High school foreign language is worthless

Few people are fluent in the foreign language they were required to take in high school, in order to graduate. 73 percent of SJHS surveyed students that are taking a world language are not planning on studying it after high school. So why should students be required to take a language that will most likely not affect or benefit them in the future?

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According to the The Library of Economics and Liberty, under one percent of all people who took a language class in high school can speak that language fluently or “very well”. Although learning a new language during your academic career can be beneficial while diversifying your ability to connect with and appreciate a different culture, that class comes at the expense of something else. The required two years of foreign language takes the place of other electives students can benefit from. 

“I don’t think they (foreign language class) should be required because there are other things to study like Engineering. Instead of taking Spanish 2, I would have liked to take Engineering as one of my electives”, Isabelle Gaver, 10, said.  She goes on to explain that because she had to take Spanish, she is taking three elective this year. Her extra elective is taking the place of a history class, which could be arguably more important than second language study. 

There are roughly 1000 students at St. Joseph High School, and we are all very different. While some people may find a foreign language class beneficial to their education, other students see different electives like Personal Finance or Computer Sciences more valuable. Requiring all students, with different plans for the future, to take a foreign language is ridiculous. We aren’t all the same, so we shouldn’t all have to take the same class.