Do you think grades are important to learning a langauge? When I studied French in high school, it was a class with tests and quizzes and homework and grades, just like math or any other class. Now I'm taking Finnish classes that are given by a church in the evenings, and I just noticed- we have no grades. There is no passing or failing. I've taken the beginner class several times, in part because I need extra practice but also because different teachers have taught different things when they teach the class. When I feel I'm ready, I'll move up to the advanced class. So do you think grades are important for language? Would you be happier if you had them or didn't? Great answers! The church setting was new to me too, it's not my church and I wouldn't have thought of classes there. But it makes sense, it's a Finnish language church that serves a community of older immigrants for whom it's a cultural center- and their children and spouses who are interested in learning the language can do so. Because it makes them closer to their family, it does fill a daily purpose, but it was new to me too.