Honors world language in 9th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

Sure, there are plenty of medium-low ranking colleges who accept 2 yrs HS FL - hell some even accept sign language as the requirement. It's going to depend on where your kid wants to attend college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.
I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

I mean, I get it that if you take 3 years of foreign language just in MS, they may not consider that as "HS school level," but in MCPS they have the accelerated (eg 1AB) and regular (eg 1A, followed by 1B) levels in MS. So if you take 3AB in 8th grade, then you take level 4 in HS, I really doubt that a college would then say "Sorry, that doesn't count!" While at the same time saying it would be fine for someone to take levels 1 and 2 in HS, so achieving a lower level overall.

If you take, say, 1A, 1B, 2A in 3 different MS years, I get how that wouldn't count as 3 years of HS, because in that case a whole year counts as a semester of HS.

Also, don't MS language grades go on the HS transcript or something like that? (We just signed up our older kid for MS so I don't recall everything they said.)

Yes of course they're taking HS level language in MS but they have to be physically in a HS building taking FL for 2 years. That's the state requirement for graduation.

[Anonymous]

My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.

How long ago and are you actually in MCPS? Because this is the country requirement now. To graduate. Maybe your kid didn't graduate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.

How long ago and are you actually in MCPS? Because this is the country requirement now. To graduate. Maybe your kid didn't graduate?

Current MCPS student at W school. Confirmed by ParentVUE graduation status and counselor. Do you have a link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

Sure, there are plenty of medium-low ranking colleges who accept 2 yrs HS FL - hell some even accept sign language as the requirement. It's going to depend on where your kid wants to attend college.

‘Yale does not have any specific entrance requirements (for example, there is no foreign language requirement for admission to Yale). But we do look for students who have taken a balanced set of the rigorous classes available to them.“

“ Foreign Language Requirement for College Admissions Harvard University

You should leave secondary school knowing at least one foreign language well enough to read it easily and pronounce it acceptably. Knowing a foreign language enables you to enter another culture and to understand its ideas and its values. A fundamental aspect of language-learning must be a grasp of vocabulary and syntax that allows you to read novels, plays, poems, and magazines, with as much of a native speaker’s comprehension as possible. We have found that students who have mastered a foreign language before they come to Harvard take more language courses here than those who have not. Indeed, these students often embark on the study of languages not commonly taught in American secondary schools.

Many secondary school students take a smattering of several languages—for example, Latin for two years, French for a year, and Spanish for a year. When it is too late, they realize that they cannot read or speak any of these languages well. We urge you to try to study at least one foreign language and its literature for four years. Continuity of study is important, too, because a “year off” from a language can be a real setback. Once you are comfortably fluent, you will possess that language—and better appreciate the culture it has shaped—for the rest of your life.”


It sounds like taking a language to level 4, regardless of whether it was a high school level class in middle school or in high school, is the main criteria. So a couple of years in middle and a couple in high school would be fine for most selective colleges.

[Anonymous]

But if the college requires you to take foreign language classes while in college as a gen ed requirement, then you are better off not skipping a year or two in between.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.
I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

I mean, I get it that if you take 3 years of foreign language just in MS, they may not consider that as "HS school level," but in MCPS they have the accelerated (eg 1AB) and regular (eg 1A, followed by 1B) levels in MS. So if you take 3AB in 8th grade, then you take level 4 in HS, I really doubt that a college would then say "Sorry, that doesn't count!" While at the same time saying it would be fine for someone to take levels 1 and 2 in HS, so achieving a lower level overall.

If you take, say, 1A, 1B, 2A in 3 different MS years, I get how that wouldn't count as 3 years of HS, because in that case a whole year counts as a semester of HS.

Also, don't MS language grades go on the HS transcript or something like that? (We just signed up our older kid for MS so I don't recall everything they said.)

Yes of course they're taking HS level language in MS but they have to be physically in a HS building taking FL for 2 years. That's the state requirement for graduation.

I don't see this anywhere (about having to be physically in a HS building). My understanding based on the MS orentation is that FL are like Algebra I - it doesn't matter if you take them in MS or HS, because they count as HS classes (unless you take the slower version, in which case for example 1A in one year followed by 1B in the 2nd year count as a single year of HS.)

I'm interested in this because DS will be taking Spanish 1AB in 6th grade, so I'd like to be sure that he's OK with this if he takes Spanish 4 in 9th grade. I'll encourage him to take past Spanish 4, but it will also depend on his interests. If he has to take 2 years in HS regardless, we can encourage him to take something else as an elective in 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But if the college requires you to take foreign language classes while in college as a gen ed requirement, then you are better off not skipping a year or two in between.

Get a 4 or 5 on the language AP and you almost certainly won’t need to take it college unless you want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.
I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

I mean, I get it that if you take 3 years of foreign language just in MS, they may not consider that as "HS school level," but in MCPS they have the accelerated (eg 1AB) and regular (eg 1A, followed by 1B) levels in MS. So if you take 3AB in 8th grade, then you take level 4 in HS, I really doubt that a college would then say "Sorry, that doesn't count!" While at the same time saying it would be fine for someone to take levels 1 and 2 in HS, so achieving a lower level overall.

If you take, say, 1A, 1B, 2A in 3 different MS years, I get how that wouldn't count as 3 years of HS, because in that case a whole year counts as a semester of HS.

Also, don't MS language grades go on the HS transcript or something like that? (We just signed up our older kid for MS so I don't recall everything they said.)

Yes of course they're taking HS level language in MS but they have to be physically in a HS building taking FL for 2 years. That's the state requirement for graduation.

