Skip language in MS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges don't look at middle school courses. You can take a language level 1 course in high school.

But in MCPS languages taken in middle school are for high school credit and show up on the kid’s transcript.

This. If your kid is college-bound, colleges want to see at least 4 years. Knocking out a couple of them out in MS frees up the HS schedule for other electives. Or maybe taking 6 years, which strengthens the college application considerably.

We decide to switch to a new language entering Grade 9. It may be overwhelming to take level 4 at 9th grade and continue for 4 years.
It looks like some top colleges expect applicants to have 4 years of FL, taken in high school. It does not seem to matter much regarding the level of chosen FL.

My personal compromise is to make my kids take at least 2 years in HS. Whenever I look at these discussions the requirements seem more and more over the top. If my kids go up to level 4 or 5 overall and a "top college" dings them because 2 or 3 of those years were in middle school (which is actually a better time to start a language!), then perhaps we don't want to consider those colleges anyway. Both kids are thinking of STEM majors for now (though they're in ES and MS, so it may well change) so I can't see this being more important than taking the Calc and Science APs anyway. If they decide they want to do humanities that's a different discussion.

yes for humanities you want 4 years of language. If doing IB in HS, you shoukd have already started a lanugauge by 9th if not before

Yes this is true. If doing the IB track, you need to be at a level 4 by 11th grade. This means the latest you can take a FL level 1 is 8th grade. You can then stop after jr year and not take a FL senior year unless you opt to do a FL IB HL which is 2 yrs. This is what my kid is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a ton of threads on DCUM about college expectations regarding languages (if that's something you care about).

Generally, colleges want to see 4 years of FL, actually taken in high school (not including MS courses even if on HS transcript).

Colleges claim to be agnostic as to what level the kid ends at as long as they progress through four years in HS.

The reason they care about 4 years but not level is that they don't want to penalize kids in schools that don't offer MS language, for instance. They want to see that kids took the most rigorous curriculum in HS.

What is unknown (because it is rare) is your situation. Presumably, kid would take 4 years of FL in HS, and that would max out their ability to take FL in HS. But they would end up with a much lower of FL than all of the other kids in their same school (because nearly all will take a couple of years in MS and 4 years in HS).

I don't have an answer. It seems a little risky, if you're aiming for strong colleges. But actually a better approach than starting in MS and only doing 2 years in HS. (Colleges are less likely to penalize a decision made in MS than one made jr year in HS.)

Colleges don't admit kids who torture themselves in classes they hate or can't handle, and burn out.

[Anonymous]

My kid started in 6th and has really enjoyed it. He’ll take it all the way through hs because it’s one of his favorite and best classes. I realize that’s not the op’s situation and totally kid dependent, but for everyone saying to delay, sometimes trying it early really works out well.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone explain how so these language levels related to A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 scheme.

Kids spent some time abroad at a foreign (not French) school. They did French there and passed Delf B1 (the kid in 7th grade) and A1 (fourth grade) level exams. What is going to happen to them when they start grades 8 and 5 at MCPS in the fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain how so these language levels related to A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 scheme.

Kids spent some time abroad at a foreign (not French) school. They did French there and passed Delf B1 (the kid in 7th grade) and A1 (fourth grade) level exams. What is going to happen to them when they start grades 8 and 5 at MCPS in the fall?

To obtain the Maryland Seal of Biliteracy for French, an extra award for high school graduation, the student needs to show proficiency at Delf B1.

Here's the link to that info: https://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Documents/DCAA/World-Languages/biliteracy/MSDEACTFLAlignedAssessments.pdf

[Anonymous]

If child starts FL in 6th grade but struggles in middle school, they can retake level 3 in 9th for grade improvement

[Anonymous]

My kid started Spanish in 6th grade and continues to take it now that he's in 8th grade. He enjoys learning languages (he is also learning Japanese) so we grabbed that opportunity to start him early with FL in 6th grade. Critical period theory also suggests that there's a period in the brain's development that is ideal/critical for acquisition of new/foreign language.