About this course: An introduction to Foreign Language
​There are multiple reasons for learning other languages.  At the most basic level, you learn a secondary language to speak, read, write, and understand the language.  Perhaps more importantly you learn other languages, and cultures, to understand and communicate with others.  Language is the portal to other ways of seeing our world and the people that live in it. Only 20% of the world speaks English.  Learning about others cultures and speaking, reading, and writing in other languages will allow you to interact with the other 80% of the world. Additional reasons to learn a secondary language include: 
​❝When you speak a language… many people understand you… but when you speak [their own language], you know you go straight to their hearts.❞
‒Nelson Mandela 
❝Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.❞
‒Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
​❝One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.❞
‒Frank Smith
​“Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.”
- World Languages Core
  1. Only 7% of the world's people speak English as their native language but 90% of all Americans cannot understand any language other than English. Speaking other languages empowers you to communicate with the other 90%.
  2. To help master English. Studies show that learning a foreign language improves reading scores in English as well as mental flexibility, creativity and high level thinking.
  3. To give greater job flexibility. Government agencies and private businesses are in need of qualified speakers of other languages. A Princeton University study shows that competency in a foreign language is one of the five top skills needed in today's job market.
  4. University admission and graduation. Most colleges and universities desire foreign language study for admission and require study of a foreign language for graduation. Continued foreign language study is seen as the best, most consistent, predictor of college success. The Utah regents scholarship requires that students have a minimum of two years of foreign language. 
  5. High College board scores. Foreign language study has a significant effect on verbal ability in the native language. High school foreign language students perform significantly better on the SAT verbal and the scores increase with each half year of foreign language study. Students of lower socioeconomic background who studied a foreign language performed on par with more affluent peers.
  6. Languages are part of the cultural richness of our society and the world in which we live and work. Learning languages contributes to mutual understanding, a sense of global citizenship and persona fulfillment.
  7. .Languages allow us to  appreciate different  countries, cultures, communities and people. By making comparisons, they gain insight into their own culture and society.
  8. The ability to understand and communicate in another language is a lifelong skill for education,employment and leisure in this country and throughout the world.
  9. Learning a new language provides unique opportunities for young people to explore national identities and become aware of similarities and contrasts between the cultures of different countries, including their own. 
  10. Learning to express thoughts and ideas in another language is about learning new ways of thinking, recognizing that there are different ways of seeing and interpreting the world, and developing a truly international outlook.
  11. Students can improve their cultural horizons and improve their thinking skills by the study of a foreign language

Students can expect to gain the following...
I.   An understanding of how language defines culture
II.  An understanding of the roots and branches of world languages
III. A cognitive understanding of how language is learned.
IV. An introduction to the languages and cultures of the world
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Introduction to Foreign Language

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Your Instructor: Mrs. Ness

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I love teaching Foreign Language; in fact I have been teaching language for almost 3 decades, far longer than my students have been alive.  I am currently teaching  Accelerated US History, Spanish I and Introduction to Foreign Language at Willowcreek Middle School.  In addition I am an instructor at BYU and an adjunct professor at Weber State University.  I am passionate about teaching a viable, standards based World Language curriculum. My hope is to facilitate students in better  understanding the role of language in culture and how they can better learn language and understand the world and their role in it.