Foreign language - how many years?

[mazakaal]

How many years did your child do of the same foreign language for high school credit?

[regentrude]

Four.

My DD was interested in colleges that highly recommend four years of FL, and also anything shorter is pretty pointless because fluency take s along time. She started French in 6th grade and studied it for  6 years, including 5 college courses while in high school.

DS has used German as his FL which he studied since birth.

ETA: I always found FL the hardest subject to homeschool, and the one subject where my homeschool remained inferior to my own public school education that let me graduate with fluency in two foreign languages after 10 and 8 years of study, respectively.

[Targhee]

Two years is a stretch for oldest with an expressive speech LD. DS starts Latin 1 with Lukeion this fall and I hope he goes all the way to AP or DE.

[klmama]

Older dc did 2 years.  Youngest will have 4 high school credits in one language and wants to study two others.  I'm not convinced we'll be able to fit that in on top of everything else dc wants to accomplish, but I'm willing to try.

[mazakaal]

I insisted on 3 years of Spanish for ds, and was planning on requiring the same of dd for Russian, but I had a hard time locating curriculum for her and ended up using Rosetta Stone. She's nearly finished the second year and has learned very little. I mean, she passes through the exercises fine, but she hasn't internalised any of it. I'm just wondering if it's a huge waste of time to require a third year. Glad to see that some others have settled for 2 years of foreign language. Thanks.

[flyingaway]

My girls will have five years of a foreign language by the time they’re done. They lived a lot of years overseas and see proficiency in another language as a possible door to getting back out of the USA. 

[Pink and Green Mom]

DS17 could only stand 2 years of Spanish (and it was by far his worst subject).  I believe the overwhelming majority of kids at his school only take the first two years as well.  It makes me sad because DH's and my alma mater (Clemson) requires 3 years of the same language so no chance of DS going there.   

[Momto6inIN]

Oldest DS did 3 years of Spanish - 2 years of Visual Link (levels 1-3) and then a year of Destinos - before taking the CLEP at the end of his junior year. He tested out of 3 semesters of college Spanish, which is all that is required of him as a Computer Science major, so he was thrilled not to have to take those in college. 2nd DS is taking the same courses here at home, but I'm not sure he'll do as well on the CLEP. And he will likely be a communications major, which will require 4 instead of just 3 semesters of foreign language. So I'm not sure if we'll have him end up taking the CLEP or not.

The college they both want to go to requires 3 years, so that's what we did. OP, I'd check requirements for whatever schools she might be interested in before you decide.

[klmama]

45 minutes ago, Pink and Green Mom said:

DS17 could only stand 2 years of Spanish (and it was by far his worst subject).  I believe the overwhelming majority of kids at his school only take the first two years as well.  It makes me sad because DH's and my alma mater (Clemson) requires 3 years of the same language so no chance of DS going there.   

It may not hurt to apply anyway.  I've seen good colleges that require 4 years of high school math, yet they still offer prealgebra; they obviously admit some people who don't meet all of the entrance requirements.  Maybe Clemson does, too?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

One kid did 3 years of Latin. I didn't require AP level because his goal was Computer Science and the AP Latin would have demanded more time than we were willing to do.  He also did 2 years of German, one online and one with me.

2nd kid did 4 years of Latin (through AP) and then 2 semesters of a modern language in college.

[MerryAtHope]

4 hours ago, MEPinUK said:

I insisted on 3 years of Spanish for ds, and was planning on requiring the same of dd for Russian, but I had a hard time locating curriculum for her and ended up using Rosetta Stone. She's nearly finished the second year and has learned very little. I mean, she passes through the exercises fine, but she hasn't internalised any of it. I'm just wondering if it's a huge waste of time to require a third year. Glad to see that some others have settled for 2 years of foreign language. Thanks.

 

I wasn't impressed with the retention from Rosetta Stone Spanish either (we had free access, so that was the draw--I'm not sure "free" was worth it!) I've known others to study Russian though, and there has to be more out there than RS. Maybe start a separate thread asking about it? 

