I was recently in contact with Fordham Prep in New York. They have one of the most amazing language departments, offering seven different languages. After inquiring how they distribute their students across languages I found out that they require their students to take one year of Latin or Greek as freshmen and then let them free to take the language they desire. Check out their website , it is inspiring.
This morning I was reminded how important it is to allot time for professional discussion. Over coffee, I had an impromptu five-minute conversation with our illustrious Craig Bouma, Science department chair (You know, the guy who was on NPR ). It was very pleasant and thought provoking. After his usual reprimand regarding my reckless (bike) riding, I asked him what he thought about the future of the Foreign Language Department. Since he did not have any answer he asked me questions (what a Socratic!) : -What do you want to accomplish? Mastery or give students a taste for different things that they may pursue later in college? -What do your paying customers want? How do you balance what they want and what you know is best as a professional? -What do other department chairs recommend? (Although Craig proposed some answers, I'll leave it at that and let you chime in with your own take on it.)
In this sound bite we become fully aware of how much German has been tied to the United States since the late 1600s. After listening to this piece I feel that it is a pity and in some way a great disregard for the American heritage to have neglected the study of this wonderful language. Definitely a language of the Academia, German still belongs in a college prep school's curriculum. More than Mandarin? Arabic? Italian? Greek? Let me know . . .
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