DS is in 11th grade and has not taken any foreign languages until now - Latin I. He has some LDs with reading. Despite many, many discussions about most colleges requiring a minimum of 2 foreign language units, he most likely will not
be recommended for Latin 2 next semester. He has a C in Latin I and Latin was chosen because of his interest in science
and technology. It was also chosen mostly because it is not really a spoken language.
My question is - are there alternative ways to get around a 2 unit minimum for college admission? He is not a great student. GPA 2.9 - 3.0 and his ACT will most likely be between 24 - 26.
–If you have a group of schools you are considering, look online to see their required/recommended courses.
–If your S has a documented learning disability he may be able to get that requirement waived. Talk to his teacher (perhaps he has a learning resource teacher) and guidance counselor about this.
–ASL (American sign language) works well for some students with learning disabilities. Maybe you can find 2 semesters worth of summer courses in that for him. Again, I’d ask teacher/guidance counselor about this.
If your son has a reading LD you should pick a spoken language where the teacher is into ‘oral production/oral interaction’ - Latin is very reading-based which makes it harder if he has reading process issues.
Another idea : Italian poses almost no problem for dyslexics because what you read is what you say, and what you hear is what you write (more or less - and, yes, the language goes fast). In addition, no declensions, only two genders, and Latin would help with vocabulary.
You could simply have him complete Latin 1+2 at a local community college, or see if he could take Italian (MUCH MUCH easier than Latin).
Well that was the original idea regarding Spanish but he just couldn’t fit in with the other classes he needed in 9th and 10th grade. I’m using the term dyslexia but it is really more of an LD around perceptual reasoning. Sort of visual processing, not exactly dyslexia. He actually likes Latin and the teacher but he was warned by the teacher that Latin 2 is very difficult and there is decent drop out rate. Overall it’s too late to start in with Spanish or French 2nd term junior year although I’m sure not unheard of. It is not definite that he will drop Latin 2, but I wanted to know if schools 2 unit requirement is a vey hard, fast rule. Are there ways to get around it with another class instead?
I know ultimately I will also have to contact admissions departments.
@happy1 Yes he has a documented LD and I was going to investigate having the requirement waived as
well as included in his recommendation if necessary.
I am contacting at least 3 of the schools he is interested in.
And regarding ASL - I also wish that was offered at our high school. We have a young cousin who took ASL to just fill the language requirement. She was not a great student. …flash forward to college and 10 years after college… she was a sign language major and it was her profession for many years. Quite a good living too!
Check each college’s web site to see if it is a hard requirement or an expectation or recommendation. In the latter case, not having it would be a disadvantage, but not an absolute disqualifier.
Also note that some colleges (or divisions in colleges) have foreign language graduation requirements, so check on those as well.
Thank you for the suggestion about the foreign language being a college graduation requirement. Even though he
is a total science / tech guy, it would be good to know if he could be accepted to college without the requirement but work on it for college graduation.