When I was in high school we had the choice of studying Spanish or French to meet our foreign language requirement. I distinctly remember telling my guidance counselor that I wanted to take Japanese. She said that wasn’t an option. I took Spanish.

Today, if a student wants to study a language that his or her school doesn’t offer, that student can find lots of online options for learning a new language. Open Culture has a long list of places where you can find free online courses for learning a new language. The list covers forty languages including Japanese which I just might study now. The courses listed are a mix of iTunes U courses, YouTube channels, and assorted MOOCs.