What language did your child take in High school?

[Liberty Belle]

Latin and German, but he said he wishes he would have taken Spanish.

 

[bballmom56]

One took 4 years of French plus one year of Latin.

The other took 4 years of German.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Aren't both languages similar? I have heard once you learn one it is pretty easy to pick up the other.

She probably figures since she has already taken Spanish lessons and your DH and his family speak Spanish already it won't be hard for her to become proficient in it.

I would let her take the French lessons and then encourage her to interact with you in-laws frequently; be it in person, on the phone or by letter/email. This way she gets exposure to both languages and can say she knows 3 languages when filling out her resume (assuming she becomes proficient in them both).

 

[hereyago]

DD is in 7th grade taking French 1 now and next year she will be taking French 2 as part of her high school credit percentage thing-I can't recall the correct wording, but if she gets a C or lower she will have to retake it as it will be on high school transcripts. She was wanting to take German, but not enough slots and she was put into French.

My question: if your husband speaks it, why not start when they were young and teach them both languages?

 

[Cinderella94]

I'm a senior in high school and I took 5 years of Spanish. My mom is pretty good at it, and no one in my house knows anything about French, so I figured if I ever needed help at home I'd have to take Spanish .

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I know Spanish would be more useful in the area I live in.

My son is in 9th grade and chose German has his language. He's enjoying it alot. He has a friend who is taking latin. His friend wants to be a doctor.

My DD is in 5th grade and tells me she wants to take French. I am sure she'll change her mind but if not, french is fine.

At least they are interested in languages and I don't have to push them into one.

 

[honugirl]

I took 2 years ASL because of the way I learn. I have to be moving or active for me to learn something and ASL was perfect for that. I could memorize the movements. In a pinch I can still use some of it if I needed it, but I'm no where near fluent. I started out in Spanish for 1 year and that was a major bust. I just can't make the words and grammar stick in my head. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It's like looking at upper level calculus to me, but I also have some executive functioning deficits and LD's that makes learning languages difficult.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I agree to go with their personal choice! There are advantages to all choices.

I took Spanish and Latin in HS, Spanish and German in college, and ASL later in life. Secretly hoping DD chooses French for Jr High because I would love to learn it with her!!!!

ASL was the most fun and, if things haven't changed since the 90's, can be a lucrative career based on some of the interpreters I got to know!!!

 

[java]

Thanks all. I think I can let this go. Really it won't matter. If she is taking something she enjoys I suppose that's the best thing.

Thanks for opening my eyes!

 

[minkydog]

Let me preface that my DH speaks Spanish. My in-laws only speak spanish. My children have taken Spanish in middle school. Now going in to High School my second child has opted to not continue in Spanish. She wants to take French. Nothing against the French of course but if she took Spanish she could talk with her grandmother! She isn't fluent in Spanish yet.

But she wants to take French. And I am venting on here instead of telling her what a mistake I think she is making.

So tell me the success stories of your high schoolers language choices. My oldest took latin! At least it helps on the SAT's. What's up with them hating Spanish?

Sorry to laugh, but I totally get it. We live in Georgia, which has one of the fastest growing Latino populations in the U.S. It's getting where you almost have to speak some Spanish to even get along here. So when DD17 had to choose her language I really encouraged her to take Spanish. Well, she signed up for Latin. I just had to shake my head. Latin? Really?

I don't know that it helped her any on her SAT, but she certainly enjoyed Latin. She went as far as Latin 7. For her final she had to translate a chapter of The Iliad. DD made straight As in Latin. In fact, she chose her college pick partly because THEY HAVE LATIN.

I laugh, but the kid can sing in perfect Latin now and she can translate some Italian. So if she ever goes to Rome she'll be fixed up.

 

[AllisonK]

I took 6 years of Spanish (grades 6-11) and 2 years of Latin (grades 11 and 12). I then took 4 semesters of Italian in college. I could have continued with Spanish but I honestly didn't remember much from high school. (And I had a really bad Spanish 3 teacher in 10th grade that made me really dislike the language and struggled to pull an A- in both Spanish 3 and 4)

I was tracked into Spanish in 6th grade due to good grades in 5th grade (the kids with the best grades took Spanish, the next group took French and the next Portuguese). I liked Spanish until 10th grade when I had the teacher I mentioned before. Latin really helped on the SATs and I did fairly well on the National Latin Exam, too (and this wasn't that long ago - only 4 years!). It's also helped IMMENSELY in college as I'm a journalism major and do a LOT of writing.

I did have several friends who took French or Portuguese. My friend took German for two semesters because she was going to Germany for spring vacation one year (although she's now minoring in Spanish but she did take Spanish in high school, too).

 

[christineann]

Both of my kids took Spanish in elementary school, Latin in middle school and German from grades 8 through graduation. Both satisfied their language requirements in college through AP credits from high school, but my son decided to take a couple German courses in college so he could get into the semester abroad program His German knowledge came in handy when he worked a security job for a tennis tournament and was assigned to a beautiful German tennis player.

I took several Italian courses in college to satisfy my electives and ended up getting a minor in Italian. What a beautiful language!

 

[AustinTink]

I speak Spanish, so I took Spanish in both HS and college to boost my GPA.

