School offers fewer foreign language classes

Mandy+Walker+teaches+Spanish+1+students+out+of+the+book+in+her+classroom.

Photo by: Emma Stueven

Mandy Walker teaches Spanish 1 students out of the book in her classroom.

6,500 languages are spoken all around the world. Only one foreign language is offered at the school: Spanish. Two teachers teach Spanish: Frank Espinoza and Mandy Walker. About 10 years ago, the school offered Spanish, German and French. 

The German teacher’s name was Richard Butler and the French teacher was Jennifer Bagby. German was equally as popular as Spanish was, but Espinoza claims not many people are qualified enough to teach German. The problem with French was not as many students took it, therefore, no one wanted to teach halftime. 

Children who had learned a foreign language at a younger age, “.. had better problem-solving and critical thinking skills, more creativity, improved memory, better multi-tasking abilities, and better flexibility of mind.” compared to children who haven’t. According to https://www.stratfordschools.com.

“I feel like when we were younger, we should have started learning a foreign language earlier because kids nowadays just do it for an easy A,” sophomore Adrian Walker said. 

Although taking Spanish is not required to graduate, most students take advantage of the opportunity to learn Spanish; however, some students do not think learning a second language would be useful to them. 

Worldwide communication is something not everyone thinks about. By learning a second language people can communicate with others more often.

Walker wishes the school offered Japanese because she would be able to use it when she travels. 

“Japanese is pretty easy, there was a lot of stuff I was taught there I don’t remember because I was in sixth grade,” Walker said.

The school should allow more foreign language classes because learning more than one can lead to great opportunities.