<p>Does anyone know how easy/hard the foreign placement test is? How many years of high school foreign language is needed to do well on it?</p>
<p>My son had taken four years of Spanish, while two of his friends had taken AP Spanish, and all three ended up in Spanish III. So they only had to take one semester of Spanish and they were finished with the Foreign Language requirement.</p>
<p>i took four years of hs french, and it was not that rigorous or intense....i took the test and got placed into the highest level of foreign language available
(3rd semester) so i dont think it was really all that bad</p>
<p>How hard is highest level of foreign language. Do you need to speak French fluently? Are you suppose to converse in French in class?</p>
<p>Same with the Spanish...I took 4 years in high school and tested into the third level and only had to take 1 semester.</p>
<p>I did very poorly on my foreign language test, I haven't taken it in a bit over a year. But, with my AP credit, doesn't it not matter?</p>
<p>I'm not sure, I believe the AP will give you the units but not sure about the placement level.
My D took the Spanish, after not having done Spanish at all since last year's AP either, and she did not review. By a stroke of luck and probably good guessing, she placed into third but she said she found the test quite hard. A lot of vocab seemed random, words she'd never learned etc. Reading was ok though, she said she managed the gist of passages.</p>
<p>No, fluent French is not required. French 3 is about intermediate level, and the teacher spoke mainly in French, but will speak in English to clarify things.</p>
<p>Sequoia: Do you mean your daughter placed into the third semester or the third year of Spanish?</p>
<p>^I don't know, aren't there just the three levels? She placed into the third level. She only needs to take one semester if I understand correctly.</p>
<p>Sequoia: I'm in the exact same boat as your daughter. I did not take Spanish this year, and did not expect to do well at all on the test but I placed into 3rd semester. I thought the test was very difficult, and guessed on many of the questions. I'm really nervous that the class will be too hard for me!</p>
<p>The third level really isn't that bad. I hadn't taken spanish since my junior year of high school, and I took it first semester sophomore year and did well. Don't worry too much about it.</p>
<p>My son placed into the third semester French. He says he doesn't want to take any French at USC. He wants to start a new language (Japanese, Chinese, etc.). I think it will be easier for him to take the third semester French, P/Not Pass to fulfill the Viterbi Computer Science requirement than to start a new foreign language. Of course, it is his choice. But, aren't the Near East foreign languages very hard for non-natives? I heard that Chinese is fabulous to know, but is an extremely difficult language to learn for non-natives. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>My son is planning to start a new language at USC. He's done 4 years of French, but I doubt he'll even take the placement test. If your son wants to learn a new language, it seems like a great thing to do. College is his chance to explore new challenges, right?</p>
<p>To mdcissp - </p>
<p>The Near East languages are becoming increasingly useful, and it wouldn't hurt for you son to take a few classes. (For my part, I am ashamed to say that I am a native Chinese, and I find the language very difficult to master. Mind you, languages aren't my thing anyway. YMMV...some people pick languages up easier than others.)</p>
<p>I suggest that he get the requirement out of the way as soon as possible, and take up some language courses later as electives.</p>
<p>In selecting classes one must weigh the benefit of making it easier to get through the undergrad program against taking a chance on new subjects one is truly interested in. My S is excited to take Chinese too, and seems undaunted by the challenge. He'd probably have an easier, if totally unfulfilling, time taking Latin again, but he'll be inspired if he pursues Chinese. </p>
<p>My S is a risk-taker, but I've noticed that he often works harder to make those risks pay off. Rising to the challenge that comes with his choices has brought him great accomplishments and pride. I have given up trying to make his path "safer". LOL. And I think this makes him more responsible for his own success in all that he chooses to take on.</p>
<p>mabean: I admire your son for his attitude. He sounds as though he knows himself well, when to take the challenges and risks.
My D is doing orientation next week and is accepted in the TO program. My own feeling is that it will be an enormous challege (the Traumatic Option) as she's never been a great reader but she's leaning to do it (on top of a double major and minor) I think she's nuts, maybe too ambitious, I'm just not sure as I think this whole new environment academically AND socially will be challenging enough in the first semesters. But then maybe, like your son, she will be inspired and work harder. Sometimes some of us may just underestimate our kids.
(Chinese though is out of the question for my D, lol!)</p>
<p>From what I read, I've warned my D that USC gives out D for the first couple papers for TO, so she is expecting it. Hopefully she will get an A for the final grade.</p>
<p>^ Yikes, thanks for the heads up. I will let my D know.</p>
<p>Columbia_Student, where did you read about D grades for TO?</p>