Public Charter Schools in Florida Offering Many Foreign Language Opportunities to Students

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/733009.html

Traditional public schools offer foreign language classes, often popular options like Spanish and French, but some public charter schools in Florida are offering their students the opportunities to study multiple languages. Mandarin Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, and Greek are some of the languages currently being offered. The foreign language push comes as U.S. students struggle to keep up with their peers internationally and prepare for a future that is more globally interconnected. ''It also shows other people that we as Americans respect other people and their languages and cultures and, lo and behold, Americans can actually learn other languages,'' said Nancy Rhodes, director of foreign language education at the nonprofit Center for Applied Linguistics. At Ben Gamla Charter School, in Hollywood, which has daily Hebrew language classes, some students have never spoken the language prior to coming to the school. "It's new, and children love things that are new," said Principal Sharon Miller. "It almost is very aesthetically appealing to them because the letters look almost like an art form." At the International Studies Charter High School in Coral Gables, which offers Spanish, French and Italian programs, students graduate with a regular diploma as well as a diploma from the country of their chosen language. At the A-rated school, which has 255 students, students study their language and also take humanities and literature classes in that language. Students in the French program also take math in the language.

Source: Miami Herald (free registration required)
Date: 10/19/2008