Something that I read in Chapter 6, made me take my life experiences for granted. The chapter stated "...while learning a second language is standard in other industrial countries, only 50 percent of U.S. high school students study a foreign language." This really made me think back to when I was little. The first language I spoke was French. I grew up on the Canadian border. My mother is from Edmundston, New Brunswick and my father is from Grand Isle, Maine. They both speak French and English, but French was the language that was mostly spoken in my home. When it was time for my older sister to go to school, she didn't know a word of English. At the time, the schools didn't want us speaking French. So, my sister went to school only speaking French. This was very difficult for her, but she had a great teacher and a great ed. tech in the room. Her classroom teacher didn't know French, but the ed. tech did. Coming from a French community, we had French class everyday. My sister's teacher took this opportunity and had my sister teach the class French, she really enjoyed this. So, when it was my time to go to school, my parents made sure that I knew English. I will admit, when it came to French class, I was a little bored until the material got harder, which would have been in high school when I took advanced French. This French was more Parisian French than St. John Valley French, which I was use to. So, while I was in school, I had a French class from grade K-12. I never thought that this was a "gift" that I had been given. I grew up being fluent in two languages. This was normal to me because everyone around me was in the same "boat" as I was. When I got to college, I took the CLEP test and did so well that they credited me for 3 French classes.
Working in the community, where I grew up, we always had customers that spoke French, so being fluent was a plus when trying to find a job in Madawaska. But, I still didn't think that it was something special I had because it was something I had done my whole life, it didn't feel special to me. Now that I am older, I am seeing the French language dwindle and a second language isn't being taught as much as it use to. When I got to middle school, the school district offered a French immersion program that parents could enroll their child in. It was popular at first, but didn't last more than 10 years before parents weren't interested anymore. In the school that I work at now, the French teacher started teaching the elementary students French, which was wonderful. But, because of cuts, we only have a half time French teacher now and the younger students won't get exposed to French as much.
After reading the quote above, it made me realize that my heritage and being able to speak two languages is something that I shouldn't take for granted. This is something special that I have. It is part of who I am. I feel like I should be more of an advocate to get others to learn a different language. You don't know how much of gift it is until you need it or you see something like the quote above.
I think that every student that leaves high school should be fluent in a different language. I am not saying to take two foreign language classes and be done with it. They should be fluent in a foreign language. We can't be cutting foreign language classes from schools. It will give our students such great opportunities and open more doors for them once they are out of school. They will be more of a global learner if they knew more than one language.
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