Two years of a foreign language are required for graduation from high school. Most kids take Spanish or Chinese in order to fulfill this requirement. When a student chooses to take French, he or she knows they will be a kind of minority in the school.

In France, families celebrate Christmas with their own special cake of sorts called a “bouche de noel.” That same tradition came to life Dec. 7 when nearly 85 students from French classes at Los Gatos and Saratoga held a friendly decorating contest at LGHS’s community room.

The U.S has been perceived upon as a country of hard workers, overachievers, and gifted people all having a vigorous work ethic. Americans work approximately 40 hour work weeks, compared 35 for the French and a measly 30 hours for the Germans. In addition to this, Americans only get an average of four weeks of vacation, whereas the French get the month of August to recover from their ‘hectic’ work weeks, causing Americans to dub the Europeans as a bunch of lazy people.

With the beginning of the new academic year, several changes in the world language department have occurred. For the first time in two years, the school is offering French 1 while Japanese 1 has been cut.

Laura Lizundia is currently teaching the beginning French course and is excited to introduce new students to the Francophone world.

“It’s great to be teaching [French 1] again,” said Lizundia. “Although I have to start all over again and refresh myself through the curriculum, it will be very good for me and my students.”

Teaching is often a selfless job. Teachers spend much of their time to ensure a better life for younger generations, but in return they are not paid the salaries they deserve and are often criticized more than they are appreciated. Still, according to French teacher Kim Bergkamp, the effort is worth the reward of knowing that she has helped her students understand a difficult subject.

“I love when a student finally gets it,” said Bergkamp. “It is really rewarding when you see a student who has been working really hard get a great test grade. Their hard work has paid off and that is fun to see.”