My high school freshman daughter seems fits the description. She is very good at English, and has 3 years prior study in Spanish with daily tutoring with a native through Skype, and took a community college entry level course which was a review course for her. She is starting high school with Honors Spanish III, but she already has substantial knowledge in the level.
She is bilingual Korean with perfect accent and grammar, and can do basic reading and writing. She also studied Japanese 3 years and one year each of Chinese and French. Her high school also offers Chinese and French. Dual foreign language in Chinese would be too much work. But with a Summer camp in French, and doubling up languages in Sophomore and/or Junior, she can do both AP Spanish and AP French without overworking. She might even end up with a school year abroad or Rotary club in a Romantic language speaking country, making it even easier.
Combined with a high score in SAT II Korean, this could indicate unusual linguistic ability. And daughter is interested in foreign languages as demonstrated by her past studies, and even somewhat talented in them.
BUT, she is also equally interested in many other things. Doubling up foreign language means loosing a chance to be unusual in other areas. My understanding was that you need and only need AP in a foreign language for maximum benefit, but you seem to think that “unusual linguistic ability” could substantially enhance college admission profile as well. Am I correct on this? If so, can you please offer any more insight on the subject?
Of course, I invite everyone interested to join the discussion too.
English: native speaking/listening/reading/writing
Korean: heritage speaking/listening, basic reading/writing
Spanish: should she be in a higher level than HS Spanish 3?
Japanese: 3 years of HS-type Japanese or 3 years of college-type Japanese instruction?
French: 1 year of HS-type French or 1 year of college-type French instruction?
Chinese: 1 year of HS-type Chinese or 1 year of college-type Chinese instruction?
Correct?
Perhaps another way of rating her ability would be:
Could she speak/listen with someone who knows just that language at a basic level (e.g. asking/giving directions)? at a higher level (e.g. academic discussion in that language)?
Could she read/write in that language at a basic level (e.g. reading ordinary signs on the street and inside of businesses, writing simple notes)? at a higher level (e.g. reading and writing academic papers)?
Two AP exams might not fully show colleges her language abilities.
English: native speaking/listening/reading/writing - Correct
Korean: heritage speaking/listening - I would say slightly beyond typical heritage. It was her first language and you can’t quickly tell if she wasn’t educated in Korea, basic reading/writing - Correct
Spanish: should be in a higher level than HS Spanish 3? - Correct. She mastered basic grammar structure, can hold basic conversation and her accent is very good.
Japanese: 3 years of HS-type Japanese or 3 years of college-type Japanese instruction? - Less. she went to 3 hours long Saturdays Japanese school with heritage Japanese children. She finished basic 4 years course in 3 years but didn’t move on. I guess it’s equiv to 1 year of HS-type or 1 semester of college-type
French: 1 year of HS-type French or 1 year of college-type French instruction? 1 year of HS or less than 1 semester of college. But it has great synergy with her high level Spanish. Like Korean - Japanese, Spanish - French seem to have more synergy at higher level where it becomes matter of vocabulary than grammar.
Chinese: 1 year of HS-type Chinese or 1 year of college-type Chinese instruction? I would say one semester of Chinese. It was the hardest language. Learned only basics with 3 hours instruction per week from an online tutor.
On another way,
Only greeting and exchanging names: Japanese, French
Could she speak/listen with someone who knows just that language at a basic level: English, Korean, Spanish.
at a higher level (e.g. academic discussion in that language)? English, Korean, Spanish (only low level academics, but can comfortably watch sitcoms)
Could she read/write in that language at a basic level (e.g. reading ordinary signs on the street - English, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, French
and inside of businesses, writing simple notes)? - English, Spanish
at a higher level (e.g. reading and writing academic papers)? English
What would show colleges her language abilities? And would it significantly help if she does?
She may want to check with her high school’s Spanish teachers to see if she can get a more suitable (presumably higher) placement in Spanish, so that she does not waste schedule space on lower level Spanish that she already knows.
Certainly, if she has schedule space and interest, she can choose to take courses in another language (French, Chinese, or Japanese) to reach a higher level of proficiency.
She can certainly take AP and/or SAT subject tests in the languages she knows to show colleges her abilities. How much it would help probably depends on the college. But note that it is likely that colleges have seen Americans from immigrant families who know English from living and going to school in the US and a heritage language of their parents (although often stronger speaking/listening than reading/writing), and have some knowledge of another language learned as a foreign language in school. Having two non-heritage foreign languages learned to AP level or higher may be somewhat more unusual, though.
It’s choices that is difficult. I think her schedule is challenging enough as is, so increasing Spanish level might not be a good idea unless there is some tangible benefit for admission. Otherwise she can learn them after high school. There is no hurry.
So colleges see that it is rather common for a U.S. kid knows two foreign languages, a heritage language and another language learned in high school, that will be shown as an AP course and a test only in either AP or SAT II.
So it seems that the question is, if there is interest, would it be worth while to squeeze in another foreign language, a 4th language during high school to AP level, when the student can focus the time and energy on other interests/specialty, and postpone that language until finishing high school?
If so, would two languages APs and a SAT II on another language enough to show the “unusual linguistic ability,” or it should be beyond AP level? (e.g. DELE and DALF level C1)
The benefit of starting in the highest level that she can handle is that she will need fewer courses to complete the highest level offered by the school, so that she will have more schedule space for additional electives (possibly a second foreign language) later.
For example, if the school offers up to level 5, then starting in level 3 means that she will consume three years of schedule space on Spanish up to level 5. But if she is capable of starting in level 4, then she will only consume two years of schedule space on Spanish up to level 5. And if she is capable of starting in level 5, she will only consume one year of schedule space on Spanish. That will leave more schedule space for other electives, including possibly a second foreign language if she so chooses.
After reviewing some level IV textbooks on other high schools, I don’t think d is ready for that level though. I doubt that the school will let her take IV and no point stretching that much even if she goes for two language APs. Honors III would be perfect and she is already registered for the course. She has other challenging courses and needs time for socializing and EC too.
This situation is not that unusual. It’s not common, but it’s hardly rare. If you just think of the number of heritage speakers who are applying to colleges. Many of them might have taken a language other than the heritage language in HS. Also keep in mind that many international applicants will be multi-lingual.
Also keep in mind that acing an AP exam does not demonstrate proficiency. AP exams test to the intermediate-high level, IMO, using the ACTFL [proficiency guide](ACTFL | ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012) and the Subject Tests test at a lower level than AP’s. IMO, having intermediate skills in a bunch of languages is not as impressive as being advanced/close to proficient in fewer languages. Neither is going to be a meaningful boost in the admissions process, though.
There are so much that d wants to do in high schools - picking up old foreign languages, guitar, arts, clubs. Alas she got only 4 years. I guess she won’t be able to get meaningful admission benefit from squeezing another language during high school though, not with time that she can allocate on it.