Dedicated Foreign Language Student

[LanguageMan2002]

Hello everyone,

I’m a high school student that loves foreign languages and will undoubtedly major in them in college-- especially Spanish (w/ teacher certification) as well as something else (Chinese or Arabic, unless I go to a college with French or Latin). I have worked very hard in 7-12 grade with my studies and have received many honors and awards, as well as received good scores on the AP Latin exam, and have done extracurriculars and a Latin seminar at a university to demonstrate my dedication on top of self-studying all these years and taking classes at school. To break it down, I’m going to list the courses/my experiences with each language.

Latin:

(Online Courses)
Latin I
Latin II
Latin III
Latin Literature

Latin self-study (I read Wheelock’s Latin in its entirety as a seventh grader) and study with a tutor from my online program (we worked in one of his college textbooks when I was in eighth grade).

AP Latin (self-study-- the course program closed and I was forced to self-study, but I got a 5)

I have received summa cum laude and magna cum laude awards on the National Latin Exam. I also received a book award from my online Latin course in 2017 and 2018 for my enthusiasm and work in the Latin courses.

French:

I completely self-studied French without a teacher in 2017 using books like Assimil. I would say that I can communicate freely in French without too much searching for expression, so I’m at least a B2 on the CEFR scale.

I self-studied recently for the AP French exam which was a breeze, yet I haven’t gotten my scores.

Spanish:

Technically I bought my first Spanish textbook when I was in seventh grade, but I dedicated myself more later on. In high school, I took Spanish I and Advanced Spanish II. I received class awards for both classes. This next year, I’m going to be self-studying for the AP Spanish Language and the AP Spanish Literature exams. It’s also wise to mention that I’m working with a tutor from Guatemala online on ITalki and we are doing an average of about 7 lessons (7 hours) of work per week. She transformed what I feel for Spanish and I’m planning on majoring in it because of its usefulness and my passion.

Chinese:

I took Chinese 101/102 as a tenth grader which was a dual credit course offered at my school. At the local Confucius Institute, I gave a speech in Chinese at their Chinese Bridge Contest and won third place. I’ve considerably done less with Chinese but also have less of a passion for it.

I’ve also dabbled some in Ancient Greek, German, Japanese, and Italian, but this is not large enough to mention.

I’m also president of my school’s local foreign language club and will have been for three years.

I also attended the Conventiculum Latinum (Latin Convention) at the University of Kentucky where you stay on campus and take a language pledge to only speak Latin for one week.

I also conducted research with Dr. Terence Tunberg, Professor of Classics at the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D student for my AP Research project. I wrote a 5,052 word paper on how active Latin can be implemented in the 21st century classroom and created my own research instruments.

I also have taken other AP and dual credit courses in other disciplines, including the arts and sciences, English, history, among others. All my other courses are honors/electives.

So, my question: is there any other way I can show colleges that I’m extremely dedicated to this field besides what I have done? What are the best language schools in the United States?

[Eeyore123]

US colleges are not that focused on one subject area when you are applying. Without some broader description about your academic credentials (GPA, Test Scores), it is very difficult to suggest appropriate college choices. Also, what is your budget?

[LanguageMan2002]

My GPA is a 3.89 with a 23 ACT. As for a budget, I haven’t decided completely yet.

[warblersrule]

So, my question: is there any other way I can show colleges that I’m extremely dedicated to this field besides what I have done?

I think you’ve already done quite enough! It’s a very impressive background.

Your ACT score is the weak point in your application, and I think it will be difficult to beat U Kentucky for affordability assuming it’s your in-state public.

That said, a lot of schools are going test-optional this year due to the pandemic. You may want to take a look at Tulane, which has a pretty solid Classics program on top of excellent Mesoamerican offerings. It’s one of the very few places in the US where you can study not only Spanish but also Nahuatl, the Maya languages, etc. Such languages are in high demand.

Guatemala has a population of fifteen million people, forty per cent of them indigenous, according to the most recent census. In the past year, two hundred and fifty thousand Guatemalan migrants have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. At least half of them are Mayans, and many speak little or no Spanish. According to the Department of Justice, Mam was the ninth most common language used in immigration courts last year, more common than French. Three Guatemalan Mayan languages made the top twenty-five: Mam, K’iche’, and Q’anjob’al.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/06/a-translation-crisis-at-the-border

*Immigration courts across the country have seen a steady rise in speakers of indigenous Guatemalan languages in the last five years, according to the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the court. And they are only the most recent additions to the list, which for several years has routinely included Zapotec, Mixtec, Ixil and Popti, languages from southern Mexico and Central America.

“The lack of interpretation for indigenous people has been a problem for a long time,” said Odilia Romero, a Zapotec interpreter who has been an activist with the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations for the last 20 years. “But what we see now is something entirely different: We have entire populations showing up with languages that we have not seen in the United States before.*

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/us/translators-border-wall-immigration.html

[LanguageMan2002]

This is awesome. Perhaps you saw above where I’ve been working with a tutor from Guatemala on my Spanish. She has really changed my life positively as well as my views on world language and communication. So, what you mentioned about Nahuatl really is interesting. I get marketing emails from Tulane all the time but I didn’t know about those course offerings. I would love to go to Guatemala someday. There is actually a Fulbright for Guatemala (I’m not largely familiar with Fulbright so maybe it takes place in all countries), but a research grant maybe for my thesis as a BA or MA would be cool looking at Guatemalan Spanish/Nahuatl comparatively could be an interesting topic.

[TomSrOfBoston]

As for a budget, I haven’t decided completely yet.

You do not decide on your budget, each college will tell you how much they expect you and your family to pay.

[mikemac]

2 prominent schools with strong study-abroad programs are Middlebury and also Kalamazoo. There are doubtless many others. At Kalamazoo something like 70% of the undergrads study abroad.