ERHS will offer two new foreign language courses to students in the 2016-2017 school year: Korean and Spanish for Native Speakers.

“Although we have a wide variety of language offerings, we are always open to student and faculty suggestions,” explained Mr. Tetsuo Ogawa, the chair of the Foreign Languages Department. “The new Spanish class was made possible because of the collaborative efforts of the Language and ESOL departments.”

The new course will be taught by Spanish teacher Ms. Clarelisa Rivera. However, unlike the new Korean class, this class has actually been available for students to take for years. “The course is already in the system, but there need to be enough students interested in taking the course for it to actually open as a class section,” Ms. Rivera explained.

The course is aimed at ERHS’s Latino community, she added, which “has been growing tremendously.” While it will focus on reading, writing, and speaking Spanish, the course will also provide general knowledge of things such as Hispanic culture, history, fine arts, and more. “This is great for students that had interrupted education in Spanish or students who can understand Spanish because of their heritage, but can’t speak, read or write very well,” said Ms. Rivera.

Ms. Rivera is especially excited about enabling students to learn more about Latin American cultures, and about Spanish language and literature. “I want Latino students to be proud of their heritage and take advantage of their knowledge of Spanish to use it for their benefit,” she said. “This class, along with the school’s curriculum, will create individuals who are prepared for the work force by being fully bilingual.”

ESOL Department Chair Ms. Yijia Zhu also spoke of her excitement for the new course. “So many ESOL students are native speakers of Spanish,” she said. “They already speak Spanish fluently, write fluently.” However, when these students are placed in lower level Spanish courses, she added, “They feel not motivated… they were sitting there, not motivated.”

Ms. Zhu hopes that the class will help to make students, especially those who are newcomers to the United States, to feel more “culturally, socially comfortable” at school. Of the students she’s already recruited, she commented that “they’re so happy, they’re so thrilled,” and also believes that many newcomers to the school and the ESOL program will be taking the course.

Freshman Isaias Elias, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador two years ago, is one of Ms. Zhu’s students, and said that he is excited to be taking the class next year. “Maybe I can get an A for that class,” he said, adding that he is looking forward to being able to take it with his friends.

While she will not be taking either Spanish for Native Speakers nor Korean next year, when asked what she thought about these new classes, freshman Riya Patel responded, “I think it’s really helpful,” referencing the native Spanish speakers in her Spanish 1 class. “They’re being held behind,” she pointed out.

The class is open to students who are native speakers of Spanish, speak Spanish at home, or are of Spanish heritage and understand the language. However, if a student has taken Spanish 2 or a higher level of the language, they are not eligible for the new course.