2-3 years foreign language outcomes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will move to the area this summer. Do middle school kids usually take a foreign language for high school credit? Which level is common when starting high school? Thanks!

For our MCPS W school feeder, kids used to take 1-3 in middle and start high school at 4. Now they’ve switched to level 1 over two years so it’s 1A-1b-2 and so they start high school now at level 3, which I think is a much better approach. Not all kids start language in 6th grade, but it’s typical.

A lot don't. My first started in 7th, my 2nd waited until 9th because she wanted to take a language only offered in HS. Yes, a lot start in 6th too, but I would go so far as to call it typical. Mine took lots of music, stem and art electives in MS. Both went to HS magnets. First is at T15. 2nd still in HS.

It’s typical now at my kid’s middle school. It was not during virtual school nor when my 11th grader was there - you had to be recommended back then to take language in 6th grade. With the switch to 1A-1b, you no longer need to be recommended and it’s more widely taken. Though some do wait until 7th (or later), especially those with older siblings who have thought through the progression in HS and prefer not to get to AP before 12th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will move to the area this summer. Do middle school kids usually take a foreign language for high school credit? Which level is common when starting high school? Thanks!

For our MCPS W school feeder, kids used to take 1-3 in middle and start high school at 4. Now they’ve switched to level 1 over two years so it’s 1A-1b-2 and so they start high school now at level 3, which I think is a much better approach. Not all kids start language in 6th grade, but it’s typical.

A lot don't. My first started in 7th, my 2nd waited until 9th because she wanted to take a language only offered in HS. Yes, a lot start in 6th too, but I would go so far as to call it typical. Mine took lots of music, stem and art electives in MS. Both went to HS magnets. First is at T15. 2nd still in HS.

It’s typical now at my kid’s middle school. It was not during virtual school nor when my 11th grader was there - you had to be recommended back then to take language in 6th grade. With the switch to 1A-1b, you no longer need to be recommended and it’s more widely taken. Though some do wait until 7th (or later), especially those with older siblings who have thought through the progression in HS and prefer not to get to AP before 12th.

There are many pathways depending on the kid, school and year. Any clarity on whether the high school credits earned in middle school are accepted by colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will move to the area this summer. Do middle school kids usually take a foreign language for high school credit? Which level is common when starting high school? Thanks!

For our MCPS W school feeder, kids used to take 1-3 in middle and start high school at 4. Now they’ve switched to level 1 over two years so it’s 1A-1b-2 and so they start high school now at level 3, which I think is a much better approach. Not all kids start language in 6th grade, but it’s typical.

The 1A-1B-2 sequence is on the high school transcript and they get credit for graduation. Does it count towards the 2-4 years most colleges list as admission requirements?

You’d need to check to verify for any school with a requirement. More typically, colleges just have it as a recommendation rather than a requirement (especially if it’s more than two years). And the more selective ones likely want to see language in high school, preferably all four years unless you hit AP earlier.

Any idea about UMD?

UMD usually tracks the MD State HS Graduation requirements, which are now 2 years of the same language in HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will move to the area this summer. Do middle school kids usually take a foreign language for high school credit? Which level is common when starting high school? Thanks!

For our MCPS W school feeder, kids used to take 1-3 in middle and start high school at 4. Now they’ve switched to level 1 over two years so it’s 1A-1b-2 and so they start high school now at level 3, which I think is a much better approach. Not all kids start language in 6th grade, but it’s typical.

The 1A-1B-2 sequence is on the high school transcript and they get credit for graduation. Does it count towards the 2-4 years most colleges list as admission requirements?

You’d need to check to verify for any school with a requirement. More typically, colleges just have it as a recommendation rather than a requirement (especially if it’s more than two years). And the more selective ones likely want to see language in high school, preferably all four years unless you hit AP earlier.

Any idea about UMD?

UMD usually tracks the MD State HS Graduation requirements, which are now 2 years of the same language in HS

Not for class of 2026. It is 2 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a useless question. So many factors go into admissions. No one can say that a foreign language was a make or break.

Not useless. UVA wants to see four years of the same language, and AP if offered. That's what people are trying to ferret out

[Anonymous]

How would that work if there are only two years of available language (III and IV) plus AP as I and II were taken in middle school?

