<p>Hi every one, I am new to this forum.
I have a question about foreign language. I just came to the US three years ago from Hong Kong. I am currently a freshmen in high school. I need to choose what courses I am going to take for next year soon, so I have a question about foreign languages. 1) If I want to apply to the top colleges, how many years of foreign language do they require? 2) I am currently taking ESL as my second language, so does ESL count as studying foreign language? 4)I am planing to take Mandarin in the last two years of my high school, but I know some colleges recommends three to four years of studying foreign language. So I was wondering should I start taking next year or my junior year? (I speak Cantonese in Hong Kong, so I think English and Mandarin can count as my second language, even though Cantonese and Mandarin are both Chinese)</p>