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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Colleges don't care, but you're an idiot if you take a language that isn't Spanish.[/quote]

My kids who took Russian certainly aren't idiots.  Maybe you're talking about yourself?[/quote]

A lot of good that’s gonna do them since Americans can’t even travel to Russia. [/quote]

The UN, [b]State Dept[/b], and intel agencies have LOTS of job openings for people who know Russian or Mandarin.  As an example, NSA only wants them to be able to listen/read and translate; NSA explicitly does not want their people to go to any high risk country.  NGIC in Charlottesville and NASIC in Ohio also want those people.

Langley HS in FCPS has a full Russian language program as a first foreign language.  Every year there are students who transfer to Langley HS from some other FCPS HS in order to study Russian.  It can be a great move career wise.  Same applies to Mandarin Chinese, which some schools in MCPS offer (e.g., Potomac’s ES in MCPS has a Mandarin Chinese immersion program that people fight and claw to get their DC into).  [/quote]

The State Department barely exists anymore.  Spanish speakers aren’t going anywhere.  [/quote]

UN and the IC still have lots of openings for Russian and Mandarin linguists.  I get that Spanish is useful for many.  However, it is not the only valid choice.  You are just trolling.  Bye.[/quote]

I’m not trolling in the least. I’m just supporting my view that from a practical standpoint it makes the most sense for an American high school student to study Spanish as a second language. I am not saying it is the only choice, I am saying it is far away the most practical choice. And I sometimes think that the students whose parents have their children study languages other than Spanish or doing it for classist reasons or competitive ones.  And that’s sad.[/quote]

But you [i]are[/i] saying it’s the only choice, because people are giving you reasons why studying other languages can make sense and you are refusing to accept any of them. [/quote]

No, I accept that parents can offer reasons for other languages -- but I think they're generally, for want of better terms, snobby or strider ones.  Not practical ones.  But, again, this is DCUM, so I'm not surprised. [/quote]

Except most of the reasons people are giving you are not snobby or strider ones. But I get it, you have to be the most “practical.” That’s fine. And I’m sure you will force your kid into the most “practical” college and career choices and then they’ll be frustrated Trump-type voters when they’re older because other people have more than them and they don’t understand why. Because they did all of the most “practical” things.[/quote]

LOL, you've made quite the stretch there.

First, the OP herself asked whether certain languages may be "more impressive" for college admissions.  That's striving.

Second, many of the responses suggested that certain languages are better for training to become doctors or lawyers or working at the state department or UN.  That's striving.

Third, others suggested that other languages are better for traveling to obscure places or studying the classics.  That's snobby.

There is, without question, a bias among the educated elite against having their kids study Spanish over other second languages because they're snobby and don't think native Spanish speakers are worth their time.  There's no doubt about it.

As for my own family, every one of my (four) kids has a masters degree and none is employed in a remotely "practical" field.  And we all bleed deeply, deeply blue.  That you read into my posts that I'm a Trump supporter not only says a lot about you -- it says a lot about what's wrong with the (or what I assume is our) Democratic party.  Our collective heads are in the clouds and we've lost touch and we are living in a bubble.      [/quote]

DP.  With every post, you're proving to be even less imaginative than initially thought.  "Practicality" is in the eye of the beholder.  If a student knows they want a job within the intelligence community or State Dept., then choosing a critical language is very practical.  Knowledge of that language will help them land the job they want.  How is that "striving" or "snobby"?  We get that you just want to argue, but you've made no salient points.  You just sound like a rube, insisting Spanish is the only "practical" language American students could possibly take.  [/quote]

What percentage of 12 to 14 years -- which is when most are expected to pick a language -- "knows they want a job within the intelligence community or State Dept?"  Every kid I've ever met at that age wants to be a professional athlete, singer, or actor -- but they'll settle for being a  doctor or lawyer or engineer.

I've never suggested that Spanish is the only practical language.  It's unquestionably the most practical one, though.  But, again, this is DCUM.  Everyone is always looking for an edge.

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