Avoiding “I took Spanish for 6 years and can’t speak it.”

An idea that has mystified me for several years in the U.S. school system is the “dual enrollment” option that I see more and more students opting for. This is the idea that students can take college courses while in high school.

The idea alone is kind of genius. I mean, what parent would complain that their child is getting high school and college credit at the same time? Not only that, but students can actually complete an associate’s degree along with their high school diploma if they are really focused on dual enrollment. The efficiency of this process and the potential financial benefit of not paying college costs for these classes can’t be denied.

So why would I be mystified by this seemingly fabulous option?

As a teacher, I’m predisposed to assume that the classes that we offer to our high school students actually provide them with something needed. And I also assume that a university-level class must build on what was already learned in high school. So, wouldn’t this mean that a student actually needs to take those high school classes that we, as teachers, work so hard to provide, before he/she can successfully grasp college-level concepts? And yet, it appears that students can double up on these credits as early as the ninth grade, some of them gleefully proclaiming that they’ve successfully completed college-level Spanish already at the age of 15!

Then why can’t they speak Spanish?

These students, like many high school seniors who have completed their language requirements, are often completely lost when it comes to a real-life conversation with a Spanish speaker.

At the core, it’s my hope that the classes students take in high school are worthwhile and fulfill an important purpose, whether that’s building skills that can be used in “real life,” becoming better at critical thinking, or deepening their understanding of the world around them. Even the classes that students take only because they “have to.” With that in mind, how can we avoid the way-too-common complaint that, “I studied Spanish for 6 years and can’t say a word”?

Find a language program that prioritizes communication. If it provides your student with the tools to understand and be understood in practical, real-life situations that are interesting and motivating, you found a good one!