Requirements for Foreign Language in High School...

[Whitneyz]

I'd like my dd to do 2 years Latin and 2 years French. Is that a problem or do they need to do 4 years of one language?

 

Thx

[Jane in NC]

I really depends on the college. Websites will indicate minimal requirements, but admissions staff can clue you in on what they prefer to see. Time to do some research!

[johnandtinagilbert]

I just heard something interesting about language and high school. A friend went to the FL HS Convention and was told that high schools are looking for "live" language classes, like classroom and co-op style. I.e., computer based programs like Rosetta Stone are not being counted, unless a child can CLEP out, assuming the college accepts CLEP scores. Just thought I'd drop that in on this conversation.

[emubird]

2 years of one language is often acceptable, but it really depends on the college. I've seen 3 years of one language required (at a top tier school) and I've heard of 4, although not seen it for myself.

 

I've also had colleges tell me they don't really care, as long as the student is strong in other areas.

 

My oldest ended up doing 3 semesters of college ASL (which would count as 3 high school years) and 3 years of high school Spanish. This satisfied all the colleges she applied to, but she wasn't interested in big name schools.

 

However, if the college has a language requirement for students to graduate (not just be admitted) you might find that your kids will save time in college by getting through that in high school and then testing out when they get to college (or even doing it dual enrollment while in high school).

 

 

This is what Harvard "suggests":

 

"High School Preparation

 

Are there secondary school course requirements for admission?

 

There is no single academic path we expect all students to follow, but the strongest applicants take the most rigorous secondary school curricula available to them. An ideal four-year preparatory program includes four years of English, with extensive practice in writing; four years of math; four years of science: biology, chemistry, physics, and an advanced course in one of these subjects; three years of history, including American and European history; and four years of one foreign language."

 

 

But note that that's just a suggestion. It could be they'd be just as happy with 2 yrs each of 2 different languages. What they're really looking for is kids that stand out, not kids that all fit the cookie cutter mold. And if you don't care about getting into Harvard, this is irrelevant anyway. (And, honestly, after seeing Ivy league and Berkeley lectures online, I'm just as happy having my kids go to a smaller college with professors who are just as good (maybe a lot better when it comes to teaching) with smaller class sizes.)

Edited June 15, 2010 by emubird

[Whitneyz]

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[Holly IN]

It also depends on your state's graduation requirements.

Here is INdiana requirements regardless of what college you are going to:

 

If we are doing the Honors track then 6 credits of one language or 4 credits each in 2 languages.

 

Regular core 40....I believe it is 2 years which is 4 credits.

 

Look at your state's requirements then go from there.

 

Holly

[Ester Maria]

Why wouldn't she study both languages simultaneously all 4 years, if she's interested in both; or drop one of them along the way if she finds it's too hard to study both, and still continue the other one all 4 years?

[K-FL]

 

 

However, if the college has a language requirement for students to graduate (not just be admitted) you might find that your kids will save time in college by getting through that in high school and then testing out when they get to college (or even doing it dual enrollment while in high school).

 

 

 

I 2nd this. My dd is an English major & her U req. 1 semester of 2nd yr Language. She took 1 yr @ the cc as dual-enrollment, but not the 3rd semester. It was much more difficult for her to have a different prof. for that semester. Even my niece who's a Biology major has to have 1 yr of college F.L. or Social Studies to graduate. She had 4 yr of hs Spanish, but didn't take a CLEP, etc to get the college credit. She would have been better off to take 1 of those years at the cc while in hs.

[AngieW in Texas]

What I have mostly seen is that colleges want 2 years in one living language as a minimum, but would prefer to see 3-4 years in one living language. Remember that one semester of foreign language at community college counts for a full year of high school credit.

[Jane in NC]

What I have mostly seen is that colleges want 2 years in one living language as a minimum, but would prefer to see 3-4 years in one living language. Remember that one semester of foreign language at community college counts for a full year of high school credit.

 

Our experience is not quite the same in that "living" is not a requirement. I'm curious: what colleges do not accept Latin? I know some of the service academies do not.

 

And perhaps I am off base in my thinking because my son had four years of Latin and two and a half years of French in high school. In my mind I focused on Latin as his main "foreign language" with French as more of an elective.

[Mama Lynx]

Our experience is not quite the same in that "living" is not a requirement. I'm curious: what colleges do not accept Latin? I know some of the service academies do not.

 

And perhaps I am off base in my thinking because my son had four years of Latin and two and a half years of French in high school. In my mind I focused on Latin as his main "foreign language" with French as more of an elective.

 

So far, except for some of the service academies, every college we've researched accepts Latin for the foreign language requirement.

[emubird]

There may be a number of schools that accept Latin for entrance, but want a living language for graduation. One would have to check on that. A lot of schools may not have the facilities to have you test out of certain languages, and Latin may be one of them. If they don't offer Latin at the college, they may feel they have no way of assessing the competence in Latin and might insist that you take another language to fulfill the graduation requirement. Unless you had AP credit or something like that.

 

I'm just guessing.

 

A lot of colleges that we had contact with seemed pretty willing to work with a lot of different scenarios, so I guess it's just not something I'd stress a lot about. Worst case scenario is that the student would have to take 2-4 semesters (depending on the college) of a language they hadn't done before. If it were me, I'd just be thinking cool, I get to learn another language.

 

And I suspect a lot of the distrust colleges have for Rosetta Stone is that the old version, at least, didn't really constitute a language course. In fact, we found that we didn't learn much from RS when we tried it, so I'm not too surprised a college wouldn't take it. It's a nice supplement, but not a course, and colleges must be coming to that realization. If someone is using RS, I'd suggest adding another component for reading or grammar or some such (or conversation) so the college you're applying to doesn't just discount your language course. (Come to think of it though, if you've added components of reading, grammar, and conversation, you won't even need the RS. I guess that's why we gave up on it.)

[Ester Maria]

And I suspect a lot of the distrust colleges have for Rosetta Stone is that the old version, at least, didn't really constitute a language course. In fact, we found that we didn't learn much from RS when we tried it, so I'm not too surprised a college wouldn't take it. It's a nice supplement, but not a course, and colleges must be coming to that realization.

Rosetta Stone is a waste of money that leads to no serious linguistic competence. I personally would have to be paid to use it, not the other way round. I'm saying this as a person fluent in few languages and proficient in another few AND as somebody who worked in the (European though) university system and knows more or less what are the standards for second language acquisition on which level. Rosetta Stone alone will not provide you with any remotely serious linguistic competences and of course that universities might be suspicious of it. As a matter of fact, they aren't, it's a sign that something might be wrong with THEIR academic level.

 

[went mode off]