<p>hi
i know most people think im to young to be thinking about college, but i just dont want to be hert later by something i didn't do. so im going into 9th grade and will be taking spanish 2... but at the rate they teach spanish here i wont be fluent until spanish 10. so i am going to buy Rosseta Stone and take the classes at the same time so i will learn alot faster. does it help on an applacation to say i can speak two languages fluently.</p>
<p>thanks for all your help</p>
<p>Being bilingual does help most of the time. It's a skill, just like any other, so it is definitely considered.</p>
<p>Well it's not like there's a spot on the common app that asks you to list which languages you speak. Assuming you've taken the requisite number of years of foreign language in high school, I don't think that any additional proficiency helps unless it ties in with your EC's or intended major. Also, you'll need to do a lot more than listen to Rosetta Stone to become fluent.</p>
<p>Weasel: Well, the common app does ask what the primary language spoken at home is, and what one's first language was.</p>
<p>^Which won't help the OP any.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well it's not like there's a spot on the common app that asks you to list which languages you speak.
[/quote]
From what I hear you can list it on the additional info, or in this case, since this is the harvard forum, there's a section on H supplement where it says "list the languages that you can listen/write/speak" or some sort. Too lazy to confirm it, but what I have had my language teacher told me...</p>
<p>Yes, but first you need to be able to spell "bilingual," "hurt," and "application."</p>
<p>Does not having English as one's mother tongue help if one's Asian? I know it helps those who are non-Asian, but Jian Li spoke Chinese at home and it didn't really get him anywhere.</p>
<p>There is a spot on the app for other languages, because I wasn't sure whether or not to say that I was fluent in Spanish. I knew I could speak it well, but I was afraid to claim fluency and get called on it later. Anyhow, the point is that it IS there. If it's not on the common app, then it is certainly on the Harvard supplement.</p>
<p>PS- Jian Li got into Yale, I don't think it's fair to say it "didn't get him anywhere" (although we all know that Harvard is superior! :P)</p>
<p>ALSO, to the OP, I would say to go ahead and try to learn Spanish if you want, but it will not give you a 100% in at Harvard, and you should never do anything just because you think it will get you into a school. Do it because you ENJOY it! :D</p>
<p>I doubt that you can say you're fluent if you haven't really tested your skills out at a Spanish-speaking nation. How else can you judge your speaking ability?</p>
<p>I do agree with olgita. In my case I ended up claiming fluency, even though I wasn't a native speaker, because I had lived in Spain for 4 years, and my boyfriend (a native speaker) told me it would be ok. </p>
<p>In the OP's case, you are unlikely to attain fluency by the time you apply to college, even with Rosetta stone, summers abroad, etc. Which brings me back to what I said before: study Spanish because you want to, because you are interested, because you want to be challenged, but NOT because you want to go to Harvard.</p>
<p>Well I believe being able to speak english is a prerequisite - being bilangual will only help if English is one of those languages..........</p>
<p>I put on the application what languages I know/have studied (in school or on my own), and I think that helped me a bit.</p>
<p>And of course, you can write an essay about it, which is somewhat what I did.</p>