According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL), “Students demonstrate the benefits of a second language learning not only on students’ linguistic abilities but on their cognitive and creative abilities.”
Learning another language can help the mind strategically. For example, learning a second language can help students learn the differences between two languages, thus helping widen the knowledge of the first language.
Senior Ivy Kha takes Chinese and Japanese classes.
“As a senior, I am focusing more on my studies in becoming a doctor. As a doctor, I expect situations where some patients would not be able to speak English fluently. In hopes of communicating with them, I take multiple language classes.
“Taking an extra foreign language has helped me understand the different grammar structures used in each language,” said Kha.
The research done by the Connecticut State Department of Education has shown that “Time spent on foreign language study strongly reinforces the core subject areas of reading, English language literacy, social studies and math. Foreign language learners consistently outperform control groups in core subject areas on standardized tests, often significantly.”
Academy language teachers also notice differences in students who take foreign language.
World Languages department chair Yoko Harada said, “Students who are learning a foreign language are more imaginative, patient and better listeners. These students are better with abstract ideas, better and faster in solving problems, and more flexible in their thinking than other students who are not learning a foreign language.
“Learning another language does not mean only studying another language. It includes learning about the people and the culture.
“The world is shrinking with technology so fast nowadays and our students are the ones who will take a lead in the world. In order to be good leaders, learning language, culture and people will help them solve many problems. We have to make the world a better place. One culture’s taboo is not always a taboo in another.
“Early and long-term study of a second language, by its nature, is the best means of accelerating and strengthening the phonemic awareness which is closely time to literacy development. This leads to greatly improved literacy skills,” said Harada.
There are also benefits for students who are born into a different culture.
Junior Siman Zhang said, “Being bilingual has always been really helpful to me in many ways. Since I was born in China and came to America when I was four, I was able to hold on to my language and culture. Every time I go back to China, I can comfortably go out and communicate with the people and family members around me. I am able to help my mom and sister when they need me to translate anything.
“At school, I able to communicate with some of the exchange students.
“Though I am able to speak Chinese decently, my writing and reading skills are lacking. Before taking Chinese class at the Academy, I could barely read or write; even writing my name in Chinese was difficult.
“Sometimes I speak ‘broken’ Chinese, so taking the class helps me speak properly with the right tone marks as well. I was able to learn the different grammar structures and why they are as they are.
“Even if I know how to speak Chinese, it is nice to know why everything works the way it does. In my eyes, it doesn’t hurt to improve because everyone has space for improvement,” said Zhang.
