S/O Starting a Foreign Language in College

[Penguin]

The thread about placement tests and foreign language made me want to ask this question:

Have any of your kids started a new foreign language during college? Do you know of any success stories?

Both in that thread and IRL I hear about college students who are actually new to a language struggle because their classmates are not actually new to the language. I get a bit sad over the idea that the choice is between taking a language already studied or starting at a distinct disadvantage. But then I tend to idealize college as a chance to explore.

I am probably just musing, because my kid will likely continue his high school language in college because he really likes the language and he is strong in it. But there are a couple of schools on his list that do not offer his current language.

Edited September 24, 2018 by Penguin

[HomeAgain]

DH and I both did an intensive language program in a college setting.  Not quite the same thing, but the languages were new to us both and they weren't ones that most high schools offer, so everyone started at the beginning.  The best thing we both did was take a jump start course that was offered, where for a week (or 2? I forget) we learned all the basics: the alphabet, basic simple words, and beginning reading.  It made the actual classes go much easier because we weren't trying to learn EVERYTHING at once: we could focus on the language and not deciphering text to words.
DS started a new language at the university and since it was only a weekly class, it was very important for him to study the language daily to keep up.  Every afternoon he practiced his vocabulary and grammar.  He was one of the few that did keep up with the class, which was impressive.

I don't think it would sink a kid to learn a new language, especially if they are diligent and use resources around them.  The internet is fantastic. I wish we had access to all of it when we were learning.

[Bootsie]

DD took French in high school.  She took German in college and was successful in that she was a German major.  She also started taking Italian in college and ended up being the Italian tutor after one semester. 

[happypamama]

I took French in high school but decided on Italian in college. There might have been a couple of kids in Italian 1who had studied Italian a little, but usually if they had experience in a language, they started in the second or third level or tested out of all of it. I was most definitely not at any sort of disadvantage. 

[regentrude]

Neither of my kids had to take a foreign language at college, because they demonstrated proficiency. However, my DD took four semesters of French classes at the university as a homeschooled high schooler and achieved proficiency through that - we had plateaued with self studying (she placed into French 2 when she was 14). So, I don't see why a regular college student wouldn't have the same success.

And I have encountered students at my university who began their foreign language at college and were successful and love it. The level 1 classes ALL start from scratch and do not assume previous knowledge. I would rather imagine students struggle because they don't know how to study for a foreign language class - i.e. memorize vocabulary, understand grammar rules. Having had ANY foreign language in school helps with that.

Edited September 24, 2018 by regentrude

[8filltheheart]

I don't think it is unusual to start a new language in college.  When dd and I toured colleges we sat in low level Russian classes and those kids had obviously started from ground zero.  At one Russian competition Dd went to, one of the judges there shared that he didn't start learning Russian until his 20s (and he was currently a Russian professor.)

Edited September 25, 2018 by 8FillTheHeart

[ThisIsTheDay]

Both of my kids began taking Chinese online through our local community college. (It was actually a class offered statewide through community colleges.) They each took two semesters, earning As and a B.

One of my children continued with Chinese at a four year university, taking three addtional semesters. Although she was in classes with many native speakers, she earned a A in each of her classes. Being new to the language was not detrimental to her; she's always been a natural at picking up things like this.

I wish that at least one of them had gone on to minor in Chinese, but that was not what they chose to do.

[Hoggirl]

Ds took Spanish in high school.  Attained required proficiency from his AP score. However, he thought he was going to be an IR major when started which required more foreign language study, so he had to take a placement exam.  Took one quarter of Spanish in the spring.  Decided he wasn’t going to be an IR major.  Later applied to be an RA and did not get it.  Decided to do study abroad in Germany.  Had never had German.  Did one quarter before he went to Berlin.  Intensive while there.  Decided he liked it, carried on, and wound up with a minor in German Studies. 

[J-rap]

I know of many, many students who begin a new language in college.  I really don't think this is unusual at all!   I don't think think you need to worry about this.  I know students who didn't take any foreign language in high school and then took it for the first time in college.  I know even more students who took maybe two years or more of a more traditional foreign language (Spanish, French, or German) in high school and then something like Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Danish, etc. in college.  My dh didn't begin Arabic until graduate school and he was able to pass the fluency test in three years.  Really, it happens all the time!