My kids both did 3 years (ds did Japanese through a different curriculum, and he retained and uses more). I would have liked 4, but ds didn't start until Sophomore year for a number of reasons, and dd just wasn't into Spanish--it was a "let's check this box off" kind of thing. 

[Frances]

3 hours ago, klmama said:

It may not hurt to apply anyway.  I've seen good colleges that require 4 years of high school math, yet they still offer prealgebra; they obviously admit some people who don't meet all of the entrance requirements.  Maybe Clemson does, too?

I agree. I know someone who got into a very selective program at one of the top universities in the country with one year of FL when the requirement was four years.

[Meriwether]

Dd15 is taking her third year of Latin and her third year of Spanish next year. She is planning on taking through AP Latin. I'm not sure about the Spanish, maybe Spanish 5. Ds wants to take Mandarin. He'll do Spanish, too. We'll see about the younger kids.

[Closeacademy]

DD did 1 year of one language and then switched and did 2 of another. 

[Miss Tick]

My rising 8th graders have done a year of Latin (spread over three years), two years of German with a tutor and materials I've scraped together, and just finished a high school Spanish 2 course. They will continue in German and Spanish next year and then probably choose one to study in high school. I've been surprised at the time we have devoted to foreign languages, I would not have predicted that years ago. I think it helps a lot that we are all studying German together, so I shouldn't be surprised if my youngest (just starting Latin and muddling through basic Spanish with me) is more resistant to the languages where no one else is at her level.

[Corraleno]

DS did 5 years of Greek, 2 of Latin, 2 of Old Norse, and 1+ of Turkish.

DD wants to do ASL and will probably just do that as DE at the local CC. 

[J-rap]

FL was one of the few courses we consistently outsourced.  Most of my kids took it for four years.  The dd who completed high school in three years just took three years.  One was able to pass out of Level 3 so took Level 4 in 11th grade, and then no more levels were available after that (where we were).

But, my kids all loved learning foreign languages.  That really helped a lot!  Otherwise, we maybe would have handled it differently.  It did help get a couple of them scholarships.  Two of them are now fluent in the language they studied (they're in their 20's now).

 

 

 

[alewife]

On 6/2/2018 at 9:44 AM, Kinsa said:

Two. And even that was like pulling teeth. 

I can relate!  My kids did 3 and hated every second of it.  If the colleges hadn't wanted to see the credits, we would have skipped it entirely. 

[amathis229]

On 6/2/2018 at 11:29 AM, Pink and Green Mom said:

DS17 could only stand 2 years of Spanish (and it was by far his worst subject).  I believe the overwhelming majority of kids at his school only take the first two years as well.  It makes me sad because DH's and my alma mater (Clemson) requires 3 years of the same language so no chance of DS going there.   

Hey! I, too, am a Clemson Alum, and my ds was accepted for the 2018-2019 school year with only 2 years of the same language. 

[Pink and Green Mom]

38 minutes ago, amathis229 said:

Hey! I, too, am a Clemson Alum, and my ds was accepted for the 2018-2019 school year with only 2 years of the same language. 

That's great to know!  Thank you!

Go Tigers!!

[GoVanGogh]

After the first year of a foreign language at home, we have outsourced it. 

Ds took 2 years outsourced in middle school, then two years of high school foreign language, but he started high school level class in 8th grade. He now has taken two semesters at a community college. Right now, he will have four credits on his transcript, but he plans to continue so will have at least six on his transcript. 

DS has aphasia (oral expressive disorder) from a stroke. His neurologist really encouraged us to try a foreign language, to see if we could make neurological connections in a foreign langauage that weren’t made (techincally, were destroyed) in English bc of the stroke. We had an amazing speech pathologist that worked with ds for many years, both in English and in the foreign language. (As much as she could in the foreign langauage.) I think it is much, much harder for children with LDs to learn a second language, but not impossible. We had an exemption from the foreign language reqcuurements from our son’s neuropsychologist, but just held that as a backup plan. Studying another language in depth really did help our son with his primary language. 

