My jr high required 1 semester of foreign language studies, and high school, 4 semesters. I think it also qualified as elective, so I was encouraged to take Spanish for all but my last year. I still understand a bit of conversation, but damn if I can carry a conversation after 30 years gap. It was rote memorization, so I can count to 15, and ask where the library is.
My high school teacher was also the math teacher. Old white male who has been to Mexico 3 times.
I’m sure the quality of the curriculum varies greatly as education is largely controlled at the local level. I had excellent Spanish instruction available to me. In the last couple years of high school you had to read books in the language, and we weren’t allowed to use English in class.
Every school I know requires two semesters and they don’t have to be the same language if that’s even an option. I’m in a heavy Spanish speaking part of the US too.
I’m not sure how much of this has changed since I was a kid, but when I was in high school we had 4 years of Spanish and French, but only one year of either one was mandatory. Most kids in my school ended up just taking a year of Spanish as a freshman, and only those who actually wanted to learn another language elected for the remaining years.
Language education evolved from Greek and Latin lessons designed to get you I to college which required them because in the rennesance reading classical texts was important and the ability to was essential and it persisted for hundreds of years. Because of this speaking wasn’t a part if the pedagogy and is kinda tacked on in modern language ed
A large chunk of the population speaks Spanish yet it’s barely taught in schools
What are you smoking?
Spanish classes are universally available Jr High and up.
Are they available to use the language or do they learn to count to 10 and how to order cheese?
My jr high required 1 semester of foreign language studies, and high school, 4 semesters. I think it also qualified as elective, so I was encouraged to take Spanish for all but my last year. I still understand a bit of conversation, but damn if I can carry a conversation after 30 years gap. It was rote memorization, so I can count to 15, and ask where the library is.
My high school teacher was also the math teacher. Old white male who has been to Mexico 3 times.
¿Donde esta la biblioteca?
I’m sure the quality of the curriculum varies greatly as education is largely controlled at the local level. I had excellent Spanish instruction available to me. In the last couple years of high school you had to read books in the language, and we weren’t allowed to use English in class.
Every school I know requires two semesters and they don’t have to be the same language if that’s even an option. I’m in a heavy Spanish speaking part of the US too.
Every school I know of has four years of either French or Spanish.
I’m not sure how much of this has changed since I was a kid, but when I was in high school we had 4 years of Spanish and French, but only one year of either one was mandatory. Most kids in my school ended up just taking a year of Spanish as a freshman, and only those who actually wanted to learn another language elected for the remaining years.
Yeah, but it’s rote memorization. It’s not immersive usage. So almost no American students retain anything from those years of study.
Language education evolved from Greek and Latin lessons designed to get you I to college which required them because in the rennesance reading classical texts was important and the ability to was essential and it persisted for hundreds of years. Because of this speaking wasn’t a part if the pedagogy and is kinda tacked on in modern language ed
I’ve never known a school that requires 4 years to graduate.