The Many Languages of Saint Joseph Notre Dame
Written by Kieran B. ‘27
SJND has offers four languages, which can be a lot to choose from, especially for a new student.
Choosing from Mandarin, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language (ASL) presents a substantial challenge for new students approaching SJND. What are the advantages and disadvantages of all of them? I spoke to four students about their experiences with each of the languages.
Firstly I spoke to Brendon Chang, who is taking Mandarin 3. Mandarin only has two classes at SJND, Mandarin 3 and Mandarin 4 Honors. Mandarin will shrink to just one class in 2024 and may be gone after that. Despite this, Brendon is still enjoying the small class.
Brendon said that Mandarin “is a class that almost no one takes so it looks good on college applications” and that “some parts are hard, you’re learning a new language, and you aren’t writing English letters but aside from that it’s pretty fun.” Brendon has a high opinion of the small Mandarin program at SJND and recommends it to anyone interested in Mandarin in the future.
Next, I went from a student in one of SJND’s smallest languages to one of its largest. This prolific student is the one and only Izzy Brown. Izzy is taking Spanish 1, the first class of one of the most popular languages at SJND. Izzy, a freshman at SJND, decided to take Spanish 1 because of how widely it’s spoken in his home state of California. Izzy believes that Spanish will only continue to grow as a language and he might as well be part of that growth.
Izzy, very emphatic about the usefulness of knowing Spanish, stated the following: “It is probably the most useful language.” Izzy also spoke about his father who was fluent in Spanish and had lived in Mexico for 20 years. At SJND, Spanish has four courses with two honors options going all the way up to AP. Overall, Spanish is one of SJND’s most popular languages and yet is still one of its best.
Thirdly, I interviewed a student from arguably SJND’s most unique language: American Sign Language or ASL. Thomas Simpson, the student I interviewed, is taking ASL 1. ASL has only 2 courses at SJND but unlike Mandarin, it’s expanding. ASL will likely have an ASL 3 course by the 2024–2025 school year. Thomas said he took ASL because of its expressiveness and its “broad range” of usefulness. Thomas plans to use ASL to communicate with patients in his dream career as a doctor. Thomas enjoys ASL and says, “As long as you don’t use your voice, it’s a fun time.” Thomas has overall enjoyed his first semester of ASL at SJND and plans to continue with it for as long as he can.
Even though many students including Thomas haven’t taken ASL before SJND, many of them are doing well in the class. It speaks to the strength of SJND’s ASL department that there are so many ASL students and that they are efficiently learning the language. To end out, Thomas strongly recommends ASL to any future SJND students who might be interested in taking it. Thomas says, “You get decently easy homework, the teacher is nice as well and you learn a lot in the class. It’s expressive and fun.” With that, we discussed three of SJND’s four languages but one remains, French.
Last but certainly not least, I interviewed Samuel who is a student in French 1. French one is one of the smaller classes at SJND but still has passionate students who enjoy the class. French has honors and regular classes, going all the way up from French 1 to AP French. Some freshmen students at SJND are taking AP French. The learning opportunities are endless. Samuel said that he was taking French 1 “because my mom took French when she was a kid and like my entire family can speak French.’’ When asked whether he liked taking French 1 or not, he simply replied “Oui,” showing his enjoyment of and proficiency in the French language.
Samuel also plans to continue taking French classes as long as he can at SJND. The French program is small, but with positive attitudes like that of Samuel, it will likely add more and more students to the program. Samuel didn’t take French in a great capacity before this though he knows some. Samuel, to conclude, when asked about whether he’d recommend this class to others simply said one thing: “Oui.” French may be one of the smaller departments at SJND but it certainly isn’t smaller in spirit.
In conclusion, SJND has many languages all of which have merit and are important to the school. You can take any language you like at SJND and have a positive experience. If you want a big class and a big variety of programs, Spanish or ASL might be your best choice. In contrast, if you want more on one time with a teacher, French or Mandarin might be a better choice. If you want to go all the way and take an AP course, then French and Spanish might be to your liking. My point in writing this article isn’t to tell you about which language is the right choice; my point in this article is to tell you that there is no wrong choice. No matter what language, no matter what age, no matter where you come from, SJND’s language department has got you covered.
