Have you ever wondered why it's important for schools to have Foreign Language classes? Obviously to learn a Foreign Language, but why is it important? Or should it be required? Well, I interviewed Mrs.Hudson, one of the foreign language teachers at Blackford, and she answered a couple of questions to maybe help people understand why it is important to have Foreign Language classes at schools.
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The first question I asked Mrs.Hudson was, “Why is it important to have foreign languages in schools?” She said, “We don’t have any other way that students really learn a second language.” There are apps that you can use to learn other languages, like Duolingo. Duolingo is a free app that can teach you up to 35+ different languages. But it probably wouldn't be as beneficial as a foreign language teacher.
I then asked Mrs.Hudson, “what do you feel is the most important language to learn other than english?” She replied with, “well obviously I think Spanish is really important because that's what I teach. There are 21 different countries in the world where Spanish is the official language. Also Chinese is the number one spoken language around the world, so I would say either one of those are important.” Mandarin Chinese is the #1 ranked spoken language in the world, with 918 million Native Speakers. Spanish is the #2 ranked spoken language in the world, with 460 million Native Speakers.
Blackford Junior-Senior High School only offers spanish as a foreign language class. Other schools with a higher enrollment offer more of a variety when it comes to classes and opportunities. I asked Mrs.Hudson, if she thinks that students should have more options for languages at Blackford? “Anytime students have options, I think that's a good thing! So it would be nice if there were more options here for students, but right now I don’t think it's possible because we don't really have the staff to teach more than one language.” Quoted Mrs.Hudson.
Mrs.Hudson teaches Spanish here at Blackford, so I asked her, why do you enjoy teaching a foreign language? “Because I’m teaching someone something new for the first time!” Quoted Mrs.Hudson. She also said, “I get to see those light bulbs go off in their head when they get something for the first time, which is a really cool feeling as a teacher. I also like seeing how far kids come because most of the students I have at the beginning of the year don't know anything in Spanish, besides maybe a few phrases they learned from Dora.” As one of Mrs.Hudson's students, I would know the lightbulb going off in my head feeling. Mrs.Hudson has taught me, and so many more students, so much in just a couple of months! Most students came from not even knowing how to say hello in Spanish, and now we are writing full paragraphs in Spanish!
At least every teacher has a difficulty when teaching a class, whether just how some students behave or if it's just a harder subject than usual. Things Mrs.Hudson finds difficult when teaching a foreign language is, “it's completely brand new, which is what I like about it, but for some students, that's what makes it difficult because it might be the first time in their life that they have never had another frame of reference for something that their learning.” Said Mrs.Hudson. I think students in foreign language classes work harder or have to use their brain more than they do in normal classes like, English or math because you always repeat some of what you learned from years before when you go up a grade. So you are kinda already used to that stuff, but with Spanish, you have to learn how to spell words in a new language, pronounce words the correct way, and learn how to put words in a sentence the way you would in Spanish. I personally feel like you have to think harder and use your brain more than you might in other classes.
A foreign language class is not required here at Blackford for a student to take. I asked Mrs.Hudson if she thinks it should be required. She said, “I don't think it should be required for everyone, I think everyone could learn a language if they started young enough. The older you get is the harder it is for some students to pick up a language. Some students already struggle enough as it is in some classes, so for them, it's not worth the extra pain and struggle to be required to take a foreign language .” I think that Mrs.Hudson does a very good job of teaching the students she has now and is very helpful when you need help.
Some teachers love teaching some things more than others, so I asked Mrs.Hudson what her favorite chapter/subject to teach was, she said, “I don't really have one favorite, but I do have a few things. I love teaching food because I love food! I love to eat, I love to cook, I love to eat at restaurants, I love to eat at home, and I love Mexican food, so I love teaching the food chapter. Students really enjoy the food chapter too because most students love to eat too so its words that they find useful and that they remember pretty well. So I would say that food is my favorite subject to teach in Spanish.” In her class we haven't got to the food chapter, but I’m excited for it, because just like Mrs.Hudson, I love food!
Since COVID-19 there has been limits on what we can do in the classroom and just school in general. I asked Mrs.Hudson, “what has COVID-19 changed about teaching foreign language?” She replied with, “Well in Spanish we do a lot of partner activities and a lot of discussing and things like that, I still try to get in what I can with students wearing masks. But I can’t switch partners like I did before, and we did a lot more games in small groups, but I can't really do that either. So I have cut out most of the speaking and games, I would say that students are experiencing a lot different than last year's students, but I wouldn't say they are completely missing out.” The mask makes school a lot different from last year, but It's not that bad.
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I feel that with all the differences with COVID-19, that all teachers have done a good job of making sure that masks stay up, and that we stay socially distanced. Mrs.Hudson has done an amazing job! She does a good job making sure that we still get to learn a new language, even with the spread of COVID-19.