[Anonymous]

DD has ADHD. 2 years of language and is barely pulling a B even though I am a native speaker of it and try to help her. As and A minuses in honors and AP I'm everything else. The damn school won't give her a language waiver because she isn't failing and she wants to get an advanced diploma (we are in FCPS and go to a good college). I don't know what the hell to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has ADHD. 2 years of language and is barely pulling a B even though I am a native speaker of it and try to help her. As and A minuses in honors and AP I'm everything else. The damn school won't give her a language waiver because she isn't failing and she wants to get an advanced diploma (we are in FCPS and go to a good college). I don't know what the hell to do.

"in everything else"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How would that work if there are only two years of available language (III and IV) plus AP as I and II were taken in middle school?

Four years or up to AP World Language. If your kid takes AP Spanish for example during junior year, that should count as maxing out- equal or better than four years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would that work if there are only two years of available language (III and IV) plus AP as I and II were taken in middle school?

Four years or up to AP World Language. If your kid takes AP Spanish for example during junior year, that should count as maxing out- equal or better than four years.

My DC took AP French in 9th grade and had four years of HS level language credit from middle school (French and another language). Even with this, his guidance counselor strongly recommended that he take an additional language after 9th grade, saying that colleges would want to see more language credits from classes taken in HS, not MS. He ended up taking Spanish 1 as a summer course and Spanish 2 in 10th grade.

[Anonymous]

Check the school's CDS and you will find out whether they require/recommend 3 or 4. Most schools are OK with 3, but there are some who recommend 4, such as Williams. If you really want to go to a school that recommends 4, then you probably need to bite the bullet and take it senior year to maximize your chances.

[Anonymous]

Does 3-4 years mean level 3-4, which can include 1-2 in middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got into 8/10 schools with just 3 years of FL- Latin and then two years of Spanish.

That is great. Mind sharing schools?

So the kid took 5 years of FL. Extra

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This comment comes from a person who completed two undergraduate, one graduate and one professional degree and who achieved success in her career.

During HS I took two languages, German and French, and in college German again for another couple of years. When I asked why language was a requirement of the degree, I was told well-roundedness and the facility to read scholarship in their field in the original language the student learned in college.

Ha! How many people retain any facility with the language they studied in HS and college 5 years out from graduation? 10? I’d love to see statistics on that, based on something other than the claims of the people who studied a language in college and are embarrassed to admit it has left their brain nearly entirely.

If we cared about language facility and being a multilingual society via education, we’d be teaching languages when it really matters, in early childhood or at least by 1st grade. Most multilingual people either got that way in early childhood or were language majors with the opportunity for immersion experiences on a regular basis. Most older childhood and adult language learners do not retain without immersion experience on a regular basis and most don’t get that.

We should rethink why we are doing this. But that should certainty come secondary to addressing why something like 66% of our kids aren’t proficient readers of English at grade level, nevermind a second language.

That's not the reason why colleges want to see 3-4 years of high school foreign language and then have their own college level requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD stopped Spanish after 10th grade and did get into UVA but she had some other hooks. She did have to take a semester of advanced intermediate spanish when she got to UVA which was a tough class given she hadn't take the language in two years, but she survived. If your kid doesn't want to ever do a language again, that will restrict where they can apply.

I was just about to ask “hooked” then saw early comment. Congrats!

THis. Otherwise UVA wants to see four years at the most rigorous level in the same language.

Bear in mind what a PP said above - UVA and certainly most SLACs have their own college-level foreign language requirement. If you want your SN kid to skip foreign language at the college level as well, please research this before applying. This rule may have changed but when my ADHD UVA kid tried to get out of the foreign language requirement while already at UVA he found out that the rule then (five years ago) was to fail in the college-level course first (to demonstrate that the ADHD child really couldn't learn a foreign language), then they were excused. Sounds Draconian so may have changed. Otherwise, the UVA disability services office was great in accommodations. UVa believes it is educating citizens of the world who will engage in global affairs and business so need additional languages. I get that, but my point is the time to find out the particular rules of the disability services office of the school you are applying to is now, not after the child shows up there and wants out of foreign language.