In the San Mateo Union High School District, students must take a year of a foreign language to graduate. Aragon offers three languages: Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese. Although a student must only take one foreign language class by sophomore year in order to graduate, California State Universities and University of California campuses require high schoolers to take at least two years of a foreign language for admission. The UCs and many private schools urge applicants to take three to four years of a foreign language.
During these years, one is immersed in foreign culture and learns not only the language of a foreign people but also customs and traditions. Although the connection is not obvious, when students choose which foreign language to learn, they become linked to a group of people far away. Most students have different reasons that influenced their decision to tie themselves to a specific foreign people.
Sometimes this decision may be influenced by earlier schooling. Students wish to continue to take the language they already started. Senior Brianne Felsher has been studying Japanese for seven years. “I actually started taking it in middle school because we had to take it. I went to Odyssey School and everybody at Odyssey had to take Japanese and I wanted to keep taking it in high school,” says Felsher.
Similarly, sophomore Jack Loar, who is currently taking Spanish, began learning Spanish in middle school. “It was sort of the most applicable foreign language considering we live in the U.S., and it’s a second language. A lot of people speak Spanish so it’s the most useful and most practical,” Loar says.
While many students are first exposed to foreign languages in a school setting, others take the initiative to begin learning the language on their own. “This is my fourth year of formal study and then two years before that I taught myself,” says senior Priyam Das. “I chose [Japanese] because I found it more interesting than Latin-derived languages because it has its own alphabet and writing script and that really interests me.”
Personal connection to the language also affects a student’s language decision. “I do have some Chinese native students that take this class to learn more. They want to learn how to read and then learn how to write. And I do have non-native speakers who want to learn this new language,” says Chinese teacher Qi Fan. “Maybe 20 percent are non-native speakers and the rest of the students are native speaker who want to advance their learning.”
Sophomore Kenny Ying has been taking Chinese classes outside of school for five years. Ying says, “I believe it would be useful and I kind of want to continue my Chinese. And I don’t really want it to go to waste.”
Similarly, freshman Glynnis McNamara chose to take Chinese at Aragon because of her Chinese background. “This is my first year taking Chinese,” says McNamara. “I feel a strong need to be able to speak the language. If I’m not able to do it, I will not be able to connect with who I am. I won’t be able to converse properly with someone like my grandmother, whose first language is Chinese and is not nearly fluent enough in English to have a proper conversation.”
McNamara adds, “I was hoping to get a grasp on the language and eventually learn enough to be able to converse.”
While some students may be enticed to take a foreign language based on their cultural background, others are deterred by their cultural connection. Sophomore Sandy Loi says, “I decided not to take Chinese just because I’m Chinese and colleges see that as an advantage. They would expect us to get straight A’s in that class. I considered Japanese but most people take Spanish so I realized that would get more help from peers.”
Parental influence is another factor that influences a student’s language choice. “I didn’t want to take Spanish and my parents recommended me to take Chinese instead,” says junior Elena Enioukova. “My friend and I often speak in Chinese. We practice because we’re both non-native speakers and it’s fun.”
Within the Aragon community, Spanish seems to be the prefered language. While there are only five Japanese classes and five Chinese classes, there are 24 Spanish classes. Japanese teacher Junko Hosoi says, “Most people think that Chinese and Japanese are a little bit more difficult than Spanish, probably, because Spanish is much more similar to English so I guess people who take Japanese and Chinese are genuinely more interested.”
Spanish teacher Ana Maria Ramos points out that while foreign languages are a graduation requirement, taking a foreign language at school provides students the opportunity to maintain their language speaking skills. “I have one student [who has taken Spanish] for nine, eight years. She did a lot of years. And other students for three years and they want to continue because they don’t want to lose that. And at the same time, it’s part of the requirements, not just college but you need it to graduate from high school,” says Ramos.