[Dmmetler]

DD had Spanish and Latin K-3, Latin 4-6 and 8th (skipped 7th) and took Spanish I and 2 at the college in 9th. Since Spanish 3 isn’t offered when she can take it, I’m looking for an online tutor to work with her on conversational Spanish and build up those skills, which will hopefully get a couple more high school credits on the transcript. She only needs 1 and 2 for her AS, but a lot of colleges want to see more.  Or maybe French-she just found a program that looks great for her in Canada. 

[AK_Mom4]

4, 3 and 2 years 

oldest DS and DD both did 4 years, DS22 did 3 years and DD17 has completed 2 years and plans on going no further.   She and DS22 don’t have the knack for languages that the older two have - their strengths are in other areas.

[G5052]

Mine both did Latin in middle school and then did four years in high school. My older one was considering being a linguist, so he also did Spanish and Russian.

My older one used his AP Latin scores for "general humanities" credits, so we saved some money there. 

My younger one has to have two years of a different language for her liberal arts degree, so she's easily whizzing through Spanish in college.

I had outsource past Latin 2, but it was well worth it.

[RootAnn]

Eldest will have two years of Latin, Spanish 2-5, German 1 & 2, and possibly one year of Russian on her transcript. Next child might have two years of mom-taught French on hers. Each kid will be different!!

[yvonne]

One had through Lukeion Greek 4, Latin AP, and French 4.

One had through Lukeion AP Latin and French 4.

My dd has through Lukeion AP Latin.

 

 

[katilac]

Oldest did two years of French at home, then started over with dual enrollment and did four semesters at university. Latin 3 & 4 at home, 3 semesters of Spanish at university. She continued with French as part of her major and has her Spanish certificate (through conversational level plus global studies course). She is good with languages and enjoys them. 

Youngest had the same French pathway but only three semesters at university and Latin 2 & 3. She was glad to polish off her required 3 semesters,  but I'm hoping she decides to continue at some point, at least a bit further. She is good with languages also but obviously doesn't enjoy them as much, lol. 

 

[Matryoshka]

You didn't have a poll choice for more than four years (which is usually what you have to do to get to AP, which is typically level 5). I put 4 for the purposes of the poll.

I'm a language nut, though. ?

I started languages with my kids when they were in diapers - it really is much easier to pick up then, but if you're not fluent yourself, it's not so easy to find programs for younger kids.  Mine all went to German Saturday School from K-10 (well, youngest K-8).  Older two took German AP in 10th grade, younger took German 3&4 at the CC in 9th grade.

Spanish I started less formally young, then started 'high school' type materials in 5th.  Got them through Year 3 by the time they decided to go to high school and they repeated level 3 in 9th and did AP in 11th.  Youngest did Spanish when young, but really balked when I started her on formal materials (she doesn't like foreign languages!), so I let her drop Spanish in favor of German.

How many years you decide to do depends on your goals.  Do you want to actually learn the language, or check a box for college admissions?  If the former, you need at least four years, and more is of course better.  If the latter, you should look at the colleges your kids intends to apply to and see what their requirements are.  Many colleges are fine with two, some want more - it varies.

[katilac]

On 6/6/2018 at 9:01 AM, Matryoshka said:

You didn't have a poll choice for more than four years (which is usually what you have to do to get to AP, which is typically level 5). I put 4 for the purposes of the poll.

 

 

 

Many schools have AP options in four years - the majority of middle schools don't teach foreign languages. 

Both of my kids took high school Latin in junior high, but I only have them credit for what they took in high school. I mean, if you are taking Latin 3 or French 2 in 9th-grade, the university is going to assume you took the preceding classes. Or that you're a genius, lol. 

[Kareni]

I choose four but ...

My daughter did Latin 1 in 8th grade, then  Latin 2 and 3 in 9th and 10th grades.  She did AP Latin in 11th grade and then a year of Post-AP Latin in 12th grade.  These were all outside classes.

She also did a year of Ancient Greek in 12th grade.

She did Spanish 1 and 2 in 7th and 8th grades but I did not include them on her high school transcript.

Regards,
Kareni

[HollyDay]

Oldest did 2. Youngest actually did 5...started in 8th grade