'Critical Foreign Languages' Taught In More Schools

"Everybody would love to be able to add foreign languages, but for whatever reason it's not supported," said Youngs, associate teaching professor of French and Francophone studies at Carnegie Mellon University. "Maybe it's going into the football program; maybe it's going into the fact that the (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, which does not test for foreign language skill) has become so mighty in the state."

To create or expand a program, a district must have community support, several educators said. Sometimes, even that isn't enough.

Both Franklin Regional and Mt. Lebanon school districts expanded their programs to lower grades in the past decade. Sixth-graders at Franklin Regional can choose French or Spanish; Spanish is mandatory in Mt. Lebanon from first through fifth grades.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_561501.html

Libraries Offer Interactive Learning

Justin Thakar's mother was pleased when she was told her 15-year-old son has a good accent when he speaks Japanese. "He is doing well with Japanese. It's not the easiest language to learn," said Mary Beth Thakar of Mt. Lebanon, who home-schools her son.

Justin works hard on his Japanese, but his mother credits his progress to online language instruction the Mt. Lebanon public library offers its patrons. The library provides "Rosetta Stone," a language study program that she downloaded onto an MP3 player to help guide her son through the difficulties of Japanese and Spanish. The library offers similar programs in other languages, including English as a second language.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_533107.html