What languages might be most practically useful to your family? You can take this question in two directions.

Why not expand that dream by studying Spanish and learning about Argentinean literature, music, and food in the language spoken by the porteños-that is, the people of Buenos Aires-themselves? Maybe your family is the adventurous type and has a shared dream of traveling to Buenos Aires. So when you’re deciding on a language, ask yourself this: Which language will help you develop your existing interests and thereby contribute to building your family culture? Do you love Italian food and Renaissance art? Perhaps studying Italian will be a way to dive deeper into these interests and help your family appreciate the beauty of Italian culture.

What world cultures are most interesting to your family? Since motivation is such an important part of language learning, it helps to connect your family’s language learning to broader interests.

So, ask yourself these three things when choosing a foreign language to study: My hope, however, is that these three questions will be a great “jumping off” point for deeper conversations in your family and help you feel like you are making a purposeful and well-informed decision.

Since your answers to each of these questions might not all point to the same language, you will have to decide which factors should weigh most heavily. They’re by no means the ONLY questions to ask yourself when deciding which foreign language to study, but they should help guide you toward the right decision for your family. Here, I’ve developed three questions that can help you narrow down your choices. Where do you start? If you find yourself asking that question, well, today’s post is for you. But let’s say that you’ve made the decision to include foreign languages in your homeschool.

Brave writer cathy duffy