What foreign language did you take in HS?

[kinlaw6450]

I went to the Institute of International Studies for High School. I was required to take a Major (German) a Minor (Russian) and everyone had to take Latin...still don't know why!

But I graduated with two diplomas so I guess that made it all worth it.

 

[Kitty 34]

I took Latin 1 and 2 in HS and then Greek in college.

 

[nativetxn]

Do you use that Greek a lot, Kitty?

 

[nativetxn]

Hey, I just noticed my new tag! It's so very, very true, too.

 

[nsyncraider17]

At my school, we're required to have at least 2 years of foreign language, but they reccomend 3 because a lot of colleges want more than 2. When I was in elementary and middle school I wanted to take French because it seemed so much "prettier" than Spanish or German, but I was in an accelerated program in jr high and I was required to take Spanish 1. After that I loved Spanish, and continued w/ it in high school. (I'm in Spanish 3 now)

I think Spanish is much more useful than French and German because there are a lot more people in the U.S. who speak Spanish, and you're probably more likely to visit Mexico than France or Germany since it's closer. And Spanish is more fun anyway.

 

[Diane]

Four years of Spanish. I don’t recall using it very much, and barely remember any of it now. Although, when my nephew was taking it, I was able to help him somewhat. I really wish sign language had been an option when I was in school.

 

[ead79]

I took 4 years of Latin, and I LOVED it! I really think that Latin helps you improve your vocabulary and English grammar/sentence structure skills. Also, my Latin teacher said that he felt taking Latin helped increase your SAT score (particularly in the vocabulary area). I also was very interested in the history and cultural parts of the classes, so much so that I took another Roman culture class in college as an elective. I certainly don't use Latin on a daily basis, but I do feel that it greatly benefitted me (and still does).

 

[caitycaity]

i took 5 years of latin (started in 8th grade) and feel that it was really beneficial. i went from being a b+ english student to an a+ english student. i don't regret it at all. and it helped me with my spanish!

i also took 3 years of spanish in hs (instead of lunch) since the major i had in college required fluency in a modern foreign language by the time you graduated (i continued with another 4 years of spanish in college.)

 

[BabyLove99]

French.....one year in middle school, and two years in high school

 

[Tuffcookie]

I took 2 years of Latin. I think it was helpful because alot of our vocabulary comes from the Latin.

TC

 

[minniecarousel]

2 years of French - but I wished I had taken Spanish. I think that every student in the state of California should learn Spanish!!

 

[Ali Gator]

I take Spanish, and I understand Italian

Ali

 

[JohnTBap]

Latin. SEMPER UBI SUB UBI!

 

[Mishetta]

Had 5 years of French. I don't make it sound so pretty though with my NY accent!

 

[browneyes]

I had to take 2 years of a foreign language in high school too to get my college prep sticker for my diploma.

J'etudie deux ans le francais.

I also had to learn a few things in French in the 2nd grade. We had to learn the Lord's Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, the alphabet song, and Happy Birthday. I can remember the alphabet song and Happy Birthday in French.

 

[Patio]

I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and I remember very little of it.

 

[RUDisney]

I took 2 years of Latin, 2 years of Greek and 2 years of German in HS. Latin taught me more English than any English class that I ever had. The one thing that really comes to mind is the difference between who and whom. No one could ever explain it well enough until I took Latin. When we were learning about the ablative and accusative cases, it all clicked.

Believe it or not, Greek really helped me learn the Russian that I know. This is not because they are both based on the same style, but because learning to read in Greek in HS helped me to better understand the Cyrillic alphabet. I wasn't afraid of it. I can still bless myself and recite the first 4 lines of the Oddysey in Greek. It also helps to know these other languages because you can record your passwords on paper without the fear of most people being able to read them.

As for German, I can say, 'I don't know,' 'I don't understand,' I can order beer, count and say the alphabet. That's about it. So much for German.

I want to learn Spanish.

 

[alabamaalan]

I had to take four years of Northern English - does that count?

The foreign language requirement for honors diplomas began with the class that graduated a year after me. HA-HA!!!

I did take 2 years of German in college because I was in the BA program.

I chose it because it seemed the most similar to English and it was early in the morning when I was more gutteral anyway.

If I had to do it over again, Spanish would be more practical (if you took several years of it) but I would have loved the chance to learn Latin.


Of course, Klingon is the true Romance language.....

 

[aprincessmom]

Four years of Latin and four years of Spanish in high school. One year of French in college.

And while Latin is a "dead" language, it has been far more helpful to me than the Spanish or French have been.

As some other posters have noted, Latin helped me understand many other languages, including English. It's been great in helping with language structure, vocabulary, and, in a round about way, history.

I hope my DD has a chance to take Latin in HS. It was much more helpful to me than the other languages were.

 

[smileybrat]

Originally posted by Lynn CC
Spanish. I never got past Spanish 1 When they started getting into past tense and so on, I was kind of lost, so I decided not to take Spanish 2.

i took 1 year of spanish, did realatively ok even though i didn't really understand what i was doing. don't remember much. conflicted with my vo-tech class so i couldn't take anymore of the classes. i sometimes regret i didn't take more time to remember the stuff when i run into spanish speaking people, but i didn't enjoy the class as a whole.