Learning a new language can be extremely challenging for children and adults all around the world. Many new learners give up easily because of the sheer volume of words, phrases, and grammar rules that they have to learn.

Lots of school districts offer languages like German, French, and Spanish. At MVHS, students can even learn Mandarin Chinese and American Sign Language, also known as ASL, a language only using hand gestures to speak.

All these languages may sound very fun, however, learning a new language can be hard work. Learning a new language includes learning every single tiny in and out about it in order to be fluent. It takes an extremely long time to become proficient in a language. Even learning basics like ordering food or telling the time can be tricky. This means learning new words and phrases every single day which can become a lot. Learning a new language in school means a lot of at-home work to study.

Languages are needed for some diploma types–core 40 and academic honor, which can put lots of pressure on a student. Feeling forced to learn and maintain a passing grade to get the diploma you want can cause unwanted stress.

Some people go for an online language learning experience. This can be hard to stay working at when there are so many other distractions in life. Going to a website like Duolingo can possibly change people’s lives and open it to new language possibilities.

School-taught languages are very formal, not like what people would see with possibly the younger crowd in said countries, some argue that the curriculum needs to be updated.

Also for some people, it does not click in their brain as it does for other people so it may take some people longer to learn and causing them to feel down on themselves. Again adding to the fact the curriculum might possibly need to be updated.

Learning a new language may have a lot of cons, but at the end of the day, it can be worth it. Also, it is good to have languages to be able to speak to people from all over the globe and to be able to connect with them on a personal level.