Foreign languages have been required for students to take for quite some time, but, why?

In order to graduate, students must have at least two years of a foreign language, or take an alternative for their second year such as business, marketing, or accounting.

The real reason they have to take a foreign language is because it is a state requirement.

The requirement was added to the Michigan Merit Curriculum in 2006, which states that students need to take at least two years of a foreign language to graduate.

At KHS the opinions on this differ from one person to another.

Madame Kim Rouvelin, French teacher, thinks learning a second language is beneficial because she feels students will use it in some way. She is glad it’s a requirement.

“You learn your own language better when you take a second language,” Rouvelin said. “I think about 60 to 70 percent of students will use their second language in some way, shape, or form.”

Sophomore Lexa Jones is in her third year of Spanish and plans to take it through the rest of high school and possibly college to become fluent in the language.

Jones agrees with Rouvelin and thinks that taking a foreign language is a great opportunity for students to discover if they have a hidden love for foreign languages, believing it should be a requirement.

“If it wasn’t, some kids wouldn’t try it and lose a chance for something they might really love,” Jones said.

Other students do not feel the same, though.

Sophomore Seth Bowie is on his second year of Spanish and only took a foreign language for two years because he had to take it.

Bowie disagrees with the requirement of having to take a foreign language he believes won’t help students who don’t have a choice in whether they take the course or not.

“Forcing people to take a foreign language is pointless because if people don’t want to take the class, they will not retain the information,” Bowie said.