“Modern languages are a window and door to the world; they connect you with other cultures, they keep you informed about other customs, traditions, history, politics, and make you more intelligent and aware of the ever-changing aspects of our present society,” said Judith Garcia-Quismondo, professor of Spanish at Seton Hill University (SHU).
As a student with eight years of Spanish under my belt, I agree that incorporating modern languages into the curriculum is crucial to a well-rounded education. For high school students, modern languages are of importance because most universities require at least two years of a language in order for students to be accepted into their program of choice. Every student entering SHU must have a modern language on his or her high school transcript, or they are required to take one at some point in order to graduate.
By Stormy Knight
Editor-in-Chief
“Modern languages are a window and door to the world; they connect you with other cultures, they keep you informed about other customs, traditions, history, politics, and make you more intelligent and aware of the ever-changing aspects of our present society,” said Judith Garcia-Quismondo, professor of Spanish at Seton Hill University (SHU).
As a student with eight years of Spanish under my belt, I agree that incorporating modern languages into the curriculum is crucial to a well-rounded education. For high school students, modern languages are of importance because most universities require at least two years of a language in order for students to be accepted into their program of choice. Every student entering SHU must have a modern language on his or her high school transcript, or they are required to take one at some point in order to graduate.
For the Fall 2007 semester SHU added Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian to the languages students could choose from in addition to Spanish and French. According to Debra Faszer-McMahon, the newest professor of Spanish at SHU, the new languages are being offered through the CAPE consortium, which is an online course delivery system offered at SHU.
“Students still meet together and interact directly with the professor, but they do all this online in a virtual environment,” she said.
She added that this program allows less-commonly taught modern languages by recruiting professors and students from outside of Greensburg.
“I believe it is a good way to start the mornings while learning Japanese language and culture,” said Jorg Gitzel, professor of Japanese.
“I feel that there are more students interested in learning other languages besides the traditional European languages simply because of today’s world cultural diversity,” said Gitzel.
America is and forever will be a melting pot. Statistics on immigration in the United States were released in November 2007 by the Center for Immigration Studies. The nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached a record of 37.9 million in 2007. Immigrants account for one in eight United States residents, the highest level in 80 years.
These statistics prove the need for natural-born Americans to learn modern languages in order to maintain successful communication nationwide. On the other hand, immigrants also need to learn English – despite the heavy influx of immigrants, it is still the most prevalent language spoken in the United States.
“I think it is important to study modern languages for many reasons, but first and foremost to have a deeper understanding of one’s own linguistic and cultural norms, and to gain a greater capacity for interacting with the many non-native English speakers that all SHU graduates will encounter throughout their working life,” said Fraszer-McMahon.
Fraszer-McMahon was not a Spanish major in college, nor did she ever intend to teach the language.
“I loved the language, and after college I began to work with Spanish-speaking immigrant communities as a high school English teacher,” she said
She added that serving the immigrant community was a very rewarding job, and her Spanish skills enabled her to work as an interpreter and translator, and later as a community advocate and teacher of Spanish. Fluency in a modern language is important today not only to communicate with immigrants, but in the working world as well. Students often overlook the spectrum of job opportunities that open up when one can speak and understand a modern language.
“If you are fluent in another language, your job opportunities are compounded exponentially,” said Michael Galek, adjunct professor of Spanish.
“If one is employed for a corporation that does business with a Hispanic company, one may be called upon to interpret legal work with more precise translations,” Galek added.
“Translating and interpreting, tourism professionals, editors for publishing houses, law enforcement, medical jobs, hospitality professionals and business oriented international positions,” are all available job opportunities for those who are fluent in a modern language, according to Garcia-Quismondo.
Many students are hesitant to begin learning a modern language, or further their knowledge of a language they’ve already taken. The two semesters of Spanish that I took at SHU were much easier than the courses I took while in Hempfield Area High School because of the incredible modern language faculty we’re lucky to have on campus.
In high school, classes were huge, usually close to 30 students. Close teacher to student interaction is crucial to effective retention of the language. With a 15:1 student-to-teacher ratio, SHU is the ideal environment in which to learn a modern language.