Ok yet another high school question...foreign language

[SparklyUnicorn]

*sigh*

Ok, I am really on the fence with this.  DS does not want to do one.  I don't want to do one.  Several of the schools we have looked at that he is interested in don't require it.  But some want to see it.  I don't particularly understand the point of 2 years of high school foreign language.  I've taken 3 years of Polish, 2 years of German, and 1 year of Spanish.  I don't know any of these languages at all and they were poof gone shortly after. 

 

DS would rather spend his time studying computer languages. 

 

So does he REALLY need to do this?  Will this totally hinder him in some way?

 

I know it's terrible it has come to this given his father speaks two languages.  We've tried.  It just has not been happening. 

[clementine]

http://www.ncssfl.org/docs/States%20with%20Foreign%20Language%20Graduation%20Requirements%20-%20%20Revised%202010.pdf

 

This link has the foreign language requirements by state.  If you're not sure what your state requires, check there.  I'm not sure if it's completely up-to-date (it says 2010), but it gives you a starting point.  

[regentrude]

It will just seriously limit his choice of schools if he does not have at least two years. (Many very selective schools want 3-4 years)

[clementine]

The 4 colleges we looked at required 2 years of the same foreign language.  Since you can never be sure where your son will be accepted, I'd suggest he take them.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

http://www.ncssfl.org/docs/States%20with%20Foreign%20Language%20Graduation%20Requirements%20-%20%20Revised%202010.pdf

 

This link has the foreign language requirements by state.  If you're not sure what your state requires, check there.  I'm not sure if it's completely up-to-date (it says 2010), but it gives you a starting point.  

 

So why would I care about my state's requirements?  I don't mean to sound obnoxious. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

It will just seriously limit his choice of schools if he does not have at least two years. (Many very selective schools want 3-4 years)

 

Ugh...

 

Ok I will seriously think about this some more.

 

Two years is not too bad.  I don't see the point of 3 or 4 based on what he wants to do.

 

I didn't have the requirement when I went to college.  Not that I went to a selective college.  If one didn't have it they just had to take it at the college.  So that's what I did.  I took Spanish in 7th grade so that didn't count.

[RootAnn]

Does he have any idea what colleges he would be applying to at this point? I'd check their requirements out.

 

It is different now than when I went to school, but DH got away with not having any foreign language in high school or college. (They originally were going to require him to take two years in college since he didn't have it in high school, but the requirement vanished when the language he wanted to take was cut due to funding.) Some majors and colleges are pickier than others. As an engineering student at a state school, my foreign language background was overkill. But non-engineering majors, including my computer science major roommate, didn't have it as easy.

 

FWIW, according to that link, my state doesn't have any foreign language requirements for their PS students.

[clementine]

So why would I care about my state's requirements?  I don't mean to sound obnoxious. 

 

Required courses depend on the state in which you live. Some states specify the number of credits to complete in various subject areas. Other states leave the responsibility to determine required courses up to the homeschool parent. It’s best to first review the HSLDA legal analysis for your state when determining which courses to include in your teen’s high school program.

 

*Taken from the HSLDA website. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Required courses depend on the state in which you live. Some states specify the number of credits to complete in various subject areas. Other states leave the responsibility to determine required courses up to the homeschool parent. It’s best to first review the HSLDA legal analysis for your state when determining which courses to include in your teen’s high school program.

 

*Taken from the HSLDA website. 

 

Oh you mean for homeschooling regulations? 

 

I already know they don't require anything.  They also only require 2 years of math and 2 years of science.  So if that tells you anything... I'm definitely not looking at that as any sort of useful guideline.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Does he have any idea what colleges he would be applying to at this point? I'd check their requirements out.

 

It is different now than when I went to school, but DH got away with not having any foreign language in high school or college. (They originally were going to require him to take two years in college since he didn't have it in high school, but the requirement vanished when the language he wanted to take was cut due to funding.) Some majors and colleges are pickier than others. As an engineering student at a state school, my foreign language background was overkill. But non-engineering majors, including my computer science major roommate, didn't have it as easy.

 

FWIW, according to that link, my state doesn't have any foreign language requirements for their PS students.

 

I suppose if this could mean he doesn't have to take it in college that might be a good reason to do it in high school.

[TN Mama]

In some states (Oklahoma for example) computer technology is considered a foreign language and counts toward the graduation requirements/admissions requirements for state schools.

[Miss Tick]

 

As an engineering student at a state school, my foreign language background was overkill.

 

 

Me too, but years later when I found myself facilitating an engine test in Spain, a surprising amount came back!

[Lori D.]

Ok, I am really on the fence with this.  DS does not want to do one.  I don't want to do one. 

 

Alas, some things are not about what we want, or what we think is worthwhile or necessary -- but are about hoop jumping and box checking.

 

Good news: It's your homeschool, you get to choose whether or not to do foreign language. Yea!

 

Bad news: unfortunately, there are consequences to that choice that you don't get to choose, which very likely include being severely limited in post-high school educational options. Boo!

