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Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind many colleges and universities (especially LACs!) have a requirement for foreign language while you're in college. So stopping early does your student no favors.

People keep saying this but it isn’t necessarily true.

Some students would *gasp* prefer to study the language in college than in high school where the classroom experience involves a lot of disciplining and chaos management in English.

Some students do well in the language and drop it to focus on preferred electives and do just fine with college admissions and meeting the college requirements for language.

There isn’t One Path.

Lol bullshit. There’s not a single kid in college who didn’t take four years of language in high school who put it off because they really really wanted to take it in college. What a joke.

Mine hated language. He did complete a total of three years (1+2) and stopped. Had no issues getting into a T20. Guess what he did? He started a completely new language in college (completely unnecessary for his major and his college) and is now at Level 4 proficiency. Kids do crazy things.

LOL, how do you know he "had no issue" getting into a T20? Did you sit in on the AdCom meetings? Or are you assuming that just because he wasn't waitlisted he had no issue?

DP. Do people like you just drink some a-hole tonic and show up here to practice a-holery? Seriously?

Sorry for calling out hyperbole. But that’s what it is. With no basis in fact.

Why is is hyperbole? The parent claims their kid did NOT do 4 years of language and DID get into a T20, so obviously the lack of language was NOT a negative factor, as in "did not cause issues", no?

It’s not even remotely obvious. The poster knows the end result, sure, but doesn’t know thr debate that went into it. That’s my point. They easily could have said “all I know is that my kid didn’t take four years and got into a T20.” Because that is ALL the poster knows.

It's at least as strong as the 'you need 4 years of language to get into a top college' thesis. At least this poster knows something. Those posters don't even know that!

Anonymous wrote:We are overseas and FL is required in yrs 7 and 8, which DC has done. He is dropping it so that he can keep fine art (his favorite) and econ/commerce (likely focus in college) as his electives in addition to the core academic classes. There just was not room for FL, unless he gave up his favorite subject or his intended college major.

If all of the US schools tell him to go pound sand, so be it. Now that we are out of the US, I see how crazy we make our kids by forcing them to study to jump through some hoop for no reason other than the puppet master in the admissions office put up a hoop.

I have no idea if he will be offered a path to return home for college without a foreign language. But he will be worldly and well educated. And he will know his parents supported him in pursuing his genuine interests in a world where choices must be made.

If FL is your jam, awesome. If not, language barriers will not stop you from succeeding in life. They have this new thing. It’s called AI…

Sorry for the sarcasm. I’m frustrated. I’m not educating my child for some storied era of yore. He can go to college in England or Australia if need be. People study with a focus there. Good grief.

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Anonymous wrote:I really don't understand the anti-language folks. I can't remember a lick of algebra or chemistry and thought they both were a waste of time. What's the difference?

I don't think most of us are anti-language. I'm multi-lingual and can speak/read/write 4 and speak 5 languages. I'd much rather they teach kids how to speak..just speak. Don't waste time on the fancy stuff. The vast majority of kids are not going to ever read/write so why bother?

Chemistry and Algebra are gateway courses to higher level education, unless you want to become a mover or do my lawn for a living (not that there's anything wrong with it). I'd say more important than a language.

By your logic high schools shouldn't teach English either.

Just because you can speak a language at home doesn't mean you have any education in it.

Fine.. Don't learn English, Chemistry or Math but learn Spanish. I have a job waiting for you..

Anonymous wrote:I really don't understand the anti-language folks. I can't remember a lick of algebra or chemistry and thought they both were a waste of time. What's the difference?

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Anonymous wrote:I guess the question is whether you need to take three years of French in high school or just get the level of French 3 which you can usually do with two years of college and one middle school.

I think we have said it may depend on the college, but several of us have posted experience with successful college applications with only two years of language in HS.

This question about language is asked every couple of months, people show up to categorically state that you need 4 years of language, parents of kids (like us) who had good college outcomes with 2 -3 years of language pipe in to say, "mm..not really", and more 4-yearsers show up to drown us out..

YOU DON'T NEED 4 YEARS OF LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL

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Anonymous wrote:This AGAIN?

