Didn't take a single foreign language in HS

ucbalumnus
Mon, 13 Jul 2020 00:00:53 +0000

IsaacNeutron:

Let’s say that I am given the chance to take a foreign language. I would now have fulfilled the goal of taking a language at least once throughout HS. However, if I should get the chance to take a second course - should I do it?

Since you have only one year to go before high school graduation, would you be taking two high school year 1 courses?

“Two years of high school foreign language” for college admission purposes requires completion of at least the high school year 2 course (or equivalent college course; some colleges accept high enough test scores in the language as well).

Some options to get to high school year 2 (or higher) in the one year you have left:

Take an appropriate higher level course in your heritage language.

Take a year 2 course in a language closely related to your heritage language (e.g. if your heritage language is Portuguese and your school offers Spanish).

Self study a language in the summer to the point of being able to take the year 2 course.

Take foreign language courses at a local college; a year of college foreign language is commonly equivalent to two or even three years of high school foreign language.

Prove your proficiency in your heritage language with SAT subject and/or AP scores (for colleges that accept that).

Are any of the above available to you?