Hola, Bonjour, Ciao, Привет, 你好, こんにちは, שלום, Merhaba, Habari and สวัสดี.

From languages in South America to Europe, Africa and Asia, these words each mean the same thing: ‘Hello!’

In an effort to connect young people to an increasingly globalized world, many U.S. high schools have made learning a language other than English a graduation requirement.

Although not all languages are offered, high schools typically allow students to choose from multiple options, including Spanish, French, German and Latin.

A 2017 study by the American Councils for International Education found that 8,177 high schools offered Spanish, while 3,738 offered French. By contrast, fewer schools offered less common languages like Hindi and Farsi.

Since then, numbers have continued to decline, leading to a 16.6 percent drop in college and university language enrollments from 2016 to 2021, according to the Modern Language Association (MLA).

Dr. Florin Beschea, Chair and Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Davidson College in North Carolina, acknowledges the importance of language study and the impact of its decline over the years.

Born in Romania and immersed in French throughout his life, he has dedicated his studies to supporting students in pursuing language education through higher learning institutions.

“It’s a very vicious circle due to low enrollment in languages coming from high school students,” Dr. Beschea said. “This reverberates into the universities because the French and Spanish departments are losing members since the high school kids do not come prepared to go into languages. It’s this ripple effect that could bring the entire system down.”

At Davidson College alone, many language departments have closed. 

“The sheer numbers of students who are motivated to learn French have declined,” he said. “10 years ago, we had maybe 20 majors and now the numbers are halved. They’ve gone down in the last five years. It’s going to be even less in the future.”

Nonetheless, studying languages and maintaining language departments in high schools and higher education offers many lasting benefits for students.

“In learning a language, you don’t only learn the language but also the culture, the history and new perspectives, it also makes you smarter and more culturally aware,” Dr. Beschea said. “It’s clear that children have mental capacity that needs to be developed growing up and language is one of those things that the more you have, the better it is for the brain.”

LAUSD Coordinator of World Languages and Cultures Multilingual Multicultural Education, Youssef Mossadaq, also stresses the importance of learning languages and their benefits on the development of the brain.

“Some of those benefits are basically connected to the brain and how it works,” Mossadaq said. “It has been scientifically proven that someone who speaks more than one language processes information in a faster way, as well, in a very novel way, as well as someone who speaks just one language.”

Learning language enhances both brain function and global awareness, he said.

“When we learn a language, we’re also connecting with other communities around us,” he said. “You’re connecting our linguistic communities with other cultural practices as well. You’re more prone to understanding other people’s cultures and other people’s thinking by other people’s practices.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, younger children exposed to multiple languages tend to have better cognitive skills and brain development.

Language learning is both a graduation requirement and a valuable opportunity. However, Mr. Mossadaq says that the learning doesn’t need to be constrained to the requirement. 

“If you enjoy learning, whether it’s for professional purposes, recreational purposes like traveling overseas, or for academic purposes like study abroad, you would like to move beyond just level one, level two or level three,” he said.

Ultimately, success in language learning depends on student dedication and engagement. 

“Interest in a language leads to proficiency and so does the love you have for that language,” Mr. Mossadaq said. “It takes time. So I would always ask our students and encourage them to try their fullest potential. Don’t be scared if you make a mistake. It comes with time.”

Language teacher Ms. Maria Azagra agrees. 

“Students studying French tend to be more motivated because they feel like French is something more special,” Ms. Azagra said. “Only a small group of people know the language.”

Ms. Azagra has taught both Spanish and French at the school since 2004. Over the last eight years the interest in French classes has declined with many, opting for Spanish instead.

 Starting next year, French will no longer be offered to students here.

Offering French gave students with prior Spanish knowledge the option to challenge themselves with another language.

“It allowed for a choice,” she said. “Sometimes students come in knowing Spanish or they just like French. I think for a practical purpose, the more choices the better,” said Ms. Azagra.

As a junior in the last available French class, Ruchikan Phonithitanan is disappointed that the course is no longer being offered.

“It’s sad to see that they’re getting rid of French class because I have so many great memories in my previous French class and the class I’m in now,” she said. “Since there’ll be no more French class next year, which other people and I are interested in taking, we might have lost the opportunity to learn French properly in a class and be able to speak it fluently.”

Ms. Azagra hopes French classes will return.

“It’s a pity that they have that door closed when it could have been open,” she said. “I think many would have loved to continue but they kind of have to accept it.”

Initially, students may not feel motivated to learn a language like French, but many come to love all it has to offer. 

Phonithitanan expresses a newfound appreciation for French.

“At first, I wasn’t really interested in French, but once I took the class, I started to like it more and became more interested,” she said. “I started to like their culture, along with the food after taking the French class.”

One factor preventing students from choosing French is the belief that it’s harder to learn, leading them to settle for the easier option, Spanish. Phonithitanan reassures that this perception of French’s difficulty is untrue.

“I think French is very interesting to learn and while many people think it’s hard, I find it fun and easy,” she said. 

She is further motivated to continue learning French to achieve her goal of traveling to Paris and communicating effectively.

She hopes to continue studying independently to reach her goal.

“The easiest thing to do is to listen to music and watch movies in your target language,” Dr. Beschea said. “If you’re reading a book, make it a French book. Who says you can’t read Harry Potter in French?”

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2025 print edition.