ASL as foreign language -admission

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
BTW, ASL is not easy!

+1. All languages are complex forms of cultural expression and communication. There are many different reasons for choosing to study one over another, but relative "easiness" is not one of them. The only thing that can facilitate faster or more comfortable development in any language is good access to frequent practice, and so learning a language that is more common in one's immediate environment (e.g. Spanish in many parts of the US) can _feel_ easier. But becoming truly capable or even borderline fluent in any new-to-you language, including ASL, takes major commitment across the board, and I'm always impressed by it.

- Language prof

I'm OP and I agree. It is not easy. It is different than other languages. For my child, she feels that ASL for the path she is on (Pre-health career) is a better fit for her and is more useful.

[Anonymous]

+1 very happy that this a an option!

[Anonymous]

My kid is a sophomore at O'Connell in Arlington.

Last year, they struggled with Latin (School was in-person twice a week) and we talked about trying something else.

The requirement is two year of a language, but three is preferred.
I was told that ASL on a transcript could appear to be a less rigorous course, and they only offer it for 2 years, so it would strengthen my child's transcript to go for something like French.

My child also has mild hearing loss. They were not turned down, but we discussed it and went with another language on a 3-year track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a sophomore at O'Connell in Arlington.

Last year, they struggled with Latin (School was in-person twice a week) and we talked about trying something else.

The requirement is two year of a language, but three is preferred.
I was told that ASL on a transcript could appear to be a less rigorous course, and they only offer it for 2 years, so it would strengthen my child's transcript to go for something like French.

My child also has mild hearing loss. They were not turned down, but we discussed it and went with another language on a 3-year track.

My 9th grader has moderate hearing loss and had struggled with world language in elementary school, so he took sign language this year. However, during my 11th grader's college search, I learned that not all colleges count ASL as a foreign language for purposes of admission. My 9th grader hasn't loved ASL at his school, so he will be switching to Latin because there are some colleges that I think he might like that do not accept ASL. College might be a ways off for some, but it's something to consider. It's unfortunate that ASL's acceptance for the purpose of college admission is not consistent.

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen list of places accepting ASL for admission but do people know of colleges (especially popular ones here on DCUM) that don’t, whether explicitly or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen list of places accepting ASL for admission but do people know of colleges (especially popular ones here on DCUM) that don’t, whether explicitly or not?

A good way to rough-screen for this is to see whether ASL is accepted as part of a language requirement for graduation from that college. You would still want to check with the admissions office about the standards coming in from HS, but a college that counts ASL as a world language itself is more likely to count it from applicants.