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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]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]

Becoming a doctor or lawyer or working at the State department or UN are common careers around the DC area. It’s hardly striving but I guess you have low expectations.

Eastern Europe is hardly an obscure place and as already explained, you can use a language for a lot more than travel (not sure why you don’t accept this).

Studying the classics was just listed as a reason why Latin is useful because someone (you?) implied you couldn’t do anything with it but talk to ancient Romans or attend Latin Mass (lol). So people were pointing out why that was ignorant. There are like hundreds of colleges that still offer this as a major, including plenty of non-snobby ones.

Spanish is the most common second language taught in schools, even amongst “the educated elite.” You’re making quite a stretch there.

And I never said you were a trumper, but I grew up in the Midwest where the “practicality” gospel reigns. It’s often used as a euphemism for safety and never taking a chance on anything. And it’s why so many people end up in resentful, middling situations. That’s the reality, not the clouds.[/quote]

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