Everything could use improvement at some point, and with that comes debate over when improvement is necessary.  Schriebers foreign language department can be considered advanced compared to many other language departments outside of Port Washington.  Some students and many teachers believe that the department isn’t in need of curriculum improvement, but many students argue that the language courses are too expecting and difficult for the students.

“We’re very fortunate to have such a variety of language courses from which our students can choose.  Our department offers courses to suit the diverse abilities and interests of our student population” said Ms.Delio.  The department consists of classes that vary in difficulty to suit the needs of the students, whether that leaves them to take an advanced or lower class.  There’s honors and AP courses, for students who decide to take a more advanced course, so for example they’d take a class like AP italian.  There’s also lower courses like Spanish 2b for students who may struggle to understand the language.

Included in the various options, there are also language classes for native speakers, such as intensive spanish which you take an exam to get into.  While taking intensive, you could also take another language like French, Italian or Latin.  Obviously, it isn’t an easy class to take, even for native speakers, but having teachers they like helps the students enjoy the class. 

World Languages Department Chairperson, Mrs.Ferrante, spoke of how determined the teachers are to ensure that their students  gain the ability to read, write, and speak the language they are taking.  Students are also taught the overall culture of the language  including how the people live, and where the languages are spoken.  “ I really do believe the teachers go above and beyond,” said Mrs.Ferrante.  As many would agree, some students believe they’re being pushed too hard.

Various points could be made that the department is determined and primarily focused on the quality of their students’ learning, but many points could also be made that students are overloaded and expected of too much then they’re capable.  Students feel as if they’re expected to know all of the vocabulary they’ve learned from the past 3-6 years, and “sometimes in class we feel like the teachers forget our first language is English,” said Sal Bullaro. 

The students all deal with all of the work from their other courses and the possible Honors or AP classes they could be taking.  The overall amount of work could be very stressful to students when going home, or they could even feel stressed during class when asked to speak.  And though some teachers try to understand how difficult it could be, it makes them proud to see how hard their students are trying. 

Though not all students can manage the stress of taking a language class, they may decide to drop the class altogether.  There’s few students that drop their language course, but those that do feel as if they’re better off.  “don’t do something you’re not comfortable with,” said Katie Germama, as she is an example of a student who dropped her language due to work overload. 

Since there is such a variety of classes for students at Schreiber, there are many tough courses that require extensive amounts of time and effort, therefore causing stress on students.  They may not understand how nerve racking it is to be a student trying to speak another language in front of a whole class. At times, it can even feel embarrassing. 

Though the teachers do an excellent job trying to teach their kids the most important parts about whichever language they take, they could be more mindful of the stress the students undergo in total.  The curriculum is in good shape, but working on this one part that focuses on the students’ stress levels by cutting down on the expectations would help out so many students at schreiber.