All across the nation, every high school student is forced to take two compulsory years of language. Here at Heritage, those options are limited to Spanish and French. Students are required to learn a second language, and unless you are of Spanish or French descent, you are unable to learn a language relating to your heritage. Heritage aside, we are unable to learn a language for practical purposes, due to the lack of Mandarin. If we removed one of these required years or had it earlier in life, everyone would be better off. 

The high school has so much focus on college preparation. With financial math taking the lead, it teaches all about scholarships, and the FAFSA, while the other courses give us at least a basic understanding of the subject. The electives, however, let a student explore different career options, with our school offering many from Psychology and Anatomy, to Creative Writing and Debate. High school is a time for teenagers to explore what interests them. But with students losing the better part of two years to these mandatory electives, it leaves little time for career exploration, which can lead to major changes at a huge financial loss.

So because of mandatory electives, no one gets to choose any electives until sophomore year, and even then, foreign language sticks to one’s schedule like a hangnail, despite the temptation, you can’t pull it off. While one could argue that there are students interested in pursuing a career in a foreign language, why then do we only have one year of fine arts and athletics, with so many more students interested in those professions? We are forcing students to learn one of two languages for two years, thus taking away their freedom of choice, and limiting their career exploration, all while maintaining double standards for language, as compared to athletics and fine arts.

High school students have mostly developed brains, so it’s much harder for them to learn a new language from scratch, even one that influences their own because English copies almost every language. If taught Spanish, French, or whatever language early on, say elementary school, it would stick in the developing brains better and give more time for classes people actually want to take in high school.

If foreign language was taught earlier in life, we would learn and retain it better, or if we only had one year of it in high school, we as a country would better understand said foreign language, and be better prepared for post-secondary education, a.k.a., the real world.