My kids only B at TJ was Spanish 3. Given that, they actually signed up for AP Spanish and it couldn't be fit into the schedule so that was that. From what I remember the teacher was totally dis-organized, ie sending assignments out after midnight that were due the next day in class. Most of their friends did the online Spanish 3 and were done.

BTW - it didn't really affect their college choice as they went into a STEM major.

Anonymous wrote:8:14 with another question. Thinking back to my school, Spanish 3 was much harder for me than calculus or physics in HS. Those came more naturally because I was much better in math. I have no skin in this game but am curious if that could be part of it at TJ too.

My daughter took advanced math classes at GMU while at TJ. 13 AP courses, all 5's. Went to Princeton. Spanish was her favorite, and she went to Governors School in Spanish. It depends on the kid. She was fluent in Hebrew before high school and learning that language certainly helped. It depends on the kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this game, but is AP Spanish and option after Spanish 3 at the school? I am asking because in our school district at an AdvAcademy MS the language courses progress faster, so kids are ready for AP foreign language classes after just 3 years. Yes, that means AP in 9th.

That is impressive. My kid in mcps took spanish starting in grade 7 and only scored a 3 in ap spanish after grade 12 (and had all As in spanish - I just don’t think they learned all that much).

If it makes you feel any better, we lived in Mexico for 2 yrs and the work my kid was doing in 1st grade Spanish class would have been considered HS level in the US. It was really... Interesting.. to see.

8:14 with another question. Thinking back to my school, Spanish 3 was much harder for me than calculus or physics in HS. Those came more naturally because I was much better in math. I have no skin in this game but am curious if that could be part of it at TJ too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this game, but is AP Spanish and option after Spanish 3 at the school? I am asking because in our school district at an AdvAcademy MS the language courses progress faster, so kids are ready for AP foreign language classes after just 3 years. Yes, that means AP in 9th.

Yes, there is Spanish 4 and then AP Spanish at TJ. But most kids have had enough after TJ Spanish 2 torture, so take outside Spanish 3 during summer at FCPS, and call it quits. Very few students who are more associated with spanish culture/speakers go for TJ Spanish 4.

I was looking for ways to mitigate this roadblock, by taking a course outside TJ, taking AP Spanish exam only, or do something else, to address the fourth year language preference that many colleges like UVA seem to have.

Do most stop because their interests are elsewhere? It was a long time ago but I went to school for engineering. I stopped Spanish asap after Spanish 3 so I could have more room in my schedule for advanced math and science classes. I took some electives but there were higher priorities for me than a FL.

From my kid’s perspective the stories about TJ Spanish have been greatly exaggerated. My kid has loved Spanish 2 and 3 at TJ and plans to to take AP. These have been my kid’s easiest classes and kid is not a native speaker. I do think that uva prefers well rounded TJ kids. Not kids who drop language in favor of more science and tech. Those kids do well other places but not necessarily uva. I do think Spanish department is very strong and prepares kids to be close to fluent speakers. According to my kid, other language departments at TJ do not hit that mark unless they are starting with kids who are already speakers (Chinese, eg).

My kid took Spanish 3 in freshman year of TJ and AP Spanish Sophomore year. I think most TJ kids go from 3 to AP and not many take Spanish 4.

TJ has some weird rules about summer spanish. You can't take a summer spanish course and come back to take the next level course. For example, you can't do Spanish 3 during the summer and come back to take AP Spanish or Spanish 4 during the school year. My DS gave up after 10th grade (Spanish 3). In addition to being unnecessarily difficult for a language course, DS felt that the teacher was very discriminatory towards boys and did not like that. He had no issues getting into UVA and other top schools for CS.

To answer PP#2's question, I believe you can go from Spanish 3 to AP Spanish at TJ.

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this game, but is AP Spanish and option after Spanish 3 at the school? I am asking because in our school district at an AdvAcademy MS the language courses progress faster, so kids are ready for AP foreign language classes after just 3 years. Yes, that means AP in 9th.

Yes, there is Spanish 4 and then AP Spanish at TJ. But most kids have had enough after TJ Spanish 2 torture, so take outside Spanish 3 during summer at FCPS, and call it quits. Very few students who are more associated with spanish culture/speakers go for TJ Spanish 4.

I was looking for ways to mitigate this roadblock, by taking a course outside TJ, taking AP Spanish exam only, or do something else, to address the fourth year language preference that many colleges like UVA seem to have.

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this game, but is AP Spanish and option after Spanish 3 at the school? I am asking because in our school district at an AdvAcademy MS the language courses progress faster, so kids are ready for AP foreign language classes after just 3 years. Yes, that means AP in 9th.

That is impressive. My kid in mcps took spanish starting in grade 7 and only scored a 3 in ap spanish after grade 12 (and had all As in spanish - I just don’t think they learned all that much).

No dog in this game, but is AP Spanish and option after Spanish 3 at the school? I am asking because in our school district at an AdvAcademy MS the language courses progress faster, so kids are ready for AP foreign language classes after just 3 years. Yes, that means AP in 9th.

It appears a large number of TJ students do not go beyond Spanish 3. Compared to other languages, Spanish courses at TJ apparently are among the most difficult courses, more difficult than advanced calculus and physics ( is this true?). If that's the case, what other options exist to attain the fourth year of language? Can they take spanish 4 outside TJ? Would doing a self study and taking AP Spanish exam serve any purpose, especially from a UVA admission and coursework standpoint?