Next year San Luis Obispo High School will only be offering three foreign language courses: Spanish, Latin, and American Sign Language. With California residents speaking a total of 213 languages as of the 2010 census, the most languages out of any state in the United States, those limited programs are not enough.

For students planning on going to a four year college, two years of a language are required. At SLOHS, while it is not required, students end up taking a foreign language.

“I think they should offer more of what the students want to learn, like I know a lot of people want to learn French and German, but we don’t have those here,” said sophomore Marissa Piatt.

Due to a limited budget and resources, opening more language programs at SLOHS may not be an option. Recently, the French program was cut from the courses offered at SLOHS.

Whether or not more languages are offered at SLOHS, learning a language is still important. “The point [of learning a language] is to get into a good college and to not seem like an ignorant fool when you go to other countries,” said sophomore Layly Roodsari.

Being bilingual can also help with future job opportunities and meeting new people and it allows you the chance to have new experiences.

While new languages may not be offered at SLOHS anytime in the near future, students can find other resources to learn different languages such as websites, phone applications, or even foreign exchange student programs. SLOHS is limited in its language courses, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be. Go out and learn many more than the three that SLOHS offers.

source: us-english.org