I’m currently in my senior year and applying for colleges. I’m wondering if finishing IB Spanish SL will make me fluent enough to consider myself “proficient”? For anyone unfamiliar with IB, the exam will include me having a conversation and writing an essay in Spanish. We don’t speak English in class at all and most of our assignments so far have been reading and responding to articles about politics, pop culture, and social issues. Am I proficient enough that I can mark this on my application, or am I just getting way ahead of myself?
Unless you’ve spent a great deal of time living in a Spanish-speaking country. you’re getting way ahead of yourself. IB HL won’t put you at proficient, so SL certainly will not. IB (and AP) test at the intermediate to intermediate-high level of proficiency on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.
https://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012
When you’re comfortable doing your college interviews in Spanish without struggling, then you could possibly say you’re proficient.
When you are comfortable in a conversation with a native Spanish speaker who is not speaking slowly to accommodate a novice you will have minimal proficiency.
I don’t know if I’m remembering this wrong but doesn’t the common app let you say what parts of a language you’re proficient in? (i.e. listening, speaking, writing, etc.) So if you can read books in Spanish no problem but have trouble speaking and listening you could just mark “reading”?