Italian — “Life”
Like many other romance languages, Italian stems from Latin. However, there were many local and vernacular forms of the language present throughout Italy. It was not until the unification of Italy in 1861 that the Tuscan dialect was adopted as the official language. As the official language of music, many musicians will be familiar with smatterings of Italian, from piano and fortissimo and to the nimble pizzicato.
Why do you think people choose to learn Italian?
“You can apply [Italian] to music, you can apply it to fashion, you can apply it to medicine, you can apply it to food. You can apply it to technology, you can apply it to any discipline, even for pharmacy, for art, you can apply it to all sorts of things. And Italia is a small country, but it leads in so many things, and it is present in so many different areas that people do not know.” - Laura Francolino, Italian teacher
85 million speakers
Latin — “Beautiful”
The ancestor to all the romance languages, Latin is the sole language offered at PHS that has no native speakers — yet its fundamental nature as the origin of nearly 70% of words in Romance languages has drawn countless PHS students to it. Originating from the lower Tiber River, Latin spread throughout Europe with the rise of the Roman Empire — at its peak, it was spoken across the Roman Empire, with nearly 800 authors and a surviving corpus of 10 million words. Although its lack of native speakers today, Latin still has a variety of uses, including in medicine, law, and science. It is also the official language of Vatican City.
Why do students choose Latin?
“We’re clearly different because we’re the only ancient language ... what we’re trying to do is learn the language to the point where you can access authentic texts. ... I think the thing for a historical exercise, right? It’s accessing a civilization and a culture that’s old, but familiar.” - Nolis Arakoulakis, Latin teacher
No active speaking population
Chinese — “Engaging”
First originating thousands of years ago, Chinese is one of the oldest spoken languages in the world, with hundreds of different dialects and regional varieties. The tonal nature of the language, where changes in pitch define meaning, make it particularly challenging to learn. The language’s writing system is also unique: it uses distinct and complex characters to represent words, rather than an alphabet system. The complexity of traditional Chinese characters led to the creation of simplified Chinese in the 1900s, in an attempt to increase literacy rates. This year marks the 20th year since the founding of the PHS Mandarin program.
What is the hardest thing to learn in Mandarin?
“Mandarin has a totally different alphabet ... So the writing system is very complicated. [When] we design the curriculum, we would like to help the student to develop their understanding about the writing, reading, speaking, and listening, as well as [the] proficiency level.” - Shwu-Fen Lin, Mandarin teacher
1.3 billion speakers
French — “Lyrical”
The language of love. The language of diplomacy. And the language of exchange in over 106 countries and territories. French’s widespread usage stems from imperialistic endeavors in the 19th century, but today the language is the official language of 32 countries. In 88 BC, however, France, then Gaul, was itself the subject of invasion, and the birth of the French language started from a mix of Latin, Celtic, and Germanic languages. Second chances such as the loss of final consonants have led to the unique phonological properties of the language. The usage of French around the world continues to grow: fueled by the growth of African Francophone countries, French may be the third-most spoken language in the world by 2050.
How does learning French help students later in life?
“In later life, I’ve had previous students come back and [they’ve] told me that they’ve continued with French. They’ve done their study abroad and sometimes they’ve moved away and they’ve used French ... They lived in a French-speaking country and they needed French to function in a job.” - Malachi Woolf, French teacher
321 million speakers
Japanese — “Cultural”
Known for having three writing systems, Japanese first started developing their own alphabet based on Chinese characters in the 4th century C.E. The characters, known as Kanji, began as simple pictorial representations of the words they represent, borrowing heavily from Chinese scripts. Modern Japanese is also written in two other scripts that developed during the 9th century: Hiragana and Katakana, both simplified versions of Kanji.
What are some strategies you have to teach students?
“Inside [the] classroom, we do a lot of chanting [and] we [memorize] a lot of folk songs, and then the students learn Japanese through those traditional Japanese folk ... we do a lot of karaoke in the class. So whatever songs we sing, [they have] something to do with Japanese culture.” - Risa Sakakibara, Japanese teacher
122 million speakers
Spanish — “Vibrant”
For many high schoolers across the country, Spanish is the first foreign language they are exposed to. Indeed, the United States is home to the second-largest Spanish-speaking population after Mexico. Unique to Spanish is its influence from Arabic by virtue of its position on the Iberian Peninsula. While Latin has influenced Spanish like other romance languages, the Arabian conquest of the area for over 700 years undoubtedly left its mark.
What do you enjoy most about teaching Spanish?
“I really being able to share my own world, my own language, who I am, my own identity. And honestly, it is seeing when the light turns on, you know, immediately, and I see that the students are able to apply what they’re learning and to use the language ... It’s not just something that they’re learning for the grammar. It’s something that they can use in the real world.” - Idania Rodriguez-Villa, Spanish teacher
560 million speakers