What does 4 years of a language mean?

anon94785555
Mon, 13 Oct 2014 19:37:18 +0000

You have met any requirements for 4 years of a single foreign language. Plan your HS courses to benefit you, not to game the college entrance system. Continuing in Spanish will improve your fluency and keep you from forgetting it if you wish to major in it in college. However, the thought of learning a different language for the fun of it in HS is an excellent idea. Do not base your decision on possible grades but on your interest. There is no reason to continue Spanish unless you are truly interested in it and want to continue it. Enjoy your HS academics. It sounds like the thought of more Spanish stresses you and it may be a good idea to remove it from your schedule just to take away the stress. However- if you plan on taking more Spanish in college continuing with it will be beneficial. Remember however that once you finish with the 4th level of any language you have finished with the fundamentals are getting into culture and literature.

Ask yourself WHY you want to continue with Spanish in college. There are many subjects and interests from HS that are let go of in college in favor of all sorts of new interests. Free yourself to explore other options- such as another foreign language in HS. Do not let the perceived toughness of any course, IB or AP discourage from a course. Who knows- you could get the A. Having met the 4 years requirement do not torture yourself with a class you really don’t want just to get college credits from HS work. Do not count on getting into Harvard or any other school regardless of how perfect your credentials are.

btw- does being a nonnative English speaker make it more difficult for you because you are still translating internally into your native tongue? Likely not an Indo-European language as those have many similarities to English. I took HS French and college German (Chemistry major) and found it interesting to see how those languages influenced English. You might have fun with learning another foreign language instead of Spanish culture.