The bottom line is that you can get into a decent to good college without taking four years of a language in high school, but the very good and best colleges want to see four years, and why not? Foreign language is important. It’s a complicated world. Speaking a second language is an important thing. It’s a lot more important than a lot of the other bullshit classes that you have to take in high school. Why is everybody so afraid of foreign language?

I'm not afraid of foreign language. I speak three languages, including speaking a language other than English with my immigrant parents. But my child will be stopping his foreign language after this year (10th grade, Spanish 4) because he wants to take other things and he's in orchestra and doesn't want to drop it and there are only so many periods in a day. The truth is that that after four years of middle/high school Spanish, he still can't speak it. Not even close. It's been a huge waste of time (sadly).

We’re not talking about your language ability or experience. We’re talking about your kid’s. Apparently his language abilities aren’t as good as yours.

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Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind many colleges and universities (especially LACs!) have a requirement for foreign language while you're in college. So stopping early does your student no favors.

People keep saying this but it isn’t necessarily true.

Some students would *gasp* prefer to study the language in college than in high school where the classroom experience involves a lot of disciplining and chaos management in English.

Some students do well in the language and drop it to focus on preferred electives and do just fine with college admissions and meeting the college requirements for language.

There isn’t One Path.

Lol bullshit. There’s not a single kid in college who didn’t take four years of language in high school who put it off because they really really wanted to take it in college. What a joke.

Mine hated language. He did complete a total of three years (1+2) and stopped. Had no issues getting into a T20. Guess what he did? He started a completely new language in college (completely unnecessary for his major and his college) and is now at Level 4 proficiency. Kids do crazy things.

LOL, how do you know he "had no issue" getting into a T20? Did you sit in on the AdCom meetings? Or are you assuming that just because he wasn't waitlisted he had no issue?

DP. Do people like you just drink some a-hole tonic and show up here to practice a-holery? Seriously?

Sorry for calling out hyperbole. But that’s what it is. With no basis in fact.

Why is is hyperbole? The parent claims their kid did NOT do 4 years of language and DID get into a T20, so obviously the lack of language was NOT a negative factor, as in "did not cause issues", no?

It’s not even remotely obvious. The poster knows the end result, sure, but doesn’t know thr debate that went into it. That’s my point. They easily could have said “all I know is that my kid didn’t take four years and got into a T20.” Because that is ALL the poster knows.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I guess the question is whether you need to take three years of French in high school or just get the level of French 3 which you can usually do with two years of college and one middle school.

I think we have said it may depend on the college, but several of us have posted experience with successful college applications with only two years of language in HS.

This question about language is asked every couple of months, people show up to categorically state that you need 4 years of language, parents of kids (like us) who had good college outcomes with 2 -3 years of language pipe in to say, "mm..not really", and more 4-yearsers show up to drown us out..

YOU DON'T NEED 4 YEARS OF LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL

But what about what Dean J wrote on a blog once? I follow her like a God and do everything she says. I am so in awe of her I can’t even say her entire name.

We love Dean J and treated every word of hers like gospel. I'm the parent that posted about college outcomes for 2 of my kids with different profiles. DC1 applied and got into UVA with 3 years of language (1+2). He loved UVA but eventually chose to go elsewhere.

DC2 did not have the profile for UVA. He did 4 years of language (1+3). No AP. Got into several colleges without issues.

BTW, Dean J also doesn't say that UVA protects yield (or manages yield) ..or maybe she says they don't). They do. Tons of posts on here and we also know several kids with great profiles that are not admitted. So take what people in the business say with a grain of salt.

She def. is still one of the best in the business..

Lol another one of the “got into several colleges without issues” poster. What exactly does that mean? Virtually anybody can get into college “without issues” by applying to the right colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind many colleges and universities (especially LACs!) have a requirement for foreign language while you're in college. So stopping early does your student no favors.

People keep saying this but it isn’t necessarily true.

Some students would *gasp* prefer to study the language in college than in high school where the classroom experience involves a lot of disciplining and chaos management in English.

Some students do well in the language and drop it to focus on preferred electives and do just fine with college admissions and meeting the college requirements for language.

