<p>I was wondering about something and I hope at least someone could give me an idea...
I was born in Japan with a Japanese mother, american father. I moved to America when i was three, but I am currently back in Japan, and am going to stay here for the next three years until college (then I'll go back to the US).</p>
<p>NOW. I never learned to speak Japanese. I can understand it, but i can't speak it and only write a little. If I take three years of Japanese classes, would colleges think i used them to get easy credits?</p>
<p>PLUS. I'm homeschooled. so that leads to a whole different problem, but I wont talk about that now. The basic question is, would colleges count that I'm taking language courses that i should "already" know?</p>
<p>P.S. I'm also taking four years of Spanish, so Im not worried about losing my language credits, but my bro. is in the same dilemna without Spanish, so im asking for him too. THanks! :) :) :)</p>
<p>They don't have to know that you're Japanese. I'm assuming you're going to a non-Japanese school; your name probably won't give it away (since your dad is American); just don't put it down on the application. Really, though, I don't think taking a language you're supposed to know matters that much--many people who grew up with a second language aren't proficient because of the lack of formal training (i.e. they have no grammatical skills in the language or their pronunciation is off) especially if they grew up in the US. Furthermore, if you wanted to include your ethnicity, you could explain in an essay that you wanted to discover your culture or some other BS as an explanation for taking Japanese. Bottom line, don't worry about it as long as you are challenging yourself.</p>
<p>I could see you writing a really interesting essay about the conflict of moving to a foreign country where you don't speak the language but are expected to be familiar with the culture due to your heritage. That would explain the reason for Japanese classes.</p>
<p>I think you should take a language you feel you will be using when your older. For example, if your goal is to be a nation wide business man, or even a business man in a major city, Spanish would be ideal, since Hispanics are becoming, if not already, the second majority in America.</p>
<p>If you plan to do international business, Chinese would be ideal.</p>
<p>So think about what you want to do, and pick a language based on that. And also, you have a lifetime, you can learn as many languages as you want, many people know 7 languages. </p>
<p>So my advice, is take a language that your interested in and one that you know you will use - dont worry about whether colleges will think this or that, it all sounds like bull. Do what you want to do, and colleges should take it as it is or not. </p>
<p>I am taking spanish, and I'm half puerto rican. :P But I love spanish. Maybe I want to learn more about my heritage? Be more acquainted with my latin people? So what? Same for you, take Japanese, its your interest, you dont know it yourself, and you are genuinely interested in it.</p>