by Kahyin Rasher | staff writer
Most students take only two years of a language class instead of four, as that’s the number of required credits, but the longer a student stays in that language class, the more they are open to opportunities.
Taking four years of a language class can open doors to scholarships, opportunities to travel the world, potential job offers, and receiving a distinguished high school diploma.
“It actually will give you like, credit and scholarship opportunities for you to be able to pursue whatever, you know, job you would like in college,” Spanish teacher Maria Allen said.
Many scholarships are offered to students taking all four years. For female students, a $1500 scholarship is offered for four years of a universal language study. And for all students who take four years and speak fluently, the Houtan scholarship offers $3500. It is possible for students to get more, especially if they’re majoring in language.
“If you are fluent you could work like at the embassy–you can have a government job. You can work for companies, as trainers will send you all over the world,” Allen said.
People who can speak a language fluently can get paid more, based on their job. Jobs can pay 5-20 percent more to bilingual workers. Studies also show college bilingual graduates will make two percent more than their non bilingual colleagues.
“All students that are in the program longer have opportunities to study abroad, which is really cool,” Allen said.
Most universities will not allow students to study abroad if they haven’t learned the language of the country they want to study in. By taking all four years of a language, it shows colleges that the person is interested in this country as well as showing the the student is dedicated to learning more about it.
“ I know that there’s some more of the ivy league schools tend to look at students that takes longer years of a foreign language world language,” Allen said.
Sticking with a program longer shows colleges dedication as well as interest. It also shows students majoring in foreign language have a passion for what they do. It may also play a big role in the students application.
“In Japanese, there are speech competitions that you can participate in where if you place, you could get a potential scholarship,” senior Sabrina Tesy said.
As well as looking great on college applications, many colleges offer scholarships to students who place high in foreign language speech competitions. If a student wins, they are offered an all expenses paid trip to wherever their language is originated from as well as a $1000 scholarship.
“Taking all four years allows students to become the most proficient you can be in a language if you only take high school courses,” Tesy said.
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