Which language?
The Unatego High School Language department offers French and Spanish. Many times students who are about to take their first foreign language have a difficult time deciding which one to study. They may ask their parents, guidance counselors, friends or relatives for advice, but these people may not be of much help due to a lack of familiarity with other languages or because of long-held misconceptions about language study.
The following is an attempt to give students some basis to evaluate the two foreign languages offered at Unatego.
Vocabulary
|
|
|
| less difficult | more difficult |
| more words similar to English cognates | fewer words similar to English due to Arabic influences |
| more difficult to spell | easy to spell, many letters only produce one sound |
Grammar
|
|
|
| less difficult, especially with past tense and subjunctive | more difficult, especially with past tense and subjunctive |
| 2 verbs for to be |
Pronunciation
|
|
|
| more difficult | less difficult |
| more exceptions to the rule, some sounds that don't exist in English | more phonetic, fewer sounds that don't exist in English |
Links to why French?:
High Tech Reasons to Study French
Why
study French?
The
Most Practical Foreign Language
Customer
Service
Spanish is useful for health
care and public service occupations
in many urban areas. It is very helpful in communicatingwith
a rapidly growing segment of our population. The NAFTA agreement
facilitates the trade with our hispanic neighbors and creates the need
for Spanish speaking personnel.
Spanish is useful for the careers in
hotel-restaurant management, production, customs, international banking,
business, and airlines.
