By Esther Cui

   Confused on which language to choose to study in ninth grade? Let’s dive into what makes each class unique to help you with your decision, starting with the French class taught by Madame Doran.

   Madame Doran creates a fulfilling and interactive class, with the goal to “comfortably converse in and understand French,” Ka Wu, one of the freshmen French students, says. Madame blends lessons with new phrases followed by unique and fascinating aspects of French culture. She values participation and often adds competitive Blookets that make the vocabulary stick. For Ka, her favorite part in French is “learning new words, since that means I (get to) piece together new phrases and sentences.” The ability to construct new sentences and express oneself in a foreign language opens up a whole new set of possibilities. 

    Spanish is another option, taught by Señor Cardoso. Señor’s class is active and amazingly interactive, filled with fun and competitive activities such as jeopardy, Kahoot, around the world and so much more. Señor has a strong focus on communication and many interactive activities are present in class. As you learn more about Spanish, you’ll get to know about the fascinating Spanish culture. By the end of one month, you’ll be surprised at the amount of things you have learned and fun you have had.

   If Spanish isn’t for you, perhaps look into German, taught by Herr Gray. Herr Gray’s class embodies a unique German culture and atmosphere, with original German folktales and gnomes lined up against the walls with paintings of German stories. Herr Gray is highly dedicated to teaching German, offering many options and opportunities. In his class, he makes sure you understand the material thoroughly while having so much fun in the process. You get to learn so much about fascinating German cultures and beliefs. Herr Gray unconsciously leads you to learn a plentiful amount of vocabulary without actually realizing it. His class is fun and interactive, with games such as Booklet, Kahoot and Bingo. 

   How cool would it be if you could visit historical monuments and look at artifacts and read the writing? Latin may sound boring but in reality it is really interesting. Dr. Ryan offers a comprehensive and interesting class for Latin. He is very patient, making sure you understand the concepts at a steady pace, and is also very passionate. As Sanner Bennett, a freshman in Latin class, says: “My favorite part of the class is when … he goes on tangents about syntax, history, idioms – Latin in general.” You get the opportunity to explore why grammar is what it is, which is essential to learning the art of language. After two more years of Latin, you move on to Greek, an entirely new language with a new alphabet and grammar to explore. 

   In the end, you should choose the language class that you are most interested in. Each language opens a new window into a different world, culture and way of thinking. Whether you are drawn into Madam’s amazing French lessons, Señor’s fun Spanish activities, Herr Gray’s immersive German environment or Dr. Ryan’s comprehensive exploration of Latin and Greek, whatever you choose will be the right fit for you.