Foreign Language
Foreign Language Program
It’s a myth that learning a second language can interfere with a child’s development. Juggling multiple languages is actually good for you. Managing two or more languages is a mental workout. The muscles of working memory grow stronger, boosting retention and recall speed. And because this mental juggling requires concentration and coordination, multilingual students steadily improve their ability to focus. Learning a new language also deepens the understanding of how all languages work, so multilingual students perform better on tests of reading comprehension and vocabulary. Finally, new languages force students to create meaning from unfamiliar cultural and symbolic systems, which increases cultural awareness, empathy, and tolerance of other people.
As a result, knowledge of a foreign language can equip a student with very valuable skills necessary to stay on top of their academic studies and outpace the competition in today’s global marketplace. At St. Andrews, we equip our students with foundations in two foreign languages: German and Spanish.
- Germany is the world’s third-largest exporter: only China and the United states export more goods and services.
- The German economy ranks number one in Europe and number four worldwide. Its economy is comparable to that of ALL the world’s Spanish-speaking countries combined.
- German has the largest number of native speakers in the European Union (far more than English, Spanish, or French).
- German is among the ten most commonly spoken languages in the world. It is also a lingua franca of Central and Eastern Europe.
- Germans are world leaders and innovators in engineering and technology.
- German is the second most commonly used scientific language in the world.
- German is indispensable for study in music, religion, philosophy, physics, and many other subjects.
- German is the language that is MOST often required or recommended in academic programs.
Many of the Western world’s most important works of philosophy, literature, music, art history, theology, psychology, chemistry, physics, engineering and medicine are written in German and continue to be produced in German.