<p>My son's first language was Russian and we have continued to have him take lessons since we moved to the US when he was five. English is clearly his better language now but he can speak, read and write Russian pretty well and we hope to get him to a fifth/sixth grade level.</p>
<p>He plans to take Spanish but I was wondering to what extent universities waive the foreign language requirement if someone is fluent in a foreign language?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Depends upon the college - most of them will give kids the opportunity to test out of a language to prove proficiency.</p>
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<p>A particular college may not offer that option for Russian though. If I remember correctly at Michigan the only things you could test out of were Spanish, German, French, or Latin, as those are generally what’s offered at high schools. </p>
<p>Some colleges will use the SAT subject tests for placement and to test out. <a href=“http://college.artsandsciences.virginia.edu/fl-placement-exams”>http://college.artsandsciences.virginia.edu/fl-placement-exams</a></p>
<p>The answer may vary from one college to another, and may differ for admission versus graduation requirements.</p>
<p>However, at colleges where heritage speaker ability is accepted in lieu of high school or college course work in the language, you should expect some proof to be required (e.g. college placement test giving placement into a Russian course higher than the relevant requirement, or high enough score on a Russian standardized test that the college accepts).</p>
<p>Spanish is very very useful language to have in the USA. Even I take Spanish (Rosetta Stone) and it is fun. Why not?
D. was speaking after one semeter of college Spanish, it was one of her best classes in UG, I would recommend to anybody. Having Russian is not a bad idea either, why not have both? </p>
<p>…btw, D. palced into 3rd year Spanish based on her palcement test (her score was way higher than the highest listed), she was Spanish V in HS, I belive, but she still thinks that she is not fluent, but we heard her speak and she was required to use it in her rotations at Med. School (she was the only one in her rotation, who was required to use Spanish, since she also took Medical Spanish while in Med. School). She loved doc’s attention and positive comments for her Spanish and her other foreign language that she used less, but still did while at Med. School.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for your feedback. </p>
<p>As I mentioned, in my son’s case he begins Spanish this year so I think we will be ok, I was just wondering if there were any “advantages” or credits available to those who are proficient in languages. I could see arguments both ways. Thanks again.</p>
<p>I do not really know how to equate my son’s level. his tutor is now using 4th/5th grade Russian textbooks with him and my wife says his vocabulary is not at the same level as other 12 year old native Russian speakers and he makes mistakes sometimes. </p>
<p>We visited Russia this summer and he is able to converse easily and could take various tours with the Russian language groups which I imagine is much better than many folks can do who take several years of a foreign language.</p>
<p>What Tufts does is allow students to take an exam given by Brigham Young University (which apparently can cover just about every language you could want) that is then proctored at Tufts. </p>
<p>OP, you’re asking about college credit, but you should look into your local school district’s policy on native speakers. Where my D goes to HS native speakers CAN test out of the foreign language requirement and I believe, get HS credit for their ability. As it doesn’t apply to us, I don’t know the particulars, but it’s not limited to Spanish speakers (the majority of those impacted). If you S can speak fluently with people in his native land, you probably have a case for getting credit. </p>
<p>It varies quite a lot from college to college. At Yale, everybody has to take at least one semester of foreign language, even if they are fluent in more than one language. At Brown, there’s no foreign language requirement at all.</p>
<p>Tufts by the way requires you be able to speak well enough for the equivalent of 3 semesters and they expect 2 more semesters of something about a foreign culture (it can be more of the same language, a different language or history or lit or other similar courses.) They take their global citizenship seriously.</p>
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<p>If he chooses to take Russian courses in college, he will likely be placed in a more advanced course than the beginner one through departmental placement testing. At some colleges, such placement may itself fulfill the foreign language graduation requirement if the placement is higher than the level required for the requirement.</p>
<p>I agree that you need to check with the college directly as requirements vary from school to school.</p>
<p>Whether or not he chooses to take advantage of any credits for his native language will depend on his interests and proposed major when he goes to college. I would not limit his college selection to colleges giving him credits for this. I would also encourage him to continue with his HS Spanish. Four years of a HS foreign language will meet the BA/BS degree requirements for U-Wisconsin, btw. Don’t know if they offer any testing for Russian. I would not pressure him to keep up with Russian simply to be able to get college credit for it. Let him advance as much or as little as his interest indicates. He may choose to spend his free time with other activities now.</p>
<p>Just a couple of quick notes - first of all, some colleges will allow exemptions based on AP or SAT II score, but there are unfortunately no SAT II or AP tests available for Russian. (My daughter studied Russian in high school so that was a problem for her – she was in a group that was part of a pilot for AP testing, but that was almost 10 years ago and nothing seems to have come of it).</p>
<p>So that leaves the exemption being something that would be available only if the college offers Russian language and offers placement testing for that purpose. My daughter’s college offered a placement exam in Russian, but I don’t think it could have been used to place out of the language requirement – I think the purpose of the exam was merely to determine class level for incoming students.</p>
<p>Also, the ability to speak and understand conversational Russian might not be sufficient for a college-placement exam. My daughter studied Russian for 4 years in high school, and also spent a semester living with a host family and attending high school in Russia – but she was not able to place into 2nd year Russian at her college. She came close, and her adviser would have allowed her to attempt a 2nd year class – but despite an excellent vocabulary and decent speaking ability, her grasp of the nuances of Russian grammar was too weak. She ended up repeating 1st year Russian, where she earned an A+ grade - which probably was a good choice because it was a nice boost to her GPA – but she still had to study another year of Russian to meet her college’s language requirement. Perhaps a native speaker like your son may have a better innate sense of the grammar – but the point is, the college placement exam is geared to college-level ability. I have a sense that if there had been an AP or SAT II exam available to my daughter, she probably would have scored well enough - I might be mistaken, but I do think that she was given an unofficial score of 4 or 5 for the pilot-AP exam she took – but that didn’t count. </p>
<p>Maybe her particular college had stricter expectations (she took the exam at Columbia U.) – but my point is that even a heritage speaker might find that their day-to-day knowledge of the language isn’t the equivalent of a college course. (The flip side is that when my daughter was attending her Russian high school, she learned a lot more about English grammar in her English class there than she ever learned in all of her years growing up and attending school in America - I remember her sending me text messages with comments such as, “Did you know that English has a nominative case?” I learned a lot that year too.)</p>
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<p>She could not have been placed in the second semester Russian course (i.e. starting a half year ahead of the beginner course, rather than starting in the beginner course or starting a full year ahead)?</p>
<p>It’s great that you have taken steps to keep up your S’s knowledge of Russian. Adding another language is great too. And Spanish is perhaps the easiest, and one of the most useful.</p>
<p>How old is your S? </p>
<p>@usbalumnus – she did place into 2nd semester Russian, but they didn’t have a 2nd semester course offered in the fall – and her adviser (who was the chair of the Russian department) wasn’t happy with the idea of her going a full semester without the language study. She was given some sort of teachers-aide sort of status in the course – not an official TA position, but expected to take a more active role in assisting other students. So it worked out fine- she got credit, she formed a close friendship with the instructor, who was a Ph.D. student-- and she certainly didn’t complain of things being too easy. She also studied abroad in Russia for a semester in her junior year. </p>