Should high school students be required to study a foreign language?

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The U.S. Department of Education are debating whether or not taking a foreign language should be a requirement to graduate in all high schools. I believe that right now some high schools make it a mandatory to pass a foreign language class while others make it optional. I think high school students should not be required to study a foreign language because it should be a personal choice, and everybody cannot learn a foreign language. When I was in high school I was given an alternative to either take a foreign language class or an advanced technology class to graduate. I was so happy I had a choice because I struggled in Spanish in middle school and knew other languages would be hard to. Instead of taking a foreign language class in high school I took a computer class called visual basic. I chose take an advanced technology course because I was interested in computers and wanted to major in Computer Information Systems in college. I think taking a foreign language in high school should be a personal choice. If you plan to travel the world and have a lot of people in your neighborhood speak a foreign language it is highly recommended you take the class. My friends in high school told me the reason they chose to take a foreign language class is because they didn’t want to study technology in college and wanted to know a second language. Also if you decide to not take an advanced technology course you only have one other alternative, a foreign language. I think you cannot force people to do anything and that’s why a foreign language is optional instead of mandatory. You can always take a foreign language class in college if you didn’t take it in high school. Taking a foreign language has it benefits but should not be a requirement ... ... middle of paper ... ... choose which one you want to learn. I think you have to be interested in taking a foreign language and this will make it easier for you. The U.S. Department of Education should make a foreign language class optional to take in high school. Taking a foreign language should not be mandatory because it’s not that important in the world for you to have a second language although it would be helpful. I know a lot of people who were held back from graduating in middle school because they couldn’t pass a foreign language class, which is unfair. I considered the pros and cons and people other points of view and I still think a foreign language class should not be mandatory in high school. If the U.S. Department of Education decided to make a foreign language a requirement to graduate high school it would be devastating to the school system and people would probably riot.

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