My DH took French in HS and Japanese in college. His mother forced him to take French in HS because she's obsessed with French culture, food, antiques, etc.

DH never used his HS French for anything and now doesn't remember a word. He chose to take Japanese in college because he was going into the software industry and knew it would come in handy. And, it has time and time again.

 

[Feralpeg]

Let me preface that my DH speaks Spanish. My in-laws only speak spanish. My children have taken Spanish in middle school. Now going in to High School my second child has opted to not continue in Spanish. She wants to take French. Nothing against the French of course but if she took Spanish she could talk with her grandmother! She isn't fluent in Spanish yet.

But she wants to take French. And I am venting on here instead of telling her what a mistake I think she is making.

So tell me the success stories of your high schoolers language choices. My oldest took latin! At least it helps on the SAT's. What's up with them hating Spanish?

OP, I have nothing of any value to suggest. Sometimes, kids have to learn for themselves. Oddly enough, my DD wanted to take Latin in high school. I talked her into taking Spanish because I thought she get some use out of it. When's the last time you spoke Latin to anyone. Now, she is throwing it back at me. She's about to start her masters in Medieval History. The first thing she has to do is take Latin so that she can translate ancient documents. Who'd have thought?

 

[threecrazykids]

I know I may get flamed for this, but this thread makes me think about all the classes people have to take to graduate and never use them in their lifetime, let alone their careers. I know taking a little of everything makes you well rounded, but sheesh, why oh why do we need to waste everyone's time when you know you'll never use certain classes? I think it's not only a waste of the students time, but also the teacher's. And I'm not speaking exclusively to foreign languages, I really wish our education system could take a long look at conversations like this and say "Hmmm...why are we making people take these classes when 95% of them say they've never utilized it during their career?"

Anyway...off my soap box now.

 

[palavra]

I know I may get flamed for this, but this thread makes me think about all the classes people have to take to graduate and never use them in their lifetime, let alone their careers. I know taking a little of everything makes you well rounded, but sheesh, why oh why do we need to waste everyone's time when you know you'll never use certain classes? I think it's not only a waste of the students time, but also the teacher's. And I'm not speaking exclusively to foreign languages, I really wish our education system could take a long look at conversations like this and say "Hmmm...why are we making people take these classes when 95% of them say they've never utilized it during their career?"

Anyway...off my soap box now.

I am assuming you are talking about language classes? I couldn't disagree more. With the international clientele that many businesses have today, knowing another language, even a few words or phrases, can be very useful.
My sister has many times expressed her wish that she had taken more Spanish in school. She is a doctor and deals with many Hispanic patients in the hospital.

As time goes on, the need for other languages will only grow in our country. Already, being bilingual is a major asset for job hunters.

 

[threecrazykids]

I am assuming you are talking about language classes? I couldn't disagree more. With the international clientele that many businesses have today, knowing another language, even a few words or phrases, can be very useful.
My sister has many times expressed her wish that she had taken more Spanish in school. She is a doctor and deals with many Hispanic patients in the hospital.

As time goes on, the need for other languages will only grow in our country. Already, being bilingual is a major asset for job hunters.

Oh no...as I said in my original statement I'm not speaking exclusively of just language classes. I'm simply speaking to any class that if you were to poll people of any specific industry they could look at a college curriculum and say "I've never needed that class."

And as far as a doctor goes, I would for sure think language classes would be beneficial given the industry.

 

[linnylu]

My oldest took 4 years of hs french. We wanted him to take Spanish, but he wanted French.

My 2nd oldest is a jr in Honors Spanish 4 (will take AP next year) and Honors latin 2. She LOVES latin and wants to be a latin teacher someday. Do many high school have latin? Do you think she'll get a job? There are so many unemployed teachers around here including myself. Do you think you can become fluent and teach spanish even if you have no spanish heritage? The teachers in our school district are from spanish speaking countries or have parents from a spanish speaking country.

Our younger DS in 8th grade is taking spanish 1 and struggling since he doesn't like to memorize.

 

[Colleen27]

Here the kids get Spanish from K through 8 and have no choice in the matter, which is probably why so many of them choose other languages at the high school level. My 9yo is studying Latin at home (which is really interesting, as I don't speak it - she's doing Power Glide latin with the help of a priest friend) and Spanish at school, but wants to take Japanese or Chinese when she gets to high school and has more choices.

I'm no use to my kids when it comes to helping with any of it. I took French because that was the only foreign language offered at my high school, but I don't remember a word of it. The only language I'm somewhat proficient in is ASL and that isn't offered here.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Here the kids get Spanish from K through 8 and have no choice in the matter, which is probably why so many of them choose other languages at the high school level. My 9yo is studying Latin at home (which is really interesting, as I don't speak it - she's doing Power Glide latin with the help of a priest friend) and Spanish at school, but wants to take Japanese or Chinese when she gets to high school and has more choices.

I'm no use to my kids when it comes to helping with any of it. I took French because that was the only foreign language offered at my high school, but I don't remember a word of it. The only language I'm somewhat proficient in is ASL and that isn't offered here.

That is cool. My dd's school never had Chinese or Japanese. They would haved loved to have the Japanese option.

Konnichiwa