<p>Hey guys</p>
<p>I’m wondering how hard the foreign language classes are in general. Do most of the points come in the form of written exams? Or oral exams?</p>
<p>And how often is homework given out? Is the homework collected/graded?</p>
<p>I’m wondering mainly for Latin and Spanish.</p>
<p>thx in advance</p>
<p>homework is assigned everday but never collected, and if it is they would tell you.</p>
<p>Most of the grade comes from the exams and essays they ask you to write over the weekend. Oral exams only count for 5% of the final grade usually.</p>
<p>This is coming from my experiences in Italian classes, but I don’t see Spanish being any different since they are under the same department.</p>
<p>I’ve found the foreign language classes relatively easy, though it does depend on your teacher. In spanish, there is one oral exam at the end of the course that counts for, I believe, 10% of the grade. The rest of the course depends on participation and written exams (chapter tests). Homework is assigned everyday and usually gone over the next day in class.</p>
<p>Coming from a high school where the foreign language department was a complete joke, I found the classes to be more work than I expected, but certainly not overwhelming.</p>
<p>Intro Latin (101, 102) had (when I took it a couple years ago) weekly quizzes, some written homework turned in (not a lot), a mid-term and a final. They switched from Wheelock to another package last year so this may be different now. But as I recall the breakdown was about 10% participation/homework, 40% quizzes, 20% midterm, 30% Final.</p>
<p>Intermediate (203, 204) had 10% participation/homework 2 midterms at 30% each and a final at 30%.</p>
<p>Upper level (309) depends on the instructor. There will usually be a paper (or 2), a couple midterms and a final, with the papers maybe 10% each, and the mids maybe 25% each and the final 40%.</p>
<p>If you have the chance be sure to register for whatever Latin 309 Farrell teaches next year (he’s on leave 2007-08). It will be a big class but very worthwhile.</p>
<p>All the breakdowns are at the discretion of the instructor(s) so, as always, YMMV.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the Hindi classes are like?</p>
<p>What’s the Foreign Language requirement exactly? To second year? And is there any negative impact from using AP credit to waive this requirement (fingers crossed on that part).</p>
<p>The foreign language requirement is 4 classes. No negative impact.</p>
<p>I have an acquiantance who does Hindi, who had no prior contact with the language. She seems to be pretty good at the language after 4 semesters and never mentioned that it was too difficult. BTW - Penn also has a lot of other South Asian languages - Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Marathi, Urdu, etc.</p>
<p>Is it possible to simply not take a placement test (SAT II’s or anything), and simply start with the easiest intro course?</p>
<p>also, can we do well on the SAT II and then just decide to take an easier course? (just because you think the SAT II might be a fluke or something? or if we just wanted to start off w/ easier courses?)</p>
<p>If you get an SAT score that says you should be in, say Spanish 140 (4th semester), its okay to say that you want in Spanish 130 (3rd semester), but you can’t go below that.</p>
<p>If you didn’t take the SAT in that language but you have highschool coursework in it, you are behooven to take the language placement exam, which is offered online for French and Spanish, and during the first week of school for every other language. These work like the SAT II’s and they tell you what section you should sign into, but you can always go one level lower.</p>
<p>I failed the French exam and they told me to go back to the first semester class. I just started something else.</p>
<p>How tough are the oral and written exams?</p>
<p>How far advanced do you go in the study of the language?
I guess it’s not that much, since you can satisfy the requirement in high school.</p>
<p>Is there the study of Spanish culture, and is it included in tests?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Thanks chocoman.</p>
<p>Also, how are foreign language courses generally curved? Is it easy to get a B+?</p>
<p>And how soon can we take the online placement exams for French/Spanish? As in can I take it this month?</p>
<p>Oral exams are just general conversation, but sometimes include your thoughts on the material you went over in class. Written exams tend to only concentrate on how you write, and much less the material.</p>
<p>It’s very easy to get a B+ but you’ll have to work really hard to get an A.</p>
<p>Is it possible to take both the online exam(Penn’s) and the SATII, then choose the better score?</p>
<p>also, what grade must we get on Penn’s online Spanish exam to be exempt from the foreign language requirement?</p>
<p>And do we just take the online exam ourselves? (as in, from our homes?) Wouldn’t that make it very easy to cheat? Or is the online test timed somehow?</p>
<p>You can’t be EXEMPT from foreign language by simply taking the online exam.
From the site:
<a href=“Spanish and Portuguese”>Spanish and Portuguese;
“NOTE: this examination may not be used for exemption from the language requirement. Students who score higher than 546 on this exam are eligible to take a 60-minute standardized multiple choice test (MCE) which covers comprehension of grammar, vocabulary, and reading.”</p>
<p>What are the best languages to take at Penn? I know that at my current high school, the Chinese and Arabic programs are a joke, while the Spanish, Latin and Russian programs have pretty good results. Are there any such languages at Penn?</p>
<p>The Chinese Language department is amazing. The professors are incredibly helpful. There are two quizzes (vocab and grammar) each week, a test every two week, oral presentation during the weeks with no tests, two homework due every week, and in the second semester, there’s a writing component (typing short story, etc. on the computer). It seems like a lot, but after the first week it’s relatively easy to handle and you’ll definitely see progress within the first semester</p>
<p>icyhot, what level of Chinese are you talking about? and do you know if the class structure is relatively similar as classes get more advanced?</p>
<p>how hard is it to take on two languages at the same time?? in terms of time and workload?!</p>
<p>can you take a language class on a pass/fail basis? (and make it count towards the requirement)</p>
<p>hows the japanese department</p>