There isn’t One Path.

Lol bullshit. There’s not a single kid in college who didn’t take four years of language in high school who put it off because they really really wanted to take it in college. What a joke.

Mine hated language. He did complete a total of three years (1+2) and stopped. Had no issues getting into a T20. Guess what he did? He started a completely new language in college (completely unnecessary for his major and his college) and is now at Level 4 proficiency. Kids do crazy things.

LOL, how do you know he "had no issue" getting into a T20? Did you sit in on the AdCom meetings? Or are you assuming that just because he wasn't waitlisted he had no issue?

DP. Do people like you just drink some a-hole tonic and show up here to practice a-holery? Seriously?

Sorry for calling out hyperbole. But that’s what it is. With no basis in fact.

Why is is hyperbole? The parent claims their kid did NOT do 4 years of language and DID get into a T20, so obviously the lack of language was NOT a negative factor, as in "did not cause issues", no?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess the question is whether you need to take three years of French in high school or just get the level of French 3 which you can usually do with two years of college and one middle school.

I think we have said it may depend on the college, but several of us have posted experience with successful college applications with only two years of language in HS.

This question about language is asked every couple of months, people show up to categorically state that you need 4 years of language, parents of kids (like us) who had good college outcomes with 2 -3 years of language pipe in to say, "mm..not really", and more 4-yearsers show up to drown us out..

YOU DON'T NEED 4 YEARS OF LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL

But what about what Dean J wrote on a blog once? I follow her like a God and do everything she says. I am so in awe of her I can’t even say her entire name.

We love Dean J and treated every word of hers like gospel. I'm the parent that posted about college outcomes for 2 of my kids with different profiles. DC1 applied and got into UVA with 3 years of language (1+2). He loved UVA but eventually chose to go elsewhere.

DC2 did not have the profile for UVA. He did 4 years of language (1+3). No AP. Got into several colleges without issues.

BTW, Dean J also doesn't say that UVA protects yield (or manages yield) ..or maybe she says they don't). They do. Tons of posts on here and we also know several kids with great profiles that are not admitted. So take what people in the business say with a grain of salt.

She def. is still one of the best in the business..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a college requires three years of foreign language, does that mean in high school? What if you took two years in middle school and placed into Spanish 2 or 3?

3 years of language is FINE. No need for AP!

My kid with not-so-stellar grades got into several T40 schools and T30 (S)LACs with 4 years of lang (1+3). No AP. Another (went to magnet though) got into a T20 with 3 years of lang. (1+2) in HS. No AP.

Without a hook, this did not happen recently (last 2 years or so).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind many colleges and universities (especially LACs!) have a requirement for foreign language while you're in college. So stopping early does your student no favors.

People keep saying this but it isn’t necessarily true.

Some students would *gasp* prefer to study the language in college than in high school where the classroom experience involves a lot of disciplining and chaos management in English.

Some students do well in the language and drop it to focus on preferred electives and do just fine with college admissions and meeting the college requirements for language.

There isn’t One Path.

Lol bullshit. There’s not a single kid in college who didn’t take four years of language in high school who put it off because they really really wanted to take it in college. What a joke.

Mine hated language. He did complete a total of three years (1+2) and stopped. Had no issues getting into a T20. Guess what he did? He started a completely new language in college (completely unnecessary for his major and his college) and is now at Level 4 proficiency. Kids do crazy things.

LOL, how do you know he "had no issue" getting into a T20? Did you sit in on the AdCom meetings? Or are you assuming that just because he wasn't waitlisted he had no issue?

DP. Do people like you just drink some a-hole tonic and show up here to practice a-holery? Seriously?

Sorry for calling out hyperbole. But that’s what it is. With no basis in fact.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a college requires three years of foreign language, does that mean in high school? What if you took two years in middle school and placed into Spanish 2 or 3?

3 years of language is FINE. No need for AP!

My kid with not-so-stellar grades got into several T40 schools and T30 (S)LACs with 4 years of lang (1+3). No AP. Another (went to magnet though) got into a T20 with 3 years of lang. (1+2) in HS. No AP.