Foreign Language is a major component of a student’s schedule at Bethpage High School. BHS offers students to pick from three foreign languages: Spanish, Italian, and French. It is apparent that Spanish and Italian are student-favorites, but what about French?
The students at BHS are lucky to have incredibly talented foreign language teachers that educate their students about French. One of these teachers—Ms. Villanueva— not only helps students with their French grammar and vocabulary, but also to learn all about French culture.
Ms.Villanueva learned French, Spanish, and Italian in high school. She then proceeded to reciprocate that learning onto her own high school students for the past 5 years at BHS.
Her decision to take French sparked when she “heard that it was “the hardest language” to learn out of the options [she] had in [her] high school, which are the same options that we have here at BHS. [She] wanted to challenge [herself] and had already loved learning language, so [she] thought, pourquoi pas!”
When asked why students should take French, Ms.Villanueva exclaimed, “French is all around us and in our daily language, believe it or not! I feel so strongly about the French language because it could not be more relevant in our world today. Whether you’re reading a menu at a restaurant in the city, taking a trip to see our neighbors to the north in Canada, or just want to visit the #1 most visited country in the world, French is the best travel companion.”
However, there is the problem of not having a French course in 12th grade. This school year, there is not an AP French course available for students to take because of the lack of students who were willing or had enough space to take it. It is still to be determined if there will be a course to take for current juniors next year.
In the past, there was a joint class for French IV and French V. However, now there is not due to the significant amount of students dropping out of French before 12th grade.
When asked about her opinion on the drought of students taking French, Ms.Villanueva mentions how current students choose their language as 5th graders through the FLES (Foreign Language in Elementary Schools) program—which allows students about to embark in their middle school journey to learn about what languages the district offers.
Ms.Villanueva said, “This year is the first year that BHS has done this, so now, students have a much better grasp on each language and can better choose!”
This new program provides new opportunities for students to make sure they get an idea of the language they will proceed with in middle and high school before solidifying their decision; therefore, more and more students will most likely enjoy the language they’re learning and take it all throughout grades 6-12. Or maybe they will take it in college, and become a foreign language teacher like Ms. Villanueva herself!
