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Keep in mind too that if your child is only going to take 2 years of a language, colleges want to see them taken junior and senior year in high school and they want 2 years of the SAME language so taking Spanish junior year and Latin senior year would not be looked upon favorably by most colleges.
Our high school requires 2 years of a foreign language to graduate.
I talked to the counselors, there are 4 state universities here that only require one year of it. (one is the one he talks about going to - if he can get in) And another that is kind of vague about needing the two years... But I would hate to have a limit to what schools he could successfully apply to.
The high school says two consecutive years of the same language, (not required but highly recommended) they say nothing about WHEN you have to take it.
I talked to the counselors, there are 4 state universities here that only require one year of it. (one is the one he talks about going to - if he can get in) And another that is kind of vague about needing the two years... But I would hate to have a limit to what schools he could successfully apply to.
The high school says two consecutive years of the same language, (not required but highly recommended) they say nothing about WHEN you have to take it.
The high schools aren't going to say when, but the colleges will and if you only take 2 years, take them junior and senior year. We have one child through college and 2 more in the selection process, juniors, and EVERY college we have talked to has said the same thing. If he doesn't take at least 2 years, you WILL limit which schools he can attend. Now, there are exceptions made all the time but why chance that? Our kids will graduate with 5 years of high school Spanish on their transcript, 2 of those years are college level classes and they will have between 10-15 credits of college Spanish when they graduate, depending on how they do on the AP exam this spring or if they take it. Next year they will earn 10 credits for their college level Spanish class. This is pretty typical in our school and in our area so, when your son applies to a school and they see one year of high school Spanish and compare him to other kids with 3, 4, 5 years, who do you think they will admit?
What if the student is already taking spanish and hates it, does terrible in it (has issues with memorizing), and seems to have no aptitude for it? Tough it out,sign up for year 2, risk getting more bad grades on his gpa? Tutors?
I think students should take a language as well, I took 4 years in hs, did great. Should have taken latin - never have used the spanish.
I thought it was the opposite, in the state schools I am looking at the BAs require the language (unless you test out), the sciences not so much.
Thanks.
Does your child have an IEP? If your child has special needs due to perhaps processing problems then that is a legitimate reason for not taking a foreign language. I would suggest looking into private colleges. Oftentimes small colleges will take a closer look at transcripts. If a Guidance Counselor can provide a valid reason for a student not to take a FL, or it's documented on an IEP, that seems like good reason to skip it.
I am not usually in favor of only taking classes for a student to present in a certain way to colleges, and it seems to me your son has a valid reason for not taking a FL. It's one thing to just not like a subject but if a student is struggling from the get go at the first level of Spanish, I don't think it's going to get better and a low GPA will look worse on a transcript then the lack of a non-core subject.
I am not usually in favor of only taking classes for a student to present in a certain way to colleges, and it seems to me your son has a valid reason for not taking a FL.
So your child will not take math? Or lab sciences? Or English? Foreign language is a core academic class in most places.
I lifted the following off of the University of South Florida. USF is a pretty typical university. Not every single college requires 2 years of a language but the vast majority of schools do require that. I would hate to see a kid not be able to choose the college they want because they refused to take the required courses in high school. I don't understand why people see language as somehow different from other academic REQUIREMENTS.
"You must complete a minimum of 18 approved units of high school work in the five core subject areas in addition to three approved academic electives. If you are graduating from high school in 2011 or thereafter, you must complete four units of math—including one course above and beyond Algebra II. Although you may take one fewer academic elective unit, applicants who are the most competitive for admission to USF typically complete a minimum of 20 academic units, which averages five per year in grades nine though twelve."
I know that the high school recommends at least 2 years. Not required here.
Do universities require this for admission? Do you need a foreign language as a requirement to graduate most universities?
Even if the student plans on going into science/math field?
I graduated from high school last year and I do not believe students should have to take a foreign language class. It's ridiculous. I spent 2 years in one foreign language class trying to pass it when I wasn't even going to use it. It should not be required by any school district. I think it's more propaganda by liberal loons trying to get us to learn another language to prepare us for the takeover by these illegal immigrants they keep letting into our country.
I graduated from high school last year and I do not believe students should have to take a foreign language class. It's ridiculous. I spent 2 years in one foreign language class trying to pass it when I wasn't even going to use it. It should not be required by any school district. I think it's more propaganda by liberal loons trying to get us to learn another language to prepare us for the takeover by these illegal immigrants they keep letting into our country.
In one of the colleges that my daughter got accepted to, foreign language is not only required but it has to be 9 credits of the same language. Because she started Spanish in middle school, she has to take the required number of credits in Spanish as opposed to being able to take French in one semester. My son did not take Spanish in middle school (we moved while he was in 5th grade) so this year as a sophomore, he started French, and will stay with French until he meets the reqs if he wanted to go to the university that required the same FL.
I think everyone should know a foreign language and if possible, all High School students should take four years of one. However, if a student is struggling so hard with it in the first year, that they can't even maintain a C, then I think it's advisable to call it quits. It's not a core requirement in our school district.
If my student was doing so poorly in a core subject, I would see about bumping him down a level. That's not usually a choice in a beginning FL.
At two of my kids colleges they had to do two semesters of a FL in college but my youngest son's college has no language requirement, either to get in, or to take.
However, if a student is struggling so hard with it in the first year, that they can't even maintain a C, then I think it's advisable to call it quits.
Do you feel this way about all academic subjects?
There are certain requirements to be a college bound student. If a student wants to get to college they have to study things that they may not like, or be good at. It's better to pass with a C and have the credits than to be limited in where you can go based on a class that a student dropped as a freshman.
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