The access to learning languages is different now than it has been in the past. This school year, language classes were taken off the list of requirements for graduation at Hayes. However, for students who aspire to get accepted to the college of their dreams, simply following the graduation requirements may not be preparing them for college admission.
Colleges want to see language classes on transcripts because it raises students to a higher standard. Students with a language under their belt usually show the colleges that they work hard and can learn and retain knowledge quickly.
For certain schools, there are conditions for a student that the college takes more into consideration. In the Common Data Set (CDS) for BGSU (under section C5), classes taken in high school have a considerable impact on how the college views their potential students. Underneath the foreign language requirement, 2 years of a language is necessary for the college to pick their students.
In the CDS for Case Western, on the other hand (page 8, section C7), 3 years of a language is recommended, while 2 is necessary to even be considered as an applicant.
“If you don’t meet that requirement [of taking at least 2-3 years of a language], some colleges might make you take a world language course in college,” College and Career Counselor Jennifer Pollard said.
There’s a huge difference between community colleges and private colleges in terms of how much money a class costs. Credit hours can range in cost from $400 to $1,400. Typically, college courses are worth 3 credit hours, which means that the cost of a class can range from $1,200 to $4,400.
If students take the necessary language classes in high school for free, then there will be no need to take language courses in college at such an expense.
While some students might not plan on going into higher education after high school, so far it’s confirmed that 55% of this year’s seniors graduating from Hayes are planning to enroll at a college, according to Pollard.
Besides college, taking language classes prepare students for real-world situations, such as with people they interact with and vacations/trips they go on.
“Being able to connect with someone in their first language has a really big impact on individuals,” Spanish teacher Paige Smith said. “They feel seen, they feel heard, and it may surprise them that you are able to communicate with them in their first language when it’s maybe not the majority language that’s spoken where they live or work.”
There are also cognitive benefits to learning a second language. Individuals who are bilingual have been shown to hold higher amounts of gray matter volume in the brain. Gray matter processes information in the brain, so keeping any bit of that would help a person significantly to process more information.
Traveling also demands other languages, especially if people find themselves traveling outside of the United States. Even learning a couple of sentences or words in another language could help travelers communicate with other people and make them feel included and comfortable.
“I do think that for those students who are not pursuing college, knowing a language is still helpful,” Pollard said. “They will encounter others who do not speak English and having some knowledge can help them communicate. You also never know where your travels will take you and you might need those language skills in another country.”
Yes, English is the national business language, but compared to other countries, who speak English on top of their native language and are learning them in school, the U.S. is significantly behind.
Some seniors had to quit their languages to pursue other classes, but for senior Orion Kapp, the idea that languages could have helped in his profession rings true. While his college is still undecided, he plans on majoring in Theatre Arts.
“There are plenty of theatrical works that are in French … and I could have the opportunity to do those if I knew the language better,” Kapp said. “[Plus,] being able to have a conversation in another language … encourages relationships you may not have been able to form without it.”