And I'm not quite sure what you mean by starting at a distinct disadvantage.  Do you mean not having studied any language before and then perhaps taking Spanish I in college while other students who took Spanish for two years in high school are also taking Spanish I?  First, I don't think that happens too much.  I imagine that most students who take two years in high school will probably not start at the very beginning level in college.  But if they do, they're still just learning or relearning the same things as your child, and your child can easily do comparable work and keep up.  Actually, this is what my dd did.  She took Spanish throughout high school, and then ended up starting over with it in college.  She had taken off two years from it after high school and never thought she had a good handle on it.  (Languages don't come easy for her!)  We really encouraged her to take the placement test because I'm fairly certain she could have passed into the next level, anyway.  But she wanted to start over, and her class had a mix of kids who had had a little or none.  (She probably was the only one with four years behind her!)  My dd did get an A in that class and didn't have to work as hard as others, but students who had never had any foreign language at all also got A's.

[MysteryJen]

My ds1 started Spanish from the beginning in college. He ended up a Spanish major. Same thing with my dh who ended up an Italian major, even though he half-heartedly took German in high school.

I think lots of kids start a new language in college. 

[Penguin]

It is nice to read so many success stories, and @J-rap, I will happily cross this off my list of things to worry about. The list is plenty long enough ? Yes, I was mostly thinking of languages that are commonly learned in high school or that might have a high percentage of native and/or heritage speakers in the college classroom languages. DS is good at languages, so I guess I will relax on this point. His high school language is Russian, but the list of schools that have Russian and also check all of the other boxes he wants/needs looks a bit lean at at the moment.

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, Penguin said:

 I was mostly thinking of languages that are commonly learned in high school or that might have a high percentage of native and/or heritage speakers in the college classroom languages. 

Native and heritage speakers should be able to test out of at least the introductory levels, even if the college does not waive the foreign language requirement altogether. I would not be concerned about that. I can't imagine professors wanting a native speaker in their French 1 course - it would be be detrimental for the class dynamic.

[Matryoshka]

54 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Native and heritage speakers should be able to test out of at least the introductory levels, even if the college does not waive the foreign language requirement altogether. I would not be concerned about that. I can't imagine professors wanting a native speaker in their French 1 course - it would be be detrimental for the class dynamic.

I can't imagine any native speaker wanting to be bored out of their mind learning how to conjugate 'to be' in an intro level class!

Penguin, your kid already has a second language from high school (and a third? -  they must speak some Danish?), so they also wouldn't be learning a new language for the first time.  It's actually much faster to pick up a third or fourth language than the second - your mind has already managed the big piece of info that there's more than one way to express yourself, and more than one set of grammar rules, and that flexibility really helps.  

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, Penguin said:

Yes, I was mostly thinking of languages that are commonly learned in high school or that might have a high percentage of native and/or heritage speakers in the college classroom languages. 

 

Locally there are heritage speakers who can’t read or write. For example a Spanish-German family we know choose to teach their kids how to converse in Spanish for daily life but not as an academic subject. So the older child won’t be able to pass the Spanish placement test even though he can converse in Spanish and probably understand Spanish movies without needing subtitles. 

For chinese, they usually ask if the proficiency is at read/write level in which case take a placement test, or conversation level in which case taking a placement test could be pointless. A friend’s daughter who took Chinese from K to 8th grade and took Spanish for all four years of high school has lost most of her ability to read and write Chinese. She would have to revise a lot to pass the placement test if she wants to take Chinese in college.

My husband took German in college as a non-credit subject because he was on a scholarship that requires him to maintain his GPA and he is weak in any language. He has to put in a lot of time and effort into languages so taking non-credit classes take the stress off needing to get a A grade for scholarship purposes. 

[madteaparty]

I was fluent in Italian, but had not a word of French when I took French 101 in college. If I had continued, with that amazing professor who basically spoke French the entire class starting with class 2, I have no doubt I would've achieved proficiency.

I did achieve "help DS study for his 300 level college French class" proficiency, and that's not nothing :)

I think knowing how to study a foreign language, any language, is far more important than having 101, 102 type exposure...JMO.

[Melissa B]

Plenty of kids around here start foreign languages in college. Very few middle schools here offer any FL and the high schools offer one foreign language, two at most. My dd was a DE student, but she started ASL and Spanish for the first time in college. She is now majoring in one and minoring in the other. ? She did Chinese in high school. She has continued that into college as well, but thinks she may let that language go after this semester.