Modern Language Department

Ms. Catherine Douglas, Chairperson

Language Lab Portal

As educators at Xaverian Brothers High School, we believe that the acquisition of a second language is an important part of the education of our students. The ability to communicate in more than one language contributes to the total enrichment and growth of the individual.

Knowledge of a second language opens up career opportunities both with an international scope, as well as a domestic application as we move closer and closer to bilingualism in the United States.

We require two years of study in French or Spanish. Courses taken at the middle school level do not fulfill this requirement. We strongly recommend a minimum of three years of language study.

At this point, many of our incoming Freshmen have made a decision about their choice of modern language, while others are trying to choose between French and Spanish.

We would like to take this opportunity to dispel a couple of myths:

MYTH # 1:
French is harder than Spanish.

In the early months of language study Spanish pronunciation and spelling seem to come more naturally to American students. However, French and Spanish are both romance languages, and their vocabulary and grammatical structures are in many cases strikingly similar!!

MYTH # 2:
Spanish is more useful than French.
Although Spanish is rapidly becoming the second language of the United States and is likely to become a necessity in some fields, French remains more widely used throughout the world.