Teaching Foreign Language

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Teaching Foreign Language
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Foreign language is one of the basic, core
courses that most high school students need to
cover before they graduate from high school. In
fact, for those students who plan to attend
college, its pretty much a requirement.
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While some schools dont have a foreign language
requirement, the vast majority do, so its
important to consider how you will incorporate it
into your students coursework. Some schools
require just one year, and others require up to
three, so this is not something you can tack on
to your childs senior year and call it good!
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In addition to being a requirement for college
admissions, there are many other good reasons for
a student to study a foreign language. First,
studying a foreign language is a great way to
improve your English grammar skills. As you learn
about verbs and parts of speech in the new
language, you cant help but brush up on the
English equivalents too.
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Some languages dont have the same parts of
speech as English does, so learning about them
just highlights our own language. Studying a
language also improves your critical thinking
skills. Thats one of the reasons colleges like
to see a foreign language, because it gives them
hints about a students critical thinking skills,
as well as study skills. The effort that goes
into studying a foreign language shows that a
student will likely be successful at college, and
have strong study skills.
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Another good reason to study a foreign language
is that English is not spoken everywhere in the
world, and your student may someday find
themselves in a place where they are not
understood and dont understand others. Americans
are often criticized overseas for being rude
sometimes they give the impression that others
should speak English to accommodate them, instead
of the American learning the foreign language.
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In order to successfully interact with people in
other countries, whether as a guest, a
missionary, a businessperson, or whatever,
speaking the host countrys language is
considered the polite thing to do. Even an
attempt is appreciated! Learning a foreign
language in high school makes it all the more
easier to learn even a smattering of another
language as an adult the skills are the same at
any age.
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Foreign language takes a lot of time to learn,
and most experts say that spending 15-20 minutes
every day is the most effective way to improve.
If you cant fit foreign language in your regular
homeschool schedule, there are other ways to
include it. Many students take foreign language
classes at their local community college, and
three quarters there equals three years of high
school language.
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If your student earns an AA degree from a
community college prior to enrolling in a
four-year college, the foreign language
requirement might be waived, as well. Foreign
language can be acquired through natural learning
too, instead of text book learning. You could
learn a language on a mission trip or other trip
overseas, interact with native speakers at home,
or use a computer program to gain the speaking
skills of a language.
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Although many students choose from the standard
options of Spanish and French (which are fine),
there actually are tons of different languages a
student could choose. American Sign Language is
now accepted at most universities, and its a
great fit for kids who like to move and are
kinesthetic. For kids who are logically-minded or
non-linguistic, Latin can be a good choice.
Perhaps your child would like to learn Greek or
Hebrew?!
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Most universities honor all of these choices, but
if you have any doubts, make sure to check with
the universities youre interested in, to make
sure that your plans will satisfy their
requirements.
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