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Does 2 years of high school foreign language equal 1 year of college study?


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I've heard that's the case but didn't want to assume anything. If you have to know the equivalent of the content you fine in two years of high school study in French or Spanish, can you take two semesters in college and get the same content?

 

And what are your favorite courses that give two full high school years in either French or Spanish?

 

Thanks!!!

 

Robin

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My first two years of high school Spanish would not have equalled a year of Spanish in college, but that was just my experience. Probably after 3 years, though, I would have had the equivalent of two college semesters.

 

How about 3 years of Breaking the Barrier Spanish, plus conversational practice with a private tutor (can be found inexpensively through immigrants, according to some moms), and a one-month immersion program in Guatemala (least expensive immersion experience, if I have understood correctly)?

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The first semester of Spanish at the CC covers all of the first year of a high school Spanish course plus 'one semester more'...

 

My dd took Spanish 1 when she attened our local high school in 9th grade... she is 2/3 into of her first semester of Spanish at the CC and is learning NEW material...

 

The CC says that it covers 4 years of high school Spanish in 3 semesters.

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It is possible to do 3 -4 years of high school foreign language and then do your AP exam for that language. What credit would that AP get you? I think it is one credit? So then that would be 3-4 years of high school foreign language study for 1 college credit? (Personally do not know the answer to this).

 

At university level, there are normally all these language labs that you do outside of class time... agreeing with other posters that there is a lot more packed into college level language...

 

HTH,

Joan

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Colleges that I've looked at generally give credit for a higher level language course for an AP test. It may be only one credit (for some schools), but will place the student higher than if they had only taken one year of high school language. It may fulfill their entire language requirement.

 

But a lot of colleges also give placement tests, so taking the AP test might not make any difference if the student plans to take any more classes in that language.

 

Language courses seem to vary a lot. My daughter did roughly 3 years of Spanish at home (high school), but did not get all the way through Destinos. She still placed into the 5th semester of Spanish. She took one semester of French at one college and placed into the 3rd semester at a different college with no extra studying. And she's currently taking ASL at college. She feels the ASL course moves at about half the speed of the French course she took.

 

 

Reports I hear from the local high school suggest that not much happens in the language classes at that particular high school. They don't take the AP test until after 6 years of a language, while other schools may do this after 4. And their Latin classes take 2-1/2 years to get through the first book of Cambridge Latin, while other schools I hear about on the web get through this book in less than a year. So there's a lot of variation out there.

 

 

This is on the AP French wikipedia page:

"The AP French Language test is widely compared to a final examination for a French 301 college course. "

But "301" isn't a standard term either. I think I've seen colleges giving credit for a class in the 2nd or 3rd year of their sequence -- so if it takes 4 high school years to get to the AP test, then a high school year would equal approx. a college semester.

Edited by emubird
To add:"The AP French Language test is widely compared to a final examination for a French 301 college course. "
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Strictly from a credit standpoint, through the eyes of college admission standards -- yes.

 

 

Most college admission standards equate foreign language study as:

a.) 2 years of the same high school foreign language

OR

b.) 1 year of transferable college study in the same foreign language

OR

c.) attain minimum score on national standardized foreign language test, such that student places:

* into 3rd semester college foreign language class (on university placement exam)

* AP=3

* CLEP=50 or better

* IB=4 or better

* SAT II (SAT Subject Test)=50% or better

 

 

Of course, it also depends on how rigorous or easy the foreign language program used in high school is, how much of the program the student finished, and how well the student performed with the program for YOU to decide how much high school credit to award.

 

Our plan has been for me to avoid doing foreign language at home by having DSs, each in their senior year, do 2 semesters (1 year) of a foreign language at the local community college for dual enrollment credit -- AND "dip his toe" in the waters of a college class. ;) I can tell you at the end of next how that went as older DS will be 12th grade next year. BEST of luck with your foreign language requirements! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited by Lori D.
correction
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I've heard that's the case but didn't want to assume anything. If you have to know the equivalent of the content you fine in two years of high school study in French or Spanish, can you take two semesters in college and get the same content?

 

And what are your favorite courses that give two full high school years in either French or Spanish?

 

Thanks!!!

 

Robin

 

Hey, Robin!!

 

2 years of high school=1 semester of college.

 

I had 4 years of high school and I moved directly into my 200 level classes.

 

However....

 

Some programs are not as good as others.

 

For example, Rosetta Stone used alone does not cover the grammar needed for college classes--so if a student uses this program and plans to test out of and take higher levels of Spanish in college, you'll need to add grammar.

 

My dd tested out extremely well and did exceptionally in college classes after using Switched on Schoolhouse: Secondary Spanish=Span 1 on transcript--a bit too whole-to-parts for me, but the rest of the levels are parts-to-whole); SOS Spanish I = Span 2 on transcript; SOS Spanish II=Span 3. I think, however, if you did Secondary, Span. I & II and read a book (small) and wrote a paper or studied a little history, you could easily count those 3 levels as 4 years of Spanish in high school.

 

Not all programs are equal. If you are simply looking for high school credit and do not plan to take more language, then it is up to you on what you want to call a high school credit.

 

How ya doin'?

 

:)Jean

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