time focusing or turning stuff in so they would get a low grade causing them to get an F so they wouldn't be able to graduate.
I also think that they should leave it up to the students to decide if they want to take foreign languages.
I do not think that students should be required to take 2 years of foreign language to graduate, however it can be very beneficial to the student. Most students will forget the language they started to learn, however, some students will remeber is better cause it could majorly help them in their future career.
I agree, that it shouldn't be required to graduate.
I think that children should never ever have to be forced to take 2 foreign languages or even one. If you don't need to learn a language then you shouldn't be required to take it. For example, I took Spanish 1 in the first semester but dropped it second semester because it just wasn't for me. That is the thing for a lot of other students as well. Some subjects just don't click to them as easy like math. Math and Foreign Languages is just a one way thing you're either good at it or your not.
I agree that they shouldn't force kids to take a foreign language if they don't want to.
I think foreign language should be taught to children before high school. In nearly every country that isn't English-speaking, children learn multiple languages. I think we are withholding very valuable skills from the youth by not pushing language-learning like other countries do.
I agree, I think that it would be smart to start teaching little kids different languages.
No I don't think you should have to take 2 years of foreign language to graduate. It's nice to know at least a little bit of a foreign language though so you're able to communicate a little bit when you go to different places. Yes I'm in a foreign language class right now. I think teaching younger kids a foreign language would be a good idea so as they are learing english they can also be learning spanish at the same time and little kids aren't as busy as a lot of older kids are.
I agree that it could be nice for people to know many languages, but they shouldn't have to learn it if they don't want to.
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