What's your view on your kid wanting to learn another language than you want...?

[aa2mama]

In my line of work (in the midwest) we encounter many French-speaking African immigrants. Nobody in our department speaks French. We have to call a language line to translate. We also encounter many Spanish speakers, however we already have several Spanish speakers on staff. I don't speak any foreign languages, but I have considered taking French to fill that void.

I would encourage learning any foreign language. You never know where it may lead. My step-daughter just moved to Ukraine. My son-in-law (other DSD) has a master's degree in Japanese and teaches.

[jenmcadams]

Like everyone else, I'd say let them lead on this one. Both of my kids take French (My DD has been studying it since 6th grade, so 5+ years and my son is on year 3 (as an 8th grader)). My DD spent the summer in Amman with the State Dept last summer to learn Arabic and my son now also takes Japanese and will spend the month of June there this year. I'm just so happy that both kids are passionate about languages. I took 3 years of spanish in high school and don't use it now

[squimp]

I also want to emphasize that in middle school for some kids, it becomes not cool to be passionate about things.

So I really think it is so great that your DD is passionate about French! GO with it.

[basil]

I know everyone else is saying let her do her thing...

But I have said a thousand times - biggest regret of my life is taking French and not Spanish in HS. This may be because I have led a relatively regret-free life. But a basic knowledge of Spanish grammar and common words would serve me really well right now and French not at all.

I don’t have a “knack” for languages, but being exposed to multiple Spanish speaking people every day that I need to communicate to via interpreter, I’ve picked up a surprisingly fair amount of understanding. But I cannot speak it. At all. Even the words that I should be able to use really commonly.

No way I could have known as a 13 year old making this choice, but slightly wish my parents had pushed me towards Spanish since it’s obviously more useful than French.

[ett]

I know everyone else is saying let her do her thing...

But I have said a thousand times - biggest regret of my life is taking French and not Spanish in HS. This may be because I have led a relatively regret-free life. But a basic knowledge of Spanish grammar and common words would serve me really well right now and French not at all.

I took 4 years of French in HS but have retained very little of it. When we went to Quebec City last summer, I could read some signs, menus, and stuff but I would not be able to have any kind of conversation in French with anyone. I tried ordering in French at Tim Hortons (just reading the items off the menu) and the worker really couldn't understand me. And I've forgotten a lot of the grammar rules too.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i agree Spanish would be more practical, but i would just let her do what language she wants, because you cannot force someone to learn a language. plus learning any foreign language i think helps you learn others later IMO.

to really learn a language you need motivation. so forcing a kid to learn language wouldn't really work IMO. i love languages and can learn them easily when i want to. i took only 1 year of French in high school. decades later i still retain a decent amount of French and it came in handy when we went to Paris (i can't really speak it but i can understand/read a good amount). probably bc i knew spanish too but still. i learned Japanese in graduate school and was getting to the point of being pretty fluent. i've forgotten a lot of it but i can still read and understand a lot. for me knowing one other language made it so much easier to learn others. when i was in my early 30s i took 3 months and memorized how to write 2,000 "general use" kanji for Japanese. when people are motivitated, they will learn . i don't think that you only can learn language as a teen and not later.

[trcy]

I took Spanish in highschool and college. I figured it was the most practical choice I didn't have a passion for it at all. Now, I can barely speak it at all. Let her take French, if that's what she really wants. Hopefully she'll learn and retain more of it because it is what she really wants.

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[KpbS]

It seems French has always been the most popular language in middle school/jr high/high school, esp with the girls. I guess I'm in the be glad she is passionate camp although I hear ya that Spanish is a much more practical choice.

[basil]

I took 4 years of French in HS but have retained very little of it. When we went to Quebec City last summer, I could read some signs, menus, and stuff but I would not be able to have any kind of conversation in French with anyone. I tried ordering in French at Tim Hortons (just reading the items off the menu) and the worker really couldn't understand me. And I've forgotten a lot of the grammar rules too.

The ability to read a bit and say basic commands (like move up, hold still, etc.), colors, numbers, would make a world of different for me in my specific situation. I could do that in French but can't in Spanish. No one should expect fluency from typical HS classes, but it does make a difference.

[scrooks]

I took 4 years of French in HS but have retained very little of it. When we went to Quebec City last summer, I could read some signs, menus, and stuff but I would not be able to have any kind of conversation in French with anyone. I tried ordering in French at Tim Hortons (just reading the items off the menu) and the worker really couldn't understand me. And I've forgotten a lot of the grammar rules too.

Yep! This exactly!