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Do you have the full statistics? That'd be interesting. Legolas Send a noteboard - 27/09/2015 04:59:40 PM

View original postAccording to what I found, only 14% of secondary schools in the US offer German, which is one percentage point above Latin. I personally never went to a school that offered German (if I did, I would have taken it). None of my friends ever went to schools that offered German, though one of my cousins lived in Minnesota and German was offered there. It was very unusual, so unusual that people remarked on it.

The few schools whose language choices I saw were possibly not very representative, then... in fairness, even with the rapid decline of French, it might still have a slight edge in terms of usefulness over German, if nothing else because Germans are less likely to have difficulties communicating in English.
View original postIn the vast majority of the United States, you have two options at most: Spanish and (usually) French. Some places only offer Spanish. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have moved to a town that had a Latin program. I actually got a waiver to go to that school because it was outside my district, but taking Latin was one of the permitted reasons to switch.

Don't you think that for people who don't go on to study other languages later, Spanish would be better than Latin, though? At least, if you assume them to be roughly equivalent in terms of academic rigor, which as you point out may not be the case...

In the places in Europe where Latin is still taught at HS level, like here and some parts of Germany, they're always careful to not let it crowd out any modern languages - it's certainly an enrichment if you can take it, but it shouldn't put you back in your knowledge of modern languages which you will actually need to communicate in.

View original postLanguage study in the United States in secondary schools is a complete joke. My Latin teacher was strict, but most people ended up with 4 years of Spanish and could still only say "Yo quiero Taco Bell".

Heh. That's sad. Though looking at the French of some people I know, who have all had the usual eight years of French classes, it's not surprising or particularly American, either.

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I don't understand education priorities - 22/09/2015 04:21:44 AM 784 Views
The nation is falling apart due to stupidity - 22/09/2015 02:57:18 PM 564 Views
It amazes me how many parents don't seem to think they have a role in thier children's education - 22/09/2015 05:44:33 PM 501 Views
Accelerated Reader! - 22/09/2015 08:37:33 PM 547 Views
Re: Accelerated Reader! - 23/09/2015 01:18:37 AM 612 Views
It doesn't necessarily follow that education is getting worse, though. - 22/09/2015 06:22:31 PM 609 Views
But it has. College is now teaching what high school should have. - 22/09/2015 09:00:20 PM 688 Views
I'll take your word for that, but... - 22/09/2015 11:02:28 PM 545 Views
Re: It doesn't necessarily follow that education is getting worse, though. - 23/09/2015 02:03:03 AM 494 Views
To some extent - not entirely - it's just that the ideas of general knowledge were different. - 23/09/2015 06:25:36 PM 572 Views
You keep making this error in your logic. - 23/09/2015 07:44:00 PM 482 Views
Johnny can't read is hardly new - 28/09/2015 05:25:29 PM 512 Views
It's more symptomatic, IMO - 26/09/2015 05:49:12 PM 502 Views
We agree on most things, then. Good. - 26/09/2015 11:09:40 PM 446 Views
German? - 27/09/2015 03:21:51 PM 505 Views
Do you have the full statistics? That'd be interesting. - 27/09/2015 04:59:40 PM 469 Views
Can you list those language choices? - 28/09/2015 07:21:37 AM 533 Views
Wait, who is that a question to? - 28/09/2015 06:38:20 PM 475 Views
You. - 28/09/2015 08:05:54 PM 627 Views
Oh. I couldn't tell you exactly. - 28/09/2015 08:39:53 PM 516 Views
My local High School only offers Spanish and French - 28/09/2015 05:34:27 PM 476 Views
Indeed. - 27/09/2015 11:41:07 PM 441 Views
My experience is similar. - 02/10/2015 09:14:58 PM 450 Views
That 43% is another BS survey result - 28/09/2015 04:36:51 PM 486 Views

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