Last week I had the honor and pleasure of volunteering at both West Windsor Plainsboro School District Community Forums. Unfortunately for me, I was not allowed to participate in the event. But I did get to listen in on some of the discussions among the adults, and I was not happy with what I heard. Because I was not allowed to voice my opinion during the discussion, I have decided to write a piece in the local newspaper.
On the discussion packet, there was a question regarding foreign languages. I am not sure what the exact words were, but it asked the participants how strongly they felt about keeping world languages. Of course, the participants then discussed which languages to keep and which ones to eliminate. The number one language chosen to eliminate from the WW-P curriculum? German.
The German program at WW-P starts in middle school, and goes up to AP German in high school. Most students who are taking German in high school have been taking it since the sixth grade because there is no beginner level German class available at the high schools. Because of this, the German program has shrunk significantly in the past couple of years, and classes are becoming smaller and more condensed. For example, I currently take German 4 Honors in a combined classroom with German AP students. I have had the same kids in my German classes all throughout my WW-P school career, and I would not have it any other way. The WW-P German program is a small one, but it is a great one.
One of the major complaints about the German program is that learning German is not as useful as learning Spanish or Chinese. But Germany is a nation filled with rich history and culture. It is the country that produced Einstein, Beethoven, Goethe, Martin Luther, and Bach. It is where the Protestant religion was built, and where the Berlin Wall was knocked down. It is the home of Europe’s largest economy. It is the world’s second largest exporter, even ahead of the United States. Unlike Spain, Germany has a strong economy. Unlike Mexico and China, its government is not corrupted by drug cartels and dirty politics. It is a nation that is helping to lead the fight against global warming. It is a nation led by a woman. And what language does this influential country speak? German.
When I first decided to take German in the fifth grade, I knew nothing about Germany’s history. All I knew was that Germany was where the Nazis came from and that Nazis are bad. This is probably how many Americans still view Germans today. But after learning from Frau Waidelich and Frau Dine, I have discovered much more about German culture than I could have ever expected.
German has taught me more about the horrors of Jewish death camps than any of my history classes combined. Even from the beginning of middle school, we were taught to “learn about history, so that it does not repeat itself.” What country’s history does this cliche statement apply to more than Germany? If WW-P wants to create “globally aware citizens,” how can it do so without providing students access to learning German? How can we promote diversity and acceptance when half of our school’s Chinese population is taking Chinese? We can’t.
I overheard one person at the meeting say, “If kids really want to learn German that bad, than they can take it outside of school.” That is an unfair statement. The closest German language school from my house is 50 minutes away. The closest Chinese school? High School North. It is unfair to tell a student that he/she needs to pay a separate fee to learn German, especially when his/her friends are taking Chinese classes in school, on the weekends at North, and learning from their parents at home.
Eliminating the German program at West Windsor-Plainsboro schools would be a step backwards in fulfilling the mission statement. By immersing our students in only Spanish and Chinese, we are not creating students who can “thoughtfully contribute to a diverse and changing world.” We are limiting our students to only a narrow path of experiences. We value diversity. We need it. At the community forum, they diversified each table to increase discussion from all sides of an issue. Imagine if only two sides were presented at the table. Would it be a diverse table? Or would it look more like our House of Representatives?
Do not cut the German program at the West Windsor Plainsboro District Schools. Sign your kids up for it. Support cultural diversity. Support the German program.
Jeffrey Yu
Class of 2012, High School South
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Comments
590/800 on the sat writing section and you think you are a literary a pro...
Posted: 03/07/2011 8:13 pm by noob"In order to qualify your point Jeffrey, you need to do more than accuse the township of reverting back on its mission statement. This is perhaps one of the easiest arguments to make, but flawed nonetheless. The township is simply doing all it can to supply a wholesome environment for students like you to learn in. Whether the next budget involves including the German program or not, it is seen as a necessary step to improve the school community."
Posted: 03/06/2011 7:08 pm by huh?He was talking about the school district... Not the township.
I read your article today in the paper and thought I'd leave this note:
Posted: 03/05/2011 11:06 pm by WWP ResidentWhile your article does make some good points, you need to be more careful before making generalizations. Insulting the House of Representatives and claiming that half the population in your school takes Chinese may be blatantly offensive comments for many people.
