I heard it looks bad since someone could be taking the class and have a huge advantage and ace the class easily.
My parents were born and raise in Japan. I was born and raised in the US. I have a Japanese last name so college adcoms will know I’m Japanese.
Will colleges look down on this? Will it look better if I pick a different language?
If you already know the language, then yes it will look bad. It will also just be more difficult for you, since most likely you don’t know any actual grammar and have just learned Japanese by ear. If that’s the case, the class will probably be just as hard, if not harder, than it is for anyone else, since you’ll have to go back to square one and try to understand the grammar behind what you say. However, if you don’t know Japanese, don’t let this hold you back from wanting to learn it. You can easily explain you didn’t know the language very well and wanted to learn it formally. In fact, this might help you, as it shows you have motivation and a desire to reconnect to your culture. Good luck.
If you know the Japanese language from learning it at home, then you may be able to start in a more advanced Japanese language course than the beginner one. If your knowledge is advanced enough that high school courses would be pointless, you can just take the AP Japanese language test to prove your proficiency to colleges, though some still expect you to take a different language in school.
If you do not know the Japanese language at all, then it would not be a problem to take Japanese language courses starting from the beginner one. Lots of Japanese American people do not learn the Japanese language at home.
I don’t know any Japanese at all, I speak English to my parents. But how would a college adcom know this? I don’t know if they will understand that just because your Japanese and your parents are Japanese, it doesn’t mean you actually know any Japanese.
Make sure your guidance counselor mentions that you have never prior experience with the language.
Ugh, but my GC hates me and is lazy. Could I just mention it somewhere on my Essay?
Most applications have a section where you can write additional comments. You can mention this there. You could also write about it in your essay if you plan on including anything related to that. It’s admirable to want to learn a language properly and to connect with your culture. That looks good to colleges, too. Nice username, by the way lol.
They will also know you are Japanese because most applications ask where your parents were born.
You can talk about it in the additional information section. I would not waste your essay on it unless being Japanese is something that is the subject of your essay.
Many students are in your situation. The adcoms are fully aware that students who study heritage languages often are starting from zero. Don’t worry about this. Take Japanese. Do as well as you can in the class. Your grades will speak for themselves.