Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/the-mother-tongue-and-troublesome-words

Comment #2360

2011-04-27T17:27:40Z

Oops. I should have read "Troublesome Words" before we gave it to you then . . .

Comment #2359

2011-04-27T02:48:40Z

I don't know how this will fit into your "Hillsboro is 20 years behind the rest oof the world", but when I was there you could take four years of French and two years of Spanish (the Spanish wasn't certified to teach more than that, though she did do some private tutoring to expand on the two years).

I don't know the number of years available, but the last time I got a data point (probably a year or two ago) there were at least six languages available at the high school level, and a couple of them optionally start earlier.

Comment #2358

2011-04-26T13:56:56Z

My data above is current, by the way; I'm fuzzy on the past. Maybe Heather and/or Janet will remember what was offered in their day; I think it was similar to now. The school also has a dual enrollment relationship with local colleges (Janet took advantage of that), so anyone who wants to study a language that is not offered (and is willing to drive) has that option.

In my day I remember French, German, Latin, and Spanish; beyond that I don't know, except that our exchange student to Japan took her language classes at the University of Pennsylvania.

Comment #2357

2011-04-26T12:56:03Z

I'm procrastinating what I should be doing, clearly. :) Here's what I found from (1) Heather and Janet's former high school (Florida), and (2) mine (Pennsylvania):

(1) French, German, Latin, and Spanish, all through the Advanced Placement level.

(2) French, German, Latin, and Spanish through the AP level, and two years of Italian.

Comment #2356

2011-04-26T12:32:25Z

I thought it would be interesting to see how the offerings for language have changed.

When I went to high school (I graduated in 1981), I had a choice of taking Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Latin. This year they offer all but Russian (The Cold War is over).

A couple of years ago, my old town decided to build their own high school and leave the city school that I went to. The new school offers ASL, French, Latin, Chinese, and Spanish. German is only offered to those students that started it and wish to finish it.

In contrast, the town I live in now only offers French, Spanish, and Chinese. In fairness, it is smaller than the other two schools, but I was surprised Latin wasn't offered.

Comment #2355

2011-04-25T20:48:51Z

You're welcome! We're glad you liked them.

I once heard that Swiss authors who write in German are generally stricter in their grammar than their German counterparts. I don't know if that's substantiated, but the explanation given was that they learn written German as a semi-foreign language and therefore have a more grammatical and less vernacular approach to it. Perhaps it's the same when comparing (talented) students of English with their native speaking counterparts.