Opinion: Have you ever sat in a language class questioning why we must do it for two years?
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For those of us getting a Bachelor of Arts, passing that 203 language class is a requirement. And unless we’re lucky enough to speak a second language already, there’s no getting around it. That means most of us spend two years fulfilling the language requirement. That’s six classes. That’s 60 weeks. So, is it effective?
According to some teachers, it takes two years to reach the proficient level in a second language, but that only applies when both the students and the teachers are dedicated to the learning and teaching of a new language. Unfortunately, as someone who has sat through five out of six of the required language classes, I can tell you right now that many of the students in those classes are only focused on passing.
Luckily, the focus of students doesn’t matter too much. The intent behind language classes is not just to learn different languages but to help the brain in general. Learning a second language allegedly helps the brain with a multitude of things, including brain function. We improve our attention span by using parts of the brain that we don’t typically use, so even if you hate it, it’s probably still helping a little.
For students, this seems like a good idea; it makes sense that there would be a two-year language requirement, especially when we consider what a Bachelor of Arts degree hints at. A Bachelor of Arts implies many things, one of them being communication. With that in mind, it is logical to need a second language.
Communication is a central part of what we will all be going into in our professional lives. Because of that, we should be focused on absorbing everything to do with communication in as many languages and cultures as possible.
Learning a second language opens the door to a variety of different cultures and ways of life that many of us would struggle to conceptualize without experiencing them.
Anthony Delsanter, a staff member of the linguistics department at UO, explained how having those two years of a second language lays the groundwork to go out and learn more about aspects of cultures that interest you.
“By the 203 mark, you have the skills to make it through conversation,” Delsanter said, referring to the different tenses and grammar we need to use second languages in casual conversation.
He later went on to explain how this is something we do but aren’t aware of in English. So, in taking language classes, we are bringing ourselves to the level of proficiency needed to keep our heads above water in real-life situations despite a lot of the work feeling pointless sometimes.
As Delsanter said, by the two-year mark in second languages we “know a little about a lot,” and can therefore learn more on the go. So, as much as we might not want to or we might not love the teacher or topic, learning a second language is a good thing, and it’s something that we should value and try at, not just aim to pass.