Wasting time can come in many different forms. For example, I often waste my time by watching repeats of SportsCenter.
Another example of wasting time is taking an intermediate level foreign language class in the midst of a chaotic college schedule when you’ve already taken the same course in high school.
While some students such as myself consciously choose to waste time, every student enrolled at UCLA who is not an engineer is required to take an intermediate foreign language course.
Whether one views the foreign language requirement from an economic standpoint or an educational standpoint, the outcome is negative.
Students should be able to choose whether they want to retake a foreign language during college and should not be forced to waste their time. From an economic standpoint, UCLA clearly does not have the budget to allow for wasteful spending.
As of Thursday, the UC Board of Regents approved a 9.3 percent increase in student fees, saying that class offerings would be reduced otherwise.
Intermediate level foreign language classes are some of the courses that need to be cut.
Students enrolled in these classes are often only there to fulfill a requirement and have no intention of continuing their learning or pursuing a career that involves the foreign language.
Because of our busy schedules, students like myself will have to pay additional money for summer school to fulfill the requirement on top of paying for the 9.3 percent increase in student fees next year.
From an educational standpoint, taking one quarter of an intermediate foreign language course isn’t going to make an individual proficient at that language.
Chris Ducar, a first-year business economics student, took Spanish in high school and doesn’t want to take it anymore.
“I spent three long years taking Spanish in high school and have not only forgotten most of the language, but also have never come across a situation where I needed to use it,” Ducar said.
Learning a foreign language well enough to use in everyday life requires much more education than a level three foreign language course.
To become proficient at a foreign language, one must become immersed in the language and culture.
Unfortunately, UCLA students do not have the time or money to learn a foreign language while they are trying to complete their degree.
Many proponents of the school’s foreign language requirement argue that the knowledge learned from an intermediate level foreign language class will make students well-rounded and help them in their future occupation.
Grace Chang, a UCLA alumna who majored in sociology, now works at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles.
“I’ve never needed to speak with any of my co-workers or clients in another language,” Chang said.
Foreign languages are fun to learn in high school, and while there are benefits to having knowledge of a foreign language, taking an intermediate foreign language course provides no advantage for the working class.
UCLA should not be able to force students to take an intermediate level language course if they do not want to.
Knowing a foreign language is a great skill to have and could be very useful in some aspects of life, but most UCLA students will not learn enough from an intermediate language class and do not possess the time to further their knowledge of that language.
Maybe after I have graduate from college I will try to learn a language with Rosetta Stone, but now is certainly not the time.
E-mail Dunn at sdunn@media.ucla.edu