There exist nearly 7,000 languages spoken around the world today, each unique to its people and their culture. Language is a tool to communicate with others and learning foreign languages can help create a more open mind towards other cultures, improve international travel experiences, and more. For all these 7,000 languages (other than English) spoken today, Mundelein High School only offers two of them.
Spanish and French are the only two languages a student can choose between if they want to take a language at MHS.
At Libertyville High School, students can choose between four languages; that number increases to six at Stevenson and New Trier High School’s. These schools all offer Spanish and French but other languages include German, Hebrew, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese.
However, MHS hasn’t always offered fewer languages than other schools. In the past Mundelein has offered languages such as German, Mandarin Chinese, and American Sign Language, and while they aren’t currently offered it doesn’t have to stay that way.
According to World Language Department Chair Christopher Lagioia, “I would always listen to what students are interested in that we don’t offer…but you don’t want to start something and then not sustain it for a while.”
For example, as mentioned previously, Mundelein used to offer Mandarin (one of the most spoken languages in the world) because a large group of students requested it. However, after just a few years the number of students interested in Mandarin dwindled.
What languages are offered depends greatly on the amount of student interest in a specific language. For many students Spanish is what they are interested in.
Lagioia stated that one reason more languages aren’t offered at MHS is because they only offer Spanish in all the middle schools that feed into MHS. Since the middle schooler’s aren’t getting exposed to anything other than Spanish before high school, they are likely to continue their studies in that subject. Some may choose to take French instead, but that isn’t all that students are interested in.
Senior, Wiston Petri said, “I think Mundelein should teach Chinese to students again because if they go to Asia for business or vacation they can communicate or close deals in an effective and efficient manner.”
According to Lagioia, it can take as little as 30 to 45 students to prompt a new language being offered at MHS. Learning foreign languages can have many benefits in all sorts of manners.
According to an article written by the University of North Georgia, “ The study of foreign languages teaches and encourages respect for other peoples: it fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature.”
Spanish and French are just two of the thousands of languages spoken today (and two of the most spoken at that), but that doesn’t mean that’s all MHS can offer. All it takes is a group of people to request something like Japanese or Russian and the school might just be able to make it happen.
