I am considering switching my foreign language, and I would like advice about whether or not to do so. I started taking French since middle school. I chose it mainly because Spanish was the only other option, and I dislike the sound of that language. I am currently in my junior year, and I am enrolled in French 4 (the two years of french in middle school counted as french 1 at my high school), and my plan was to take AP French Language next year. However, the french teacher at my school is terrible. The class is paced very slowly, so that little gets done on a daily basis and we learn very little overall. It’s also terribly boring to be in that class, and frustrating. Also, I would prefer to study a different language, preferably russian or arabic, but among the options at my school german would be my top choice. So I would like to switch, or quit and take more science classes.
I’m not sure whether I should do this, for three reasons. First, most highly selective colleges recommend or require 4 years of a language, and I don’t know whether they would count the middle school years, even though they allowed me to skip french one. I’m also worried that they will simply dislike that I stopped pursuing something. Second, I would like the AP credit for next year. Third, I would like to be fluent in some other language, and I have already invested several years in this one.
Advice?
I think you should not switch. One of the nice things about studying foreign languages is you don’t have to depend on the teacher. You can self study, read the internet news, watch video clips,…
I could can sympathize as my French class is the same way. Last year we spent 6 months reviewing a tense we learned in about a month in 8th grade. Stick it out for a bit more and go with AP. You really do need AP/IB level foreign language for high slective colleges. Like @coolweather you can learn more/different languages on your own pretty easily. Maybe you could take a class at your CC over the summer.
Stick it out - work on your own so that you’re ready for AP next year - watch French-language films, see if anyone has TV5 monde, read online magazines like Telerama for culture/pop culture (whole website is free) or L’actu (one free article a week, written for teenagers/subscription possible). Or take a class at your CC next semester instead of at your school (it’s be French 3 because college classes are paced much faster than HS classes and college 3= HS 4/5).
Okay, I’ll continue with it. Thanks for the advice.