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"Now it's considered to be specials, electives. It wouldn't rise to the importance of English and math. So when they pull the money, they don't do it from what's considered to be the basics."

Wake County school officials say they already provide money to every elementary school to offer foreign-language instruction. But they say most schools use the money for other purposes, such as English as a second language.

Goettee said the district needs to review how individual schools are diverting their current funding away from foreign language. But she says they can't afford to wait for the review to be completed and need more money now to start offering the classes.

Most Wake County parents who want their kids to take a foreign language in elementary school have to try to get into a magnet school. At Wiley Elementary, the focus is on foreign languages with the magnet school offering Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. Students take four 45-minute classes each week.

"I thought that it would be more difficult," said Kennedy Goodson, 10, a fourth-grader at Wiley, on why she's taking Japanese this year. "The other languages seemed too easy."

Singing in German

In Anke Chignell's German classes, students sing or speak up in their new language. It's a welcome change from her days teaching German in high school. "When I teach them a song, they all want to do it," Chignell said. "They're not afraid to make mistakes."

If Wake offered foreign-language instruction in every elementary school, Wiley Principal Erin Kershner said, she wouldn't be worried about the competition.

"I'm all for foreign language in every elementary school," Kershner said. "It's a wonderful opportunity for the students."

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