I don't see this anywhere (about having to be physically in a HS building). My understanding based on the MS orentation is that FL are like Algebra I - it doesn't matter if you take them in MS or HS, because they count as HS classes (unless you take the slower version, in which case for example 1A in one year followed by 1B in the 2nd year count as a single year of HS.)

I'm interested in this because DS will be taking Spanish 1AB in 6th grade, so I'd like to be sure that he's OK with this if he takes Spanish 4 in 9th grade. I'll encourage him to take past Spanish 4, but it will also depend on his interests. If he has to take 2 years in HS regardless, we can encourage him to take something else as an elective in 6th grade.

You don’t have to be in HS building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

My child met the state requirement with just their middle school at middle school classes.
I’ve heard from a current and former AO that they want the years to be in high school, unless you reach AP or otherwise max out your school’s offerings.

I mean, I get it that if you take 3 years of foreign language just in MS, they may not consider that as "HS school level," but in MCPS they have the accelerated (eg 1AB) and regular (eg 1A, followed by 1B) levels in MS. So if you take 3AB in 8th grade, then you take level 4 in HS, I really doubt that a college would then say "Sorry, that doesn't count!" While at the same time saying it would be fine for someone to take levels 1 and 2 in HS, so achieving a lower level overall.

If you take, say, 1A, 1B, 2A in 3 different MS years, I get how that wouldn't count as 3 years of HS, because in that case a whole year counts as a semester of HS.

Also, don't MS language grades go on the HS transcript or something like that? (We just signed up our older kid for MS so I don't recall everything they said.)

Yes of course they're taking HS level language in MS but they have to be physically in a HS building taking FL for 2 years. That's the state requirement for graduation.

I don't see this anywhere (about having to be physically in a HS building). My understanding based on the MS orentation is that FL are like Algebra I - it doesn't matter if you take them in MS or HS, because they count as HS classes (unless you take the slower version, in which case for example 1A in one year followed by 1B in the 2nd year count as a single year of HS.)

I'm interested in this because DS will be taking Spanish 1AB in 6th grade, so I'd like to be sure that he's OK with this if he takes Spanish 4 in 9th grade. I'll encourage him to take past Spanish 4, but it will also depend on his interests. If he has to take 2 years in HS regardless, we can encourage him to take something else as an elective in 6th grade.

You don’t have to be in HS building.

+1. The only thing you need to do in the HS building is be enrolled in a math course each year of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But if the college requires you to take foreign language classes while in college as a gen ed requirement, then you are better off not skipping a year or two in between.

Get a 4 or 5 on the language AP and you almost certainly won’t need to take it college unless you want to.

It really depends on the particular college's requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she’s aiming for highly selective colleges, they’d prefer to see three or four years in high school, not counting middle school. Is she on that path? If so, does non honors allow you get up to three or four years within high school? I don’t know the answer to that. She could also switch languages and start fresh and go for four years.

Is this really true? Why would the years in middle school not count towards the 3-4 years of world language? What is the benefit of even taking a language in middle school then?

The benefit is getting to AP level as a sophomore and being done with FL - and showing that you've taken a straight 6 years of it and achieved something. The 2 year min HS level language is just that, a minimum.

Based on a quick Google search and my/my husband's experience (from a while ago, obviously!) this doesn't seem to be the case for most colleges. That is, if they see "Spanish 4" on your HS transcript, they assume that's 4 years of Spanish, whether or not sone of that was done in MS. In MCPS, is the AP level usually after year 5? (I just took the French AP after year 4, though my HS didn't technically have AP classes.)

Sure, there are plenty of medium-low ranking colleges who accept 2 yrs HS FL - hell some even accept sign language as the requirement. It's going to depend on where your kid wants to attend college.

‘Yale does not have any specific entrance requirements (for example, there is no foreign language requirement for admission to Yale). But we do look for students who have taken a balanced set of the rigorous classes available to them.“

“ Foreign Language Requirement for College Admissions Harvard University

You should leave secondary school knowing at least one foreign language well enough to read it easily and pronounce it acceptably. Knowing a foreign language enables you to enter another culture and to understand its ideas and its values. A fundamental aspect of language-learning must be a grasp of vocabulary and syntax that allows you to read novels, plays, poems, and magazines, with as much of a native speaker’s comprehension as possible. We have found that students who have mastered a foreign language before they come to Harvard take more language courses here than those who have not. Indeed, these students often embark on the study of languages not commonly taught in American secondary schools.

Many secondary school students take a smattering of several languages—for example, Latin for two years, French for a year, and Spanish for a year. When it is too late, they realize that they cannot read or speak any of these languages well. We urge you to try to study at least one foreign language and its literature for four years. Continuity of study is important, too, because a “year off” from a language can be a real setback. Once you are comfortably fluent, you will possess that language—and better appreciate the culture it has shaped—for the rest of your life.”


It sounds like taking a language to level 4, regardless of whether it was a high school level class in middle school or in high school, is the main criteria. So a couple of years in middle and a couple in high school would be fine for most selective colleges.

You realize this is their bare minimum, right? Kids going there will often be fluent in 2 or more languages so nit-picking over the minimum reqs is really moot. Your kid isn't getting into Yale with 2 years of FL.

[Anonymous]

Between spanish and french what is better for an already multi-lingual (not french or spanish) kid ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Between spanish and french what is better for an already multi-lingual (not french or spanish) kid ?

"Best" is a multifaceted word. Spanish is more useful in more places these days.