Foreign language question

[Anonymous]

If your kid took 3 years of a high school language, what (first) language class did they take in college? What was the course number?

Same question but what if they took 4 yrs of a language in HS?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I asked this question at several schools and was told they do a placement test because not every high school teaches language the same way or at the same level, particularly languages that don't have things like APs or national language tests to go with it (Arabic in our DC's case).

[Anonymous]

DS took 4 years spanish in high school and got a 5 on the AP exam and that placed in basically in 201 --- second year Spanish.

[Anonymous]

At most elite unis where there is a language requirement for graduation, there will be a placement test. So 4 years of language will presumably help your DC over just 3 years and a one year pause between their last class and the placement test.

[Anonymous]

Mine took AP in HS but skipped the exam (2020 Covid year) and still had no language requirement in college.

[Anonymous]

My kid did 4 years of HS spanish and is taking spanish lit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS took 4 years spanish in high school and got a 5 on the AP exam and that placed in basically in 201 --- second year Spanish.

Was it hard or easy for him?

[Anonymous]

My DD took three years of Spanish and with the placement test, placed into 2020 advanced intermediate level. It wee challenging but she satisfied the colleges requirement with one semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At most elite unis where there is a language requirement for graduation, there will be a placement test. So 4 years of language will presumably help your DC over just 3 years and a one year pause between their last class and the placement test.

Um, most universities have a language requirement/placement test, regardless of "elite" status.

[Anonymous]

My DD took 4 years of Spanish at FCPS. She placed out of 1 semester in college.

[Anonymous]

There's almost always a language placement test or they will use scores from AP, IB or SAT 2.

In general, high school foreign language is planned to be half the speed of college foreign language. So in general, four years of high school foreign language (levels 1-4) are the equivalent of two years of college foreign language. However, colleges normally will not place a student out of any 300 or 400 level classes unless they are native speakers or the equivalent. Based on this, I would say that a student who has taken 3 years of high school Spanish or French should probably go into 2nd or 3rd semester college Spanish or French, depending a bit on how well they did, how far the teacher taught and how the curriculums match up. MCPS focuses on oral abilities so I would choose the easier level, in case any grammar topics taught in college are new to the student. (That's not a criticism of MCPS curriculum. I've actually taught in it and the kids generally have solid speaking and listening comprehension skills for their level - but some places still teach very grammar-heavy curriculums.)

[Anonymous]

19:58 here - Another factor is who is actually taking the foreign language at the college. Some colleges, like UMd, are very strict about not allowing native speakers to take a lower level foreign language class for easy credit - but a lot of schools allow it, especially if the native speaker didn't take the language in high school. So if there's a chance that your kid is walking into a class of heritage speakers and your kid isn't one, you will probably be glad to have him placed down instead of up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At most elite unis where there is a language requirement for graduation, there will be a placement test. So 4 years of language will presumably help your DC over just 3 years and a one year pause between their last class and the placement test.

Um, most universities have a language requirement/placement test, regardless of "elite" status.

USC doesn’t have a language requirement.

[Anonymous]

Why wouldn't you NOT take the placement test and take 101, 102 for the easy A?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't you NOT take the placement test and take 101, 102 for the easy A?

Some colleges don’t count intro levels (101, 102) to coubt toward their foreign language distribution requirement.