Is Spanish really worth it?

Question

Do I disappoint you

i am an 8th grade student that had and still is taking first year spanish for 1 1/2 quarters of the year, and well, i suck at it. i really do try hard in the class, i always pay attention, make note cards, and study for sometimes hours at end, but i still get c(s) and d(s). the first benchmark, which i can't even begin to tell you how i studied for, resulted in a 63%!!! Also, i am so annoyed that people got a 94 on the benchmark that didn't even study, that’s just not fair! I don't want to take spanish if i will keep getting bad grades because i always get a(s) or b(s), and i don't want to waste my time studying for hours while i am still receiving d(s) when i could be enjoying my youth, but i think it would be REALLY cool to know the language. Is learning spanish always so hard and so crewel grade wise because i don't think i can do this much more without some light at the end of the tunnel.

for Amberlee, Me Yalla Hoswa (thats my spanish name!)

Answer 1

Learning a second language is a good thing. It is good for bussiness and it is also good because it will open your mind. You think different in a dfferent languages. Grade wise, if you are having such a hard time then quit for now. Grades are important. Having a high gpa is important because it will help you get into college. Sometimes things just don't click. I have had things that have gone completely over my head then years later it all of a sudden made sense. Then again there are other things that I still don't get. Thats just the way it is.

SO, give it a break for now, and then come back to it later.

About the people that tell you that is not worth it. Let me tell you the more you know the better period. Knowledge is power. You as an employee are more valuable if you know a second language. Why? because you can communicate with other people. The name of the game is sell. If you can communicate with clients and make them feel comfortable they will buy. The knowledge you get from learning another language alone is worth the effort. It just adds to your understanding of the world. One example is humor. There are jokes and expressions that simply don't translate from one language to the next. Also, it is about culture. Language is more than just syntax. It is a way of thinking. Knowing a second language allows you to think in different ways. Long story short, learning a second language is always a good idea. It expands your knowledge, understand different cultures and makes you more valuable as an employee. Not knowing a second language actually works to your disadvantage.

Ok, now to if spanish is worth it or not. Simply put we hispanics have more kids than our white counterparts. Or any other etchnic group really. When you do the math it is easy to see that the hispanics have a great chance of become the mayority in this country or in any other country really. Think about it. Even though many people of latino decendant come here ilegally they cokme here to work. This means that as they become legals they stay to work because they have good work ethics. Well, at least some sort of work ethics. This by extension means that they can easily get integrated into society as oppose to other groups that all that they do is whine and leech the system. When you have a great number of people from a particular group the more you understand them the better. Why because your lively hood depends on it. For example, lets say you have a car dealership. There are two salemen in that dealership both of white decendants. One speaks broken spanish the other one doesn't. The customer is a latino who speaks broken english. Who do you think will have a higher success of making a sale? You simply have to adapt to the sceanrio where you live. If you live closer to quebec canada then frensh is the language to learn. SOmewhere in the midle east then some sort of arabic should be your choice. One good language to consider is as mention before chinese. Why? Because chinese is becoming a highly industrialized country. I would not be surprice if they became the next superpower at the rate they are going. Yes, witihin our lifetime. A person who knows chinese all of the sudden can become very valuable to a company. Or even to its own comapny.

The atitude that people have that says this is america speak english is a bad one. It is actually very un american. You see the U.S. is a capitalist country. Capitalist = bussiness. Bussiness = competition. Competition = willing to change and expand. If you are not willing to open yourslef to new bussiness oportunities then you will lose while a pperson or bussiness who does will win. One example is toyota and their hybrid cars. Toyota saw the market and said, now is the time to sell hybrids because the market will demand it. Ford and Chevy said no way. We do it the american way with gas guzling cars. We don't need no hybrids. Well, chevy is almost bankrup while toyota can barely keep up with the demands for hybrids.

The bottom line is don't short change yourself. Learn as much as you can about everything. Specialisation is for insects. IS like the war in Iraq. We now see a middle eastern 20 something guy and we think terroristy. 15 years from now we all are going to be buying persian rugs and iraqui hamburgers. Whats a Iraqui hamburger you ask? I don't know but I'm sure some guy will be able to sell it because time changes. A few years ago we where compting with Russia on the space race and in the cold war. Today we are cooperating in the effort to build a new space station. SOme people still live in the Oh they are a bunch of cummies. Well, those reds do know how to build a space station. If you are in the space station bussiness then those cummies all of a sudden don't seem so bad. Hell, even their vodka is a good thing. See what I mean.

