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PredictorX1 t1_j9d0lwq wrote

I wonder what effect the grade definition has on this? For instance, a place might have more students having taken a foreign language by the time they graduate from high school, but not before grade 10, diluting that place's average across K - 12. It'd also be interesting to see this qualified some how, like "percent of students passing some standardized test of fluency in any foreign language by graduation".

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icedrift t1_j9do3kd wrote

I think course requirements are probably a bigger factor. In New York you need 2-3 years of foreign language classes in order to graduate high school, and all of the state colleges require foreign language credits.

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pook_a_dook t1_j9dp14f wrote

Agreed. When I was in school in California a foreign language was required from grades 2-10, but looking at this chart, I guess it wasn’t a state requirement?

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Norshine t1_j9e2601 wrote

Ours was only required in HS for 2 or three years. Can’t recall.

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eatinpunkinpie t1_j9f9vd4 wrote

This is why I doubt the sentiment this map is conveying, even if it has a legit data source. In Illinois you need 2 years of foreign language to graduate high school as well, but this map makes it look like no one takes it...

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PredictorX1 t1_j9doakg wrote

I'm curious as to the retention of foreign language skills for graduating seniors in New York.

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LakeCowPig t1_j9dzmec wrote

The answer is 0

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endertricity t1_j9e15p8 wrote

I took 7 years of French in NYC public schools and speak it well enough to vacation alone in France and talk to family there who barely speak any English. It’s rare but it happens

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LivingGhost371 t1_j9f8w8l wrote

If it's like my experience taking four years of French in high school, no one, not the teachers, not the parents, and not the students, were under the delusion that we'd be sitting down in a French cafe having in-depth conversations with the locals, or even that we'd find it useful in general. You could pass the class and check if off on your college application if you could write down that "bathroom" = "la salle des bain" on a test with being nowhere actually fluent.

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FoldyHole t1_j9fmj99 wrote

I learned more Spanish working construction in Texas than I did in 4 years of classes.

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The_Noremac42 t1_j9ep1ek wrote

I live in Texas, and my high-school required two years of foreign language classes. It was a small school, so the only one offered was Spanish. I retained maybe ten words after that first summer, and the only reason I passed the second year was because of google translate.

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icedrift t1_j9equiv wrote

Personally my comprehension is still decent and speaking is horrible. If you don't use it you lose it BUT after taking 7 years of Spanish classes I'm confident I could pick up a romance language pretty quickly if I had to.

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Peelboy t1_j9d0v19 wrote

We have quite a few schools that are full immersion from 1st grade on. I feel like this is a snapshot from 2017 of those doing it at that moment.

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w1n5t0nM1k3y t1_j9d2sld wrote

I'm pretty much of the opinion that you basically have to take immersion if you want a good grasp of a second language. Up here in Canada everyone takes French from kindergarten through grade 9, but a vast majority of English speakers don't have a good enough grasp of French to carry on a conversation. It's really only the students who opt to take French immersion that have a food grasp of the language.

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moepsenstreusel t1_j9eci0x wrote

> I’m pretty much of the opinion that you basically have to take immersion if you want a good grasp of a second language.

Nah. But you do need to give a shit.

The difficulty in getting English-speakers to learn another language is that learning a language well is really hard, and they're all much less useful than English.

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Threndsa t1_j9e9ni9 wrote

A very large one. In Clark county, which has over 2/3rds of Nevada's population, 2 years of a foreign language is required to graduate high school but your first chance to take one usually isn't until 8th grade.

So 100% of graduating students in Clark County will have taken a foreign language class, and assuming roughly equal overall population ratios with school age children Nevada would be at 70% minimum if it was based of at graduation. However since the first 8 years it isn't an option you drastically tank the numbers like you mentioned.

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