It’s clear that foreign language is very important to know and understand in the world we are growing up in. The world is shrinking with a greater emphasis on communication and diversity that we are gifted with today. Our Spanish and German curriculum are important to preparing us moving forward into our personal, academic and professional lives.

With that said, I think it’s safe to say that the changes made this year in the world languages department have made learning a language a more difficult skill to master.

Each foreign language class, whether its Spanish I or Spanish IV Honors, is attempting to speak almost entirely in the foreign language and use English for a minuscule five minutes. Classes test presentational and interpersonal skills. While the new concepts are meant to better submerge students into the language, they more often plunge students head first into confusion.

Learning a foreign language is hard enough already without advancing the challenge even more by reducing the amount of English speaking time, especially at the lower levels. Yes, the new system forces students to use Spanish more. Consequently, students seemingly have less of an understanding of what is going on in class.

Personally, I found it helpful to be able to read something in the foreign language and then discuss it as a class in English so that I comprehended what we had just read. Now, reading and discussing in a language I don’t fully understand leaves me confused on the meaning of what we read even after we’ve gone over it as a class.

In many ways, it may be more helpful to use English in foreign language classes to ensure students are actually learning the language rather than it going in one ear and out the other. In the future, maybe students should be eased into this process instead of jumping in head first.