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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.
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...
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.
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.
My high school offered Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, with Spanish being the most popular choice and Japanese the least. A nearby cousin, in a school with about 500 students per grade vs. the 400 for mine, had the option of going for Russian in addition to the ones I had. That was in the late '80s.
南無阿弥陀仏!
I don't understand education priorities
- 22/09/2015 04:21:44 AM
791 Views
The nation is falling apart due to stupidity
- 22/09/2015 02:57:18 PM
571 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
508 Views
It doesn't necessarily follow that education is getting worse, though.
- 22/09/2015 06:22:31 PM
616 Views
But it has. College is now teaching what high school should have.
- 22/09/2015 09:00:20 PM
694 Views
Re: It doesn't necessarily follow that education is getting worse, though.
- 23/09/2015 02:03:03 AM
505 Views
To some extent - not entirely - it's just that the ideas of general knowledge were different.
- 23/09/2015 06:25:36 PM
580 Views
You keep making this error in your logic.
- 23/09/2015 07:44:00 PM
488 Views
I do agree with you in large parts - but I don't see the full picture as bleakly. Maybe wrongly.
- 23/09/2015 10:16:54 PM
530 Views
It's more symptomatic, IMO
- 26/09/2015 05:49:12 PM
511 Views
We agree on most things, then. Good.
- 26/09/2015 11:09:40 PM
456 Views
German?
- 27/09/2015 03:21:51 PM
513 Views
Do you have the full statistics? That'd be interesting.
- 27/09/2015 04:59:40 PM
477 Views
Can you list those language choices?
- 28/09/2015 07:21:37 AM
541 Views
Wait, who is that a question to?
- 28/09/2015 06:38:20 PM
483 Views
The answer you gave was less accurate than what the teacher was asking for
- 28/09/2015 05:06:12 PM
425 Views
A math teacher worth their salt should grade according to the solution method
- 28/09/2015 05:28:45 PM
567 Views
the most important thing is top give the correct answer and only one is correct.
- 28/09/2015 06:27:22 PM
473 Views
So apparently you get a double post even if you get a server error message.
- 22/09/2015 02:57:26 PM
597 Views
Surely if you invest in your child's education, you should aim to get the most bang for your buck.
- 22/09/2015 06:11:51 PM
458 Views
you do realize that TV is different than real life, yes? *NM*
- 24/09/2015 12:07:27 AM
234 Views
Then why do we need Strong Female characters? Why is it wrong to portray possible racism?
- 26/09/2015 05:24:05 PM
509 Views