sahm99 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I realize that some of the competitive colleges require four years of the same language for high school. We plan on having ds take the Latin AP at the end of 10th grade. Our intention was to then have him do Spanish for 11th and 12th grade. Our kids' first language is French, which they will be studying at mother tongue level through their schooling. Do you think this will be sufficient? I am worried that French as the only "foreign language" taken through high school will look "light", as it really is not a foreign language for our kids (and it will not be our intention to pretend it is...!). If you think this issue could be problematic, we would encourage the study of Spanish from 9th-12th grade... Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasRachel Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I'm not sure colleges care that French isn't a foreign language to your kids. There's lots of kids at schools that test out of the foreign language requirements by using their native language. Honestly you could probably just put Latin and French down and colleges would be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 AP Latin is a winner. And I think the combo of AP Latin and another language should look very strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Having two mother tongues studied throughout high school pretty much eliminates the need to study a foreign language. Four years of French PLUS an AP Latin are going to look very good, IMO. You do not even need Spanish, but if it is an interest, why not. Overall, it seems like whatever you do, it will be okay. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I suspect AP Latin and French would be fine though a third language would be wonderful if it can be squeezed in. I would recommend that your child(ren) take an SAT subject test or AP exam in French to verify his(their) ability. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thank you all! ...that is reassuring! I am not at all confident about navigating "the system":tongue_smilie:. We intend on having the kids take the Latin & French AP-exam, as well as the German SAT-II. They are fluent in German (my mother tongue), but I doubt they will be good enough for the AP... Spanish is just an extra, they want to dig into... Thank you again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I realize that some of the competitive colleges require four years of the same language for high school. We plan on having ds take the Latin AP at the end of 10th grade. Our intention was to then have him do Spanish for 11th and 12th grade. Our kids' first language is French, which they will be studying at mother tongue level through their schooling. Do you think this will be sufficient? I am worried that French as the only "foreign language" taken through high school will look "light", as it really is not a foreign language for our kids (and it will not be our intention to pretend it is...!). If you think this issue could be problematic, we would encourage the study of Spanish from 9th-12th grade... Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I agree with previous posters who have said that one passing AP exam counts for four years of foreign language, no matter when it is taken. So, I would certainly have them take the French AP. However, if your students are just staring in Latin in 7th grade, it may be a bit optimistic to have them take AP Latin at the end of tenth. Many schools have AP Latin as Latin V, and treat 7th/8th grade Latin as just one year, and schedule AP Latin exam after 12th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thank you all!...that is reassuring! I am not at all confident about navigating "the system":tongue_smilie:. We intend on having the kids take the Latin & French AP-exam, as well as the German SAT-II. They are fluent in German (my mother tongue), but I doubt they will be good enough for the AP... Spanish is just an extra, they want to dig into... Thank you again! For German, you might take a look at the exams for the A1/A2/B1 levels. Goethe Institute does these in the US. I took the B1 when we lived in Germany. Really interesting testing experience with multiple choice, letter writing, short answer, listening and a speaking test with a partner. B1 is probably higher than your kids would be ready for. But you might look at A1 or A2 and see if they could pass those. It might not be something that would get them automatic credit at the university, but it is a credential that verifies the German ability and that might make them stand out. (And do note that there is a B1 designed for teens with more appropriate scenarios and vocabulary than what the adult exam has.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thank you again for your replies! Ds has a quite good grasp of Latin already, and is signed up for VP Latin I (Wheelock) in the Fall. We do hope that he is going to be ready for the Latin AP by the end of 10th grade, as we are on a tight schedule for the APs (he needs a MINIMUM of 5 APs by his junior year to gain admission to universities here in Switzerland). As far as German is concerned: I looked up the Goethe Institut tests, and ds could almost certainly pass the youth version of the B1 test. I just took a quick look, but it doesn't seem like he would need to write himself (which would be problematic!). The kids are fluent in German, and read well, too, but we haven't even started to work on spelling, etc.:001_huh: - That is the reason I am hesitant to plan for an AP in German. On the other hand, they could pass the SAT Subject test today, without any preparation... We will see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thank you again for your replies! Ds has a quite good grasp of Latin already, and is signed up for VP Latin I (Wheelock) in the Fall. We do hope that he is going to be ready for the Latin AP by the end of 10th grade, as we are on a tight schedule for the APs (he needs a MINIMUM of 5 APs by his junior year to gain admission to universities here in Switzerland). Yikes! That's a lot. I'd get cracking on those paradigms, I guess. :-) It seems unfair that the AP languages tests "count" the same as the history and sciences tests. It takes a good four years to get from zero to the point where you can consider taking the AP foreign language exams, but just one good year of studying for history and science. You asked on another thread if the student did take AP Latin exam after 10th grade, whether s/he should take 2 years of Spanish. If your goal is to maximize AP classes, I would replace those two years of Spanish with two other classes which could each lead to an AP test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 The 5 APs need to be in different areas... (Languages, Science, History, ...) I would not consider multiple language APs, if our kids were not lucky to have French and German as their first and second language... (English is third) As far as Latin is concerned: Truth be told, I have been back and forth wondering whether to go for it... But the kids and I are enthusiastic about Latin and in addition to the "usual reasons" for learning Latin, I find the challenge particularly important for our kids - they are so "spoiled" by easy access to important languages... I want to teach them how to "study" a language, not merely "absorb". Latin is something they will need to fight for - just like most people need to fight for being able to communicate in any second language... I am mean like that...:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 The 5 APs need to be in different areas... (Languages, Science, History, ...) I would not consider multiple language APs, if our kids were not lucky to have French and German as their first and second language... (English is third) As far as Latin is concerned: Truth be told, I have been back and forth wondering whether to go for it... But the kids and I are enthusiastic about Latin and in addition to the "usual reasons" for learning Latin, I find the challenge particularly important for our kids - they are so "spoiled" by easy access to important languages... I want to teach them how to "study" a language, not merely "absorb". Latin is something they will need to fight for - just like most people need to fight for being able to communicate in any second language... I am mean like that...:tongue_smilie: Oh, don't mistake me, I'm a big of a Latin proponent as you will find, especially for the high school age. I would never tell you _not_ to take Latin. I'm just saying that you need to be a strong student to get to AP Latin by 10th grade. Now, the good news is that the AP Latin test is changing next year, and looks to be easier than the current one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Oh, that is great news, for this family "plunged into AP Latin panic":tongue_smilie: ...I had not even gotten around to checking out details about the AP exam...but easier sounds good right now!!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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