¡Hola, me llamo Jorge! Translation: Hi, my name is George!

That is about as much as I will recall from my two semesters of college Spanish in a couple years from now.

Ok, I will probably remember a little bit more than introductory nonsense, but honestly, how much do Pace decision makers actually think a student can learn and retain in a mere year of studying a language? It is not like that is the only class students take either. Frankly, the majority of our time is spent focusing on classes that matter to us and our majors, and that will get us a little bit closer to our dreams and aspirations, not on a pair of mandated courses that many students cheat on to pass anyway.

Sorry if I burst anyone’s bubble having said that, but yes, I have been in a language class where many of the students weren’t exactly the most ethical and truthful individuals.

The claim made by the university is that they want to create well-rounded students that will transform into well-rounded graduates. There’s nothing wrong with that, and that’s a great goal to work towards, but does taking a language course really make a student more well-rounded than alternative options? Especially since the majority of students take languages at the introductory level, and never get to even come close to speaking a language fluently.

Maybe culture courses where a student can learn the intricacies of other places around the world would be of better use. It would be much more beneficial to allow students to have the option to choose that different route and I know that I would love to immerse myself into another culture and another way of life, if given the opportunity. But, we are predestined to waste away in a class that almost no student wants to be in.

On top of the obvious problems regarding comparative worth, there is another issue that all students have to deal with: the cost of textbooks. And the language ones are expensive, specifically the ones used for the introductory Spanish courses.

To buy the required text and the online accompaniment students have to spend in excess of $200. That may not sound like a lot, but for a full time student, $200 can go a long way.

So what do get at the end of the day? An expensive textbook, a nearly worthless course, and: Hola, me llamo Jorge.