Hola! Bonjour! Guten Tag! Ciao! Namaste! Konnichiwa! Hello, well in seven different languages. Today in society knowing different languages helps to make life easier, considering we are a melting pot country. A lot of jobs within the workforce are willing to pay more for someone who is considered bilingual because it broadens their horizons as a company. Being bilingual no doubt helps people in the workforce, but should it be required of everyone?

The majority of high schools require students to have at least two credits of a language to graduate or to go to an out-of-state college. This requirement is largely because learning a foreign language is proven to improve student’s abilities to learn in other subjects, and it helps to set them apart from others in the job world. Within the requirement of two years, they also have to be of the same language. So, for example, you cannot take one year of Spanish and then one year of French. The hardest part with this consecutive language rule is that if someone chooses to take a language freshman year and they struggle with it, they either have to fall behind even further or stop taking it and worry about taking another language or limiting their college options.

It is a valid point that students should learn a foreign language to be more versatile, but those who cannot should not be punished with ultimatums of staying in state for college or F’s on their transcript. Students should choose to take foreign languages if they want to do something involving that in their job later in life, but if they do not have any interests in foreign languages they should not have to.

I have been in a foreign language for four years because I am thinking about minoring in Spanish. For me, Spanish is simple for the most part, and I do not struggle with it. On the opposite side of the spectrum though, I have seen my friends study for hours, but still not be able to understand the language. Some people just cannot process a foreign language, and they should not be ruining their GPA because of the requirement for it.