At the high school, there are a variety of interesting and engaging classes such as criminalistics, Adobe Photoshop, an abundance of fine arts classes and dozens of other electives. However, one area where I believe Northview is lacking is in their world language classes, where the only classes available to take are Spanish (levels 1-4) and American Sign Language (ASL).
I came from a charter school that only taught one language, so I was excited to possibly learn a new language like French or German upon transferring to Northview. I was disappointed when I was put into yet another Spanish class. I don’t mind taking Spanish, because I understand it easily, but I know that not every student enjoys the class or wants to be in it.
For anyone who doesn’t want to take Spanish, the school also offers American Sign Language, which is a unique class compared to many other high schools. I do think that an ASL class is very important because it shows how deaf-inclusive Northview is, however, there are still kids who do not want to take either of these language classes. If there are students who are not interested in Spanish or ASL, then that forces them to choose the class that is easier for them, not necessarily the most interesting or beneficial.
This seems disappointing. At one time, the high school offered German, French, and Latin, on top of Spanish and ASL. Why has the high school become less interested in teaching kids world languages?
One of the reasons for the lack of choice in world language classes is the fact that core classes and choice electives are often seen as more important than language classes, as the two language credits needed for graduation are not significant as electives. Curriculum director Rebecca Moore believes kids will not value language as much as people think.
“The students at the high school that I’ve interacted with want more STEM. [science, technology, engineering, and math] and a lot more fine arts, and those tend to compete [with language classes],” Moore said. “When those classes compete, you have to sacrifice one of them. Most kids will have the core classes such as math, English, Social Studies, and science, so it’s hard to incorporate language into that after also having choice electives.”
I disagree because learning a second language can be one of the most important things in your life, and not a lot of people realize that. Every Spanish teacher that I have had sets aside a lesson at the beginning of the year to demonstrate all the importances of why students should even take Spanish in the first place.
Spanish teacher Debra Rodegher told me a Chinese proverb that says “To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world,” and I certainly agree with that.
Learning a second language can get people into more competitive jobs. If you are competing for a job with someone and you speak more than one language, you are more likely to receive that job. By being bilingual, you are able to connect with others and can feel confident in yourself when communicating with others.
Eva Miller is a retired German teacher from the high school, and she agrees that there are many benefits of learning more languages.
“You will probably travel someday and it’s always amazing that you can actually relate to other people in another language,” said Miller. “Last week [I] went out for dinner to [a Japanese restaurant]. At the end I said ‘Arigato.’ The waiter looked at me, and there was a little connection we had, and I think that will stay with both of us.”
Considering all this, more language classes at Northview would be very beneficial for the learning environment. Though Spanish and ASL are great classes, they are simply not enough. I believe students would enjoy more variety and get more excited to learn a language more of their choosing instead of a language they are more or less forced into. I hope the high school adds more classes in the future and that the world language classes become more valued by the students and teachers.
