Language acquisition is not an easy task.  Humans need years of practice even to master their native language.  So it’s understandable that many St. Paul Academy and Summit School students choose to fill their language requirement with just one new tongue.  Some, however, go the extra mile by taking a second language.

Junior Kaia Findlay is one such student.  Findlay took French throughout middle school, and took on German last year.  “My sister took it, so I knew I’d be able to get help from her,” she said.  “I thought it would just be fun to take German,” she adds.  She says that the fact that she is taking more languages has not changed the way she approaches school, and she is even considering taking a third.  “I would like to take Spanish at some point, because a lot of people in my neighborhood speak Spanish,” Findlay said. “I want to be able to communicate with as many people as possible.”

Senior Jeremy Tong is another multi-language student.  Like Findlay, Tong has taken French since sixth grade.  He added Chinese to his schedule last year.  “I’m interested in languages, so I feel like knowing more than one is useful,” Tong said. Nobody can deny that, and with nothing to stop him, why not?