# What languages did your high school teach? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389 "2011-07-26T15:06:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/41 "2011-07-26T17:31:53Z")
1993-1998, Quebec. English as a second language every year (unless, as I did, you already finished fifth year English in fourth year) and Spanish available in third and fourth year as an elective (I didn’t take it). I was in cégep from 1998 to 2000, and they offered Spanish and German as electives. I took the first (trimester-long) Spanish class, wanted to take the second the next year but they put me in another, non-language-related class instead. We also had to take two trimesters of English, which could in theory be traded for Spanish or German if you tested in the strongest group. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/42 "2011-07-26T17:33:55Z")
NYC, large urban high school 1989-1993 Spanish French Italian Latin German Japanese I regret not taking Latin. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/43 "2011-07-26T17:38:11Z")
Graduated 1988: we had Spanish, French, and German. Word on the street is that they’ve since added Latin and Chinese, but I’m not on a first-name-basis with any current students of my old high school, so I can’t say for sure. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/44 "2011-07-26T17:39:28Z")
Spanish in an actual classroom with a real teacher. German if you wanted to do distance learning. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/45 "2011-07-26T17:45:00Z")
50’s Grove City Senior High, Pennsylvania, Spanish, French, and Latin. They may have added German early in the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/46 "2011-07-26T17:46:49Z")
Catholic school 1969 - 1972. Latin, French, Spanish and German were available. Two years of Latin and three years of one of the others were required. I had three years of Latin and three years of French. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/47 "2011-07-26T17:51:04Z")
Graduated 1995. You could take: Spanish French German Italian There was also a Center for International Studies where anyone in the district could go and there they taught: Japanese Chinese Russian Latin ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/48 "2011-07-26T18:03:03Z")
1987-1991. They offered Spanish and French, that’s all. I didn’t go to a very good high school. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/49 "2011-07-26T18:06:35Z")
Late 1990’s, Virginia. Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Latin ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/50 "2011-07-26T18:07:53Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Early 2000s, Western Canada: French. Not required. Actually, you couldn’t get into it in high school unless you had taken it in elementary school, it was more a continuation of all-French schooling. > > They added Spanish as an elective the year after I graduated. I thought all children in Canadian public schools had to take both languages (English and French). ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/51 "2011-07-26T18:08:53Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > 50’s Grove City Senior High, Pennsylvania, Spanish, French, and Latin. They may have added German early in the 60’s. Does anyone here speak Pennsylvania? I’m lost on the streets of Philly and I can’t make out what anyone is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/52 "2011-07-26T18:10:57Z")
I went to a Canadian public school and graduated in 1999. I know for sure that there was French and Chilcotin (the local First Nations language) offered. I can’t remember if there was anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/53 "2011-07-26T18:14:09Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I thought all children in Canadian public schools had to take both languages (English and French). We had to take French up until grade 8. After that it was an elective, but if you wanted to go to College, you needed to continue for a few more years. It could be different for each Province. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/54 "2011-07-26T18:15:04Z")
Early 90s, at a Catholic high school. Latin, French, German, and Spanish were always offered, and when there was demand, the Latin teacher would also occasionally teach a course on Classical Greek. Two years of the language of your choice were required, but four years was recommended, since we were almost all college-bound and four years would typically get you out of language requirements in college. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/55 "2011-07-26T18:17:06Z")
Class of 2003; my HS offered French & Spanish. I took 4 years of French and 3 of Spanish (my guidence counselor wouldn’t let me take both freshman year). Spanish was the more popular choice. We had 2 Spanish teachers vs 1 French teacher (who also taught a section of Spanish I). French III and French IV were held at the same time in the same room; in theory the French IV students were supposed to get additional work, but in practice not. We had one French IV student in our French III class; next year there were 3 of us in French IV. One time our principal sat in on one of our French classes for a teacher evaluation; Mme X shared that evaluation with us later. She did pretty well, but he kept refering to “French” as “Spanish” and going on and on about how we speaking Spanish. :dubious: Oh, and he classroom had maps of the Francophone world on the walls, large French & Quebec flags on opposite walls, and old French tourism posters and ads on the walls. Apparently most high schools in my area (Northeast PA) also offered German. My school district has started offering Spanish to middle school students. When I was in HS whether you had to take a foreign language depended on what track you were in; Math & Science and Arts & Humanities required 2 years (I think Business & Tech did too), Vocational Arts students had no requirments. The guidence counselors did encourage everybody to take 2 years of a language and strongy advised anyone considering college to take 4. I think that was some kind of independed study program for “gifted” students to take Latin as well. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/56 "2011-07-26T18:27:37Z")
Class of '99, Latin, Spanish, and French were(and are) offered at my small private high school. Latin I was a requirement for everyone then they could choose French or Spanish or continue on with Latin. We were the first year to have Latin IV and then Latin V. The kids, I believe, have other languages in earlier grades like Mandarin and I think Italian at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/57 "2011-07-26T18:27:44Z")
I graduated high school in 1979. We had French and Spanish as regular classes. They started in junior high (seventh grade) if you wanted them. Our Spanish teacher also spoke Russian and occasionally taught an extra-credit course in that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/58 "2011-07-26T18:32:04Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Does anyone here speak Pennsylvania? I’m lost on the streets of Philly and I can’t make out what anyone is saying. Just master a few basic phrases and you should get along well with the natives: “Yo. How bout dem Eagles?” “Whiz wit” “No, I am not from Jersey.” ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/59 "2011-07-26T18:58:08Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I thought all children in Canadian public schools had to take both languages (English and French). Not anymore. It was mandatory for me up to Grade 3 then they eliminated the program. Like the US, Canadian provinces set their own curriculums. I live in a sparsely populated province with few native French speakers. It didn’t make any sense to try and find teachers who could speak French for the rural schools. If anything, if they mandated a language education here it would probably be Cree. I’m going to guess if someone came into a government office here and asked for service in French they’d have to find the one person in the department or neighbouring department to translate. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389/60 "2011-07-26T19:17:27Z")
Late '70s. French, Spanish, German, and Latin until the year before I was eligible (idiots wouldn’t allow you to take a foreign language before the ninth grade). My sister took one year of Latin and then the one teacher for the entire school district retired. They said they’d replace him, but they didn’t. So I chose German. I really wanted Latin, and tried for my entire college career to work it into my schedule, but I never could. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-languages-did-your-high-school-teach/590389.md?page=4)