Ashlyn Hoffmann

One of the four languages offered at Dulaney High School (DHS) is French. Students enrolled in French class and teachers discuss the benefits of learning this language.

French is one of the major European languages and has many speakers around the world. 

French teacher Ben Peak says, “Learning French in high school gives you a whole second set of vocabulary, that is Latin based, which helps with English.”

Pronunciation tends to be the most difficult aspect of learning French for English speakers. However, French is also considered simple to learn because it obeys grammatical rules, unlike some other languages including Spanish and English.

“French is a lot more specific about the grammar rules and language decisions because of the similarities across the French speaking countries of the world,” says Peak.

French has a large presence in Europe and learning it in high school facilitates European travel. French teacher Heidi Rios likes teaching French because of the beautiful and rich culture.

“I think French is so poetic, elegant and just fun. People say it’s the language of love. Learning French is a beautiful journey in your path to understanding the world,” says Rios.

DHS students enrolled in French have their own unique viewpoints on why they find learning French beneficial. 

Junior Lillian Thai takes AP French 5 and says, “French has helped me learn how to learn a language and was a good foundation to hopefully learn other languages one day.” 

As for AP French 6 senior Riya Mahale, learning French has challenged her in ways no other class can.

Mahale says, “Unlike learning other school subjects, when you start learning French or any second language, you start from scratch like at a toddler level. This has really taught me to push my comfort level because there is a lot I still don’t know but I have to try.”

French is not as popular as Spanish to learn as a second language in the United States, but because of the rich culture, rule patterns and appropriate foundation for learning more languages, many people think French is an interesting language to learn in high school as a second language.

“I think every single student in the world should be proficient in at least two languages to become a meaningful member of a global community,” says Peak.

This article is part of a series about the languages offered at Dulaney High School.

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