 

So whatever you choose, just make it an informed choice. Also realize, you can choose to delay foreign language for now, and pick it up in 11th/12th grades when you know more clearly where DS may be headed. So that's to the good… :)

 

 

I suppose if this could mean he doesn't have to take it in college that might be a good reason to do it in high school.

 

This only works if you do dual enrollment, and if the 4-year university accepts the community college courses as transfer credit. However, the GOOD news is that actually allows you to "double dip" and meet both types of requirements:

 

High School Foreign Language requirement for admission:

Universities have a list of required credits taken in high school for in-coming freshman admission to the college; usually2-4 credits of foreign language.

 

College Foreign Language requirement for degree:

Then, university degree programs frequently have a general ed. requirements as part of the requirements for the college degree -- 4 semesters of college level for. lang. is frequently (not always) part of the degree requirement.

 

So one way to speed up the high school for. lang. AND simultaneously start knocking out in advance college foreign language requirements is to take 2-4 semesters of dual enrollment for. lang. in 12th, or 11th-12th, grades. That worked really well here, since 1 semester of college dual enrollment = 1 year of high school credit. :)

 

Best of all, it outsources a subject you have no interest in overseeing. ;)

[cjzimmer1]

I'm not sure where I've read this (maybe College Confidential, maybe here really don't remember) but having a foreign language is pretty common on a high school transcript.  Even if your son is not applying to a highly competitive school, many colleges will be looking for it.  Even if they don't require or recommend it, if 95% of their applicants have foreign language and your student does not, it can make your child's application look weak, less well-rounded compared to other applicants.  That could affect admittance chances. So sometimes things like foreign language is just box checking so your student looks better on paper.  We would happily skip it but every school I have looked at around here requires at least 2 years.

[Abeille]

In some states (Oklahoma for example) computer technology is considered a foreign language and counts toward the graduation requirements/admissions requirements for state schools.

 

We went to an information session for the P-tech school one of my kids is hoping to attend next year, and the principal said that there are rumors that NY will soon begin counting computer languages as Languages Other Than English, in lieu of the Foreign Language requirement in the ps regs. Doesn't really apply to us, except that if it happens the public colleges in NY may adopt that guideline too. As Sparkly already knows, the SUNY and CUNY schools are often pickier about homeschoolers than the other colleges in the state are.

[JanetC]

So why would I care about my state's requirements? I don't mean to sound obnoxious.

For public colleges, admission requirements generally mirror the state high school requirements for the college track.

 

Even for private colleges, most kids go to school fairly close to home. For national universities, the same reader will often be assigned all apps from the same state or region.

 

Generally speaking, your son's transcript will be compared to what the school kids in your general area are taking. If lots of foreign language is the norm, you may seem less competitive, depending on what you did instead.

[SparklyUnicorn]

This only works if you do dual enrollment, and if the 4-year university accepts the community college courses as transfer credit. However, the GOOD news is that actually allows you to "double dip" and meet both types of requirements:

 

High School Foreign Language requirement for admission:

Universities have a list of required credits taken in high school for in-coming freshman admission to the college; usually2-4 credits of foreign language.

 

College Foreign Language requirement for degree:

Then, university degree programs frequently have a general ed. requirements as part of the requirements for the college degree -- 4 semesters of college level for. lang. is frequently (not always) part of the degree requirement.

 

So one way to speed up the high school for. lang. AND simultaneously start knocking out in advance college foreign language requirements is to take 2-4 semesters of dual enrollment for. lang. in 12th, or 11th-12th, grades. That worked really well here, since 1 semester of college dual enrollment = 1 year of high school credit. :)

 

Best of all, it outsources a subject you have no interest in overseeing. ;)

 

Ah..ok. 

[kiana]

+1 for what Lori says. Take Language 1 + 2 as a junior (you can put it off until then -- just make sure to GENUINELY block out 2 credits worth of time for it as they move fast). By the time he's a senior he might know whether he wants to go to a college that requires FL as a grad req or not, and he can choose whether to take Language 3 + 4 more easily.

[SparklyUnicorn]

+1 for what Lori says. Take Language 1 + 2 as a junior (you can put it off until then -- just make sure to GENUINELY block out 2 credits worth of time for it as they move fast). By the time he's a senior he might know whether he wants to go to a college that requires FL as a grad req or not, and he can choose whether to take Language 3 + 4 more easily.

 

I like this idea. 

 

Thank you.

[chiguirre]

I know it's terrible it has come to this given his father speaks two languages.  We've tried.  It just has not been happening. 

IME, Spanish didn't happen until I signed T up for an outside Spanish 2 class and we had to get through Spanish 1 over the summer. I couldn't have done that or helped her with the Spanish 2 grammar if I wasn't fluent so I think you should hand this off to your dh along with a German 1 book. 20 minutes a day for about 6 months will get you through the first year book if he's grown up hearing snippets of German. I also found that making snarky comments in simple Spanish was very motivating.