MHS language program continues to provide diverse opportunities

All students are required to take at least two years of a language class at Milford High School. Milford has five languages that that students can take: Spanish, German, American Sign Language, Online Latin, and Online Mandarin Chinese. Most students take Spanish because it is considered to be the easiest option. But for people who want to be different, the other options are a great choice.

For all students in the State of Michigan, it’s required that you must have two Foreign Language credits in order to graduate high school. Most states in the United States require that students take some form of a foreign language class.

The benefits of learning a foreign language can be huge, depending on when you start to learn the language. High school students that take foreign languages tend to have a higher score on college-entry tests such as the ACT and the SAT. Studies have also shown that students who learn a foreign language at an early age tend to show stronger cognitive, academic, and attitudinal abilities. Although, as students get older these benefits decrease.

Foreign languages are also useful in other ways. When applying for a job, any knowledge of a foreign language is good. If you apply for a job you will be faced with competition for that job. If two competing job applicants are applying for the same job, the one with the most knowledge of a foreign language has a better chance of getting a job. International companies are almost twice as likely to hire someone with adequate knowledge of a foreign language.

Dan Onofrio, a Sophomore at MHS, is currently taking German Two. Onofrio said he took it because “I was required to and I didn’t want to take Spanish like most of the school does”.

He added that German ¨is not very difficult in general, but there are a few hard parts about it.” His goal for German is to pass German Two in order to meet his language requirements.

“The language program here isn’t too bad, but it needs some improvements”.  Onofrio also said students should learn a foreign language at a younger age so it is easier to learn, and so that students can have more time for electives.

Bryan Sclabassi has taken two years of Spanish as his foreign language. Sclabassi, a Sophomore at MHs, stated that he took Spanish to fill the requirements he needed to graduate, he added that the class  “wasn’t that hard, if you studied.”

Sclabassi believes that the language program is set as a high priority, compared to other more important classes like technology and business classes. Still, Sclabassi said he found the class to be informational and helpful in some situations.

Spanish and German are not the only two languages available in the language program. There’s ASL, Mandarin, and Latin. According too Wikipedia, in the United States, 72.06% of all students who learn a foreign language take Spanish as their class. 14.08% of all foreign language taking students learn French and 4.43% learn German.

Richard Kynast, the German language teacher at MHS, Kynast believes that the language program is strong. “ The program has a lot of options for students to take. Besides German, they can take ASL, Spanish or the online languages. Outside of school they can join the ASL club or Spanish club, and go on the Spain trip.

Mr. Kynast also believes that students should have more options in middle school and should be required to take a language at an earlier age.

His advice for anybody thinking about what language they want to take is “Fit as much in as possible before college and try to continue to pursue language in college.” He also says that when choosing the language, none are similar, they all have their differences.