Answer 2

Forien languages are hard to learn, but that doesn't mean you should give up. If you know a second language, you are always better off. But if you were fluent in spanish, you will definately use it. I would say maybe try to a different way to study. You might be an auditory learner, which means you need to hear the words, instead of seeing the words on a flashcard. If so, record the words and listen to them on your mp3 or computer. You might also want to ask you teacher for some help. Don't give up! Sometimes tests don't tell everything, you might be learning the language and can't pass a paper test. See if your teacher will let you take part of the test orally. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Sometimes, the way learning a language is presented in
school doesn't suit all students as everyone learns
differently. It doesn't mean you can't learn. Try and
learn from language programs that make learning fun
and easy...there are many, including Berlitz, but also
a lot that have new and fun approaches. I know this
sounds weird, and you don't have to tell anyone, but
get the programs for children...that's how I learned
Spanish, French and Dutch. You can advance at
your own pace. Spanish is fairly simple if you learn
it this way. Check out the learning programs on
the computer...they have great visuals that will
help if you're basically a visual person like me...
then you can recall the picture first and the word
along with it. Good luck...give it a chance this
way before giving up. Bye.

Answer 4

This is a good question. I don't know where you live, but I will tell you that in the United States, Spanish is the most useful language besides English. There are many jobs you can get where you will get paid more money if you speak Spanish. I have studied it, and found it very helpful.

However some people do very well at some subjects in school and have a very hard time with other things. For instance, I do well with some science and am horrible at other science.

It is one thing to quit as a reaction to being frustrated. It would be another thing to quit because you have thought it through, and have decided not to pursue more Spanish. You just need to think about it more.

Answer 5

Yea, learning any language will always be good for you. I think that the other students who didn't study and still got good grades were probably cheating or something. Keep studying you will always learn new helpful things. Maybe you should hang out with people who speak Spanish a lot, so that you could practice using what you already know.

Answer 6

Use Subliminal Messaging.Lol. Well, most things today have English AND Spanish on them. Technically you don't have to know Spanish, but in the future, when you get a job, you might be the one hired because you can speak another language. Whether you're fluent or not doesn't matter. Just as long as you took the course. Employers will look for bilingual speakers because they like to do international trade. In the end, if you really want to learn it, try making fun ways to remember things or interesting activities. If you're still having trouble, ask your Spanish teacher for tutoring or get help from another source. ^.^

Answer 7

Unfortunately, even though we live in a mostly English speaking country, it's important for you to know how to speak Spanish too, because of so many foreigners here and you may have to deal with Spanish speaking countries in your future career. And, a lot of colleges require 2 years of a foreign language, so if you plan on attending college, you might as well get it done and over with now. Think of it this way; if you get your two years done now during 8th and 9th grade, you'll have 10th grade, the year you should get your drivers license, free to do whatever you want. So just keep studying, and as long as you pass with a D you'll be fine.

Answer 8

Usually people pick up Spanish easily, I suggest going in for extra help. Maybe the teacher can figure out where your having difficulty understanding the language. I personally took Latin and i was terrible at it ... I opted out of my language courses for more business courses. I would like to have taken Spanish though ... a lot of people speak Spanish in the U.S. and it's worth knowing. If your parents have the money or if you have a local library go get a Spanish speaking CD...it might help you. If you try all this and still don't get it...don't sweat the small stuff. Although schools really like it if you know a second language ... English is the #1 spoken language in the world ... in more countries then any other and I think you can get by only knowing how to speak it well.

Answer 9

Spanish is spoken by 40% of the people in this country, so I would say it is worth learning. It is difficult to learn a language, but with study and practice, you should do fine. Don't worry about the grade factor. You shouldn't quit.

Answer 10

Any foreign language is worth it if you plan to use it.

But remember when you are learning it that, yes it does take time. That said, if you are going to learn it - do it right. Learn for fluency! Go ahead and practice awkward conversations with other native speakers while also learning in class. Try this. Fail. Repeat. Eventually, you WILL get better.

Speaking Spanish to the other gringos in your class will only help you to a certain extent. You will need interaction with native speakers to be good enough at it to be really useful.

But then, you get to speak to your new friends in front of your old friends who now have no idea what your saying. Hahaha! WIN!