Comparing the German language program to the Chinese program would seem to validate your point, but in fact, it does not tell the community anything except that it there are many opportunities for students to learn Mandarin in West Windsor.
In order to qualify your point Jeffrey, you need to do more than accuse the township of reverting back on its mission statement. This is perhaps one of the easiest arguments to make, but flawed nonetheless. The township is simply doing all it can to supply a wholesome environment for students like you to learn in. Whether the next budget involves including the German program or not, it is seen as a necessary step to improve the school community.
the German program stands the most objectionable of the languages offered in the district, and should be replaced by a corresponding language (Arabic, Hindi, Russian.)which makes more our support cultural diversity:)!
Posted: 03/05/2011 8:06 pm by any question?You make no sense at all and some of your arguments are flawed. NO one is going to cut the German language program so stop making a big deal out of nothing...find another topic to write about for your college apps.
Posted: 03/05/2011 8:00 pm by lolBy the way, you can't expect to write about something like this and receive any negative feedback. Be man and face your critics!
from SAT essay view about original post... it about....590/800 this kid need more work english not German
for next May SAT.
Not at all, as someone involved with the decisions made in the district, I welcome discourse with students.
Posted: 03/05/2011 7:55 pm by Confucius QuixoteThat being said, such discussion should be taken seriously and with great care, but nonetheless I appreciate the article.
lolumad?
Posted: 03/05/2011 3:06 pm by Jeffrey YuYou make no sense at all and some of your arguments are flawed. NO one is going to cut the German language program so stop making a big deal out of nothing...find another topic to write about for your college apps.
Posted: 03/05/2011 12:17 pm by Mr. RightBy the way, you can't expect to write about something like this and receive any negative feedback. Be man and face your critics.
The utility of a language is not merely determined by its cultural history, it is constituted by factors culminating in real-world implementation.
Posted: 03/05/2011 8:39 am by Confucius Quixote"It is the worldâs second largest exporter, even ahead of the United States. Unlike Spain, Germany has a strong economy. Unlike Mexico and China, its government is not corrupted by drug cartels and dirty politics. It is a nation that is helping to lead the fight against global warming."
This comment is incredibly accusatory, racist, and grounded in ignorance. You first posit Mexico as the representative country for Spanish-speakers. Just as Eurocentric languages became pervasive through colonization, so did German and Spanish in their representative territories. If you are to point at any country, you should be looking towards Spain, not Mexico. I sincerely hope this was a mistake and not consequence of a racist cultural trend that has been noted throughout the country.
On the note that the Spanish economy is weaker than German, and that makes the German language have more utility, represents your ignorance over what determines the usefulness of a language.
Governance does not determine the utility of a language. Do you think that English became the most dominant in the language by choice? It became so incredibly pervasive because of force, coercion, corruption, and covert intervention.
The major fallacy present is essentially your argument that one culture is somehow greater than another. Cultures cannot be compared as superior or inferior, as this leads to a prejudiced attitude that threatens the negotiation of thought and discourse. Imagine if we said to ourselves, "American culture is superior to the culture present in a small village of a developing nation, and for that reason, it is okay to supersede their thoughts and opinions."
Language is not the inhibitive factor in learning of culture. You can learn vast amounts of information about an individual nation's culture if you were truly interested through the Internet, the local library, and other resources.
In terms of utility however, the number of people speaking the language, and the dominance of the language, are the respectively greater figures in determining the importance of a language (not a culture.)
1025 million people speak Mandarin all over the world.
390 million people speak Spanish all over the world.
Only 118 million people speak German.
When you take account what languages to implement in a school curriculum, you must also take into account the languages you are not including. You are discluding Arabic, Hindi, and Russian, which all will have an incredible impact in real-world implication.
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that we are in financially difficult times, and that if eliminating a language is the easiest way to save funds, then we should go through that path, as determined by administrators. The decision of determining what languages we should keep should be determined not on "cultural significance", which is incredibly biased, but on the number of speakers, as this will be the factor that will determine the influence of a language in the long-run. For this reason, the German program stands the most objectionable of the languages offered in the district, and should be replaced by a corresponding language (Arabic, Hindi, Russian.)