Skipping foreign language

[Reader411]

DS (9th) is a B student.  He has some learning difficulties (not formally diagnosed) that make language more difficult for him. 

Our state does not require foreign language as a graduation requirement and it is not required at the colleges he will be considering.  Their merit charts are gpa plus scores.  Having a higher gpa will benefit him more than taking two years of foreign language. 

WWYD?  WDYT?

[ScoutTN]

First thing, I would get those LDs diagnosed officially. Your Ds could get accommodations on standardized testing. Has he taken the ACT or SAT yet?

Foreign language is beneficial, but if it is not required for you to graduate him nor for entrance to college, then I wouldn’t worry about it for next year. You would still have time to add it in in 11th and 12th, if it turns out to be needed. 

I would want to be very, very certain of college acceptance at multiple schools that I knew I could afford before making final course planning decisions. 
 

If college would require foreign language study, I would do some during high school, even if it is not on the transcript.

[JazzyMom]

Make sure foreign language isn’t required for his degree plan.  If it is, some colleges let you substitute 2 years high school FL for 2 years college FL.

If it’s required for his degree plan, I’d have him take FL in high school.  If not, I would skip it.

[EKS]

My kid with dyslexia did Oak Meadow Latin for two years (Cambridge, first two books).  It was accepted as two years of foreign language at the schools he applied to that cared.  He had no trouble with it whereas he would have had trouble with a traditional course, Latin or otherwise.

If you decide to go the no foreign language route, be sure that the schools that say there is no FL required for admission don't have a FL requirement for graduation.  Taking a FL in college is brutal.

Edited May 19, 2023 by EKS

[Zoo Keeper]

My student with LD's did two years of Spanish -- Spanish 1A and 1B.  He did put in the hours to earn the credits (using a variety of sources- Rosetta Stone courses, watching Destinos, Getting Started with Spanish, and a more traditional Spanish 1 textbook), but it was light credits, output wise.  It was enough to "check the box" for potential college admissions (he is not looking for highly selective schools),  but not enough to test out if college foreign language is needed. 

 

 

[lewelma]

My younger has dysgraphia and was struggling with English in highschool. There was no way we were throwing in another language.  We had decided that if he wanted to go to America like his brother and needed 2 years of a language, it would be New Zealand Sign Language, which is an official language of this country so we could argue it was a valid choice. 

Since overcoming most of the effects of dysgraphia, he has taken a year of Māori in university and enjoyed it way more than if he had tried to do it in highschool while still struggling with English.

 

[jplain]

I'd suggest a look at possible college major course plans.  If the desired major requires one or two semesters of language, I'd get your student going on a language now, preferably one that could be taken in college.

Why?  Because many students who enroll in college-level 101 classes took the same language for 2-3 years in high school.  In my experience this gives many college profs unrealistic expectations of what true novices can do.  The pace of college language classes is much faster as well.  The amount of vocab and grammar that needs to be learned in a short period of time can be a stretch even for students who found high school pace language learning easy. 

As mentioned above, maybe this doesn't need to go on his transcript.  But I think it probably could, if you want the credits, as long as you choose something a little gentler.  My first pick would probably be ULAT Spanish, maybe paired with William Linney's book Getting Started with Spanish (which has free online audio).  And I'd strongly recommend a co-learner, either a younger sib or a parent.  It'll be a lot more fun that way.

Edited May 20, 2023 by jplain

[Gil]

I'm very pro learning to converse in a Foreign Language. There are too many mediums out there to learn a language that could and in my opinion should be explored before just deciding not to even try.

 

[freesia]

I second getting the LDs formally diagnosed. 
 

I also second The Ulat. You can go at your pace and repeat. It is a very doable way to learn. I think it’s fine by itself but my dad likes to watch YouTube fairy tales in Spanish and sometimes do Duolingo to break things up a bit. 
 

Anyway, except in the case of severe dyslexia or auditory processing, I do think it’s worth doing some foreign language. 

[Lilaclady]

Some colleges will accept ASL and my state even allows computer Lang to fulfill foreign Lang requirements but like a PP said, I’ll wait till 11th to make the decision because if he does not need it, there is no point. There are so many other things that he can work on that will be in his strength than trying to meet a requirement that is not there. 

[ByGrace3]

I was a high school Spanish teacher. My ds has APD. Teaching him spanish was maybe the single hardest thing I have ever done. I am only half kidding lol. What about ASL? hindsight is 20/20 and I should have gone that route.