Sydney Lees

My Two

2/18/22

Should learning a second language be mandatory for college?

Around the world, countries have a different approach and method used to teaching foreign
languages. However, some countries think that learning a second language should be required
to attend a college or university in order to graduate high school. This can depend on many
things such as what type of career and how a second language could be beneficial. In the US
particularly, many colleges and universities require a minimum of 2 years of a language or 2
credits in order to go to a four year college or beyond. Should a language be required to
graduate? Even if you aren’t planning to go to college? I did some research to find out different
parts of the world's opinions on whether a language should be required.

According to The Front, their take on learning a second language is that students
learning a second language should be mandatory. Some of the reasons why the author (Natalie
Vinh) says this is because she believes that learning a second language would be very
beneficial to test scores and improve chances of being accepted into an international college.
She states, “Cognitively, studying a new language can improve analytical skills, memory
function and problem solving. Studies have also shown learning a language can increase test
scores in other areas.” This conveys her original point of how learning a new language or
languages, can be helpful for future businesses and overall improve your test taking skills.
However, she states that in the US, there is a lack of efficient teachers and guides, and a lack of
a budget in schools which prevents students from learning a second language. Overall, learning
a second language can be very beneficial to you and your future career, but it can also be hard
to get a proficient understanding of a new language.

(Debate. org)
 This past week, I asked one of my friends , Reagen (15) who attends
Ponaganset High School, for a special studies program (she is going into the medical field). I
thought it would be beneficial to hear what she has to say about schools requiring a second
language to graduate. She responded with, “Well, right now I am taking Spanish 2 because my
school requires it.” She explained how she would still have taken a language even if the school
didn’t require it. “I think that it should be up to the kids to decide whether they take a language
or not. If you are planning to have a career where a language isn’t necessary, then it would just
be a waste of time to take a language.” Students like her and I want to go into the medical field,
which taking a language would be very helpful because it would improve our skills later on in the
future. For example, me and Regan agreed that taking a language class should only be
necessary when going into a college or field of study that would be beneficial to healthy habits.

Overall, taking a language would be very beneficial to you and your career but
also in general when you are traveling etc. By doing this you are developing good study habits
and adapting to the world around you, so you can enjoy and be prepared for whatever life
throws your way.

Taking a foreign language should be mandatory - The Front.