Good grief there are a lot of options for these forums. I think this is the right one.
So, here’s my current situation. I have been taking an online class, which counts for credit, to gain my required foreign language credits for graduation, and since I have reached them, I was planning on quitting the class and continuing study on my own. However, my parents seem to think that I really should continue the class for another year despite it being terribly beneath my level to the point where I’m not even motivated to do anything with it. I don’t want to keep taking classes that aren’t helping me, but at the same time, I know that the big test for this language, the JLPT, is accepted at some colleges, and it’s even required for foreign students applying to almost all of the colleges I’ve been looking at.
Should I force myself to keep taking the classes, or should I work towards passing the JLPT with my self-studies?
Also, sorry if this doesn’t make much sense. I’m pretty bad at explaining this…
If you’re talking US universities, you’d be better served taking the SAT Subject Test or the AP test. While the JLPT is the better tool to “prove” your proficiency in Japanese, I’m not convinced all colleges are familiar with it.
Alright. Then my other question, should I bother with the classes still, or should I keep doing my personal studies? I know that you can take AP tests without having taken the class, so I’m thinking this would work, but I’d still like to know.
It really depends upon the types of colleges you are targeting. If the majority of your colleges recommend 3-4 years, and you are at 2, then yes, I would continue the classes, or test out of them, particularly if you are of Japanese heritage.
What level have you completed/in the process of completing?
Well, I would like to study abroad in Japan, and believe it or not, I want to do all four years abroad. I really think I can do it too. In the year I’ve been studying, my skill set evens out at about N3. I haven’t had the chance to take the actual test yet, so keep in mind that this is just a guess after taking several practice tests and asking a few language exchange friends.
Also going back to the classes, I do not have the option to test out of them. Especially since they only offer the first two years of the program, and nowhere else that my school accepts continues the program further than that.
So, in other words, you’ve only had one year of classes? Take another year and finish the sequence. Quite frankly, only 2 years will raise eyebrows, but at least you can say that you took everything that was offered.