Rachel Rodriguez encourages spiritual outreach through Spanish

With English established as the most popular language for tourism, the need to learn another language no longer stands a problem. However, there are those that see the benefits of learning Spanish.

The website The Young Leader contains an article on the benefits of learning Spanish. This website focuses on inspiring teens to try new things and getting them involved in projects that will help them in the future. According to author Fletcher Walters learning Spanish improves English vocabulary and helps achieve better SAT scores.  

Rachel Rodriguez believes that Spanish will help the students out in the world. Rodriguez teaches Spanish I, II, and III.

“Spanish I and Spanish II mainly focus on setting that foundation, especially Spanish I,” Rodriguez said. “In Spanish I, they figure out their greetings and likes and dislikes. Spanish II is just expanding to talk about friends, family and people around you. Once in Spanish III, the students go out to practice their Spanish. We go not only to restaurants, but grocery stores as well, to apply those everyday basics.”

According to effectivelanguagelearning.com, Spanish has grown from 60 million people speaking the language at the end of the 19th century to 500 million people present day.

Aspiring doctor, Maxwell Hinton, ‘22, believes that learning Spanish will help him in pursuit of his medical career. This is Hinton’s first year in Spanish I and he looks forward to see what the rest of the school year in the class contains.  

“I like learning a language that I hear often in public,” Hinton said. “We live in a state that has many Spanish speakers. I believe this class will help me communicate better with people I encounter.”

Tyler Villines, ‘18, sings ‘Here as in Heaven’ (Como en el Vielo) and ‘Do it Again’ (Lo Haras Otra Vez) during Spanish for extra credit, May 11. #FCspanish @fresnochristian #TheFeather pic.twitter.com/Vn7TjOEERN

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) May 11, 2018

Junior Bekah Micu takes Spanish III to effectively communicate with her future patients as she plans to become a kinesiologist. Micu hopes use this year to perfect the Spanish she learns.

“My favorite thing about Spanish III is getting better at speaking Spanish while having fun,” Micu said. “I think having three years of Spanish will help me be able to get a job easier too. It will also help me to  communicate and reach both people who speak English and people who speak Spanish.”

Rodriguez believes that Spanish will not only help the students, but help the native speakers as well. She said that once the students can speak Spanish, they can reach people that they were unable to reach before.   

“Spanish opens another avenue of reaching people,” said Rodriguez. “Since we are at a Christian school, we are expressing Christ-like character, and our goal is to reach people. By learning Spanish, we go beyond English speaking people. We can go to Spanish speaking people and you have the opportunity to go out of country or on mission trips to Spanish speaking countries.”

Rodriguez believes in training students of excellence and her students’ aspirations reflect that goal. Only time will tell if Spanish makes a difference in the job front.

For more on the campus Spanish classes, read Spanish III visit Toledo’s Mexican Restaurant. For more articles, read Join the Discussion: College Fair 2018.

Brayden Iest can be reached via Twitter and via email.