French, Japanese, and American Sign Language are all languages that used to be taught at LJHS. Now, the options for language courses are limited to only Spanish and Latin. It is crucial that LJHS students have the opportunities presented by several language courses, and it is clear that LJHS should bolster its language department with more options.
Senior Sarah Robinson said, “I think that La Jolla is in desperate need of more language courses. As the president of the ASL club, we strive to create and educate vikings in American Sign Language to be able to defeat limits that lay with language”. This lack of diversity in the language courses is indeed regrettable as our society is increasingly influenced by globalization. Speaking the languages of the countries that are becoming more and more influential such as Mandarin, Arabic, or Hindi could become crucial in future years. For all we know, one could become an unofficial international language! Regardless of this, these skills still can be advantageous in areas such as trade or politics.
Additionally, more diversified choices for the language courses would be especially beneficial to students here, as numerous people already speak Spanish fluently. Thus, it could be more beneficial to both their curiosity and future to learn other languages during an imposed 2 years of language courses. Spanish Junior Loiola Payas Gomez-Arrue said, “I think the school should provide more language programs because it diversifies the students and gets to give them more of a variety since we have to take two years of language.” Language courses are wholly beneficial to students, whether through the education of communication skills or cultural knowledge, and it is for these reasons that LJHS should offer more of them.