I’m considering a transfer in fall 2017 from a CCC to UCLA. I’m confused by the foreign language requirement of my major, and I was hoping someone here could shed some light.
My intended major – American Literature and Culture – requires “two years of one foreign language or a combination of courses in foreign language and foreign literature.”
I’m assuming this means I need to take four semesters in a language. I only have three semesters left before I transfer, and I did not take a language course this semester. I am planning to take Spanish (which I studied all four years in high school) next semester. Will I need to take a summer course in Spanish to meet the two year requirement?
Foreign language requirements only require that the student studies the equivalent of the specified number of semesters. Your community college should allow you to jump right into an intermediate course because of your high school education. Head over to the course catalog of your CCC and check the prereqs for the course that you are supposed to take after “three to four years of high school study”. It should not be the introduction course.
So, you’ll probably be able to skip the first year and only take two. Regardless, I would take a course starting with the Spring because your past knowledge will begin to fade with time.
@cassandracyphers Check and see because in many if not most cases, one 5-unit semester college course is the equivalent of one college year. (One college year is the equivalent of two high school years.) So you probably need just one more semester at the college level, assuming that type of course is offered at your CCC (which it usually is). However, if you have four years of high school language with the last semester at least a C- or better, it sounds like you might have two college years and won’t need any.
Of course you need to check. I’m just giving out possibilities.
Careful, check your CCC’s foreign language equivalent to UCLA’s. Some CCC’s two semesters equals 3 quarters while some CCC’s two semesters only equals 2 quaterrs at UCLA. The C-ID has helped determine equivalents. https://c-id.net/course_compare.html
ETA: Am Lit/English require college level foreign language courses.
You need two or 3 CCC semesters of foreign lang plus extra English courses OR an extra year of foreign lang and no extra English courses.
I’ve never run into two CCC semesters only equaling two quarters at a UC. But maybe. The link you attached is for the CSUs. Anyhow, it’s all very clear on the IGETC form at your CCC, which will note the actual language course that fulfills the equivalent of one year of UC language. Your advisor will also know.
@lindyk8, at your D’s CSM, the articulation for Am Lit to UCLA requires either 3 semesters foreign lang plus 2 English courses or 4 semesters foreign lang plus one more quarter once you get to UCLA. So each semester at CSM seems equivalent to 1 quarter at UCLA.
At my D’s CCC, Santa Ana College, the same articulation is 2 semesters foreign lang + 2 English courses or 4 semesters of forigin lang… So the first 2 semesters equals 3 quarters at UCLA.
The C-ID attempts to match up CCC courses equivalent to one another and I was told by a CCC advisor that UCs will be using it too.
At Santa Ana, for Spanish, the equivalent would be taking (C-ID) Span 110 + 2 English courses or (C-ID) Spanish 210 and no extra courses. It looks like CSM has not created C-ID’S yet for Spanish.
So OP, careful, check your Assist articulation for Am Lit!
Am Lit and English at UCLA require taking college level foreign language courses. Fulfilling IGETC with HS courses for this major isn’t enough.
My D’s Spanish courses were 5 semester units each! I think you said your D’s French (?) were too but where your 2 semesters was equivalent to 2 years of HS, my D’s 2 semesters fulfilled 3 years of HS.
This is what’s so confusing about the foreign lang requirement for Am Lit/English at UCLA.
For other majors that don’t require college level foreign lang, IGETC can be met by a minimum 2 years of HS courses with C- or better.
Yeah, I know IGETC is not enough. I was simply using it as a guide. If the IGETC course/s equals 1 year, one can extrapolate from there to the next level. But you said it, it’s confusing.
I’m really thinking again about my daughter’s Spanish, as my second daughter will be moving into it: two 5-unit semester courses, 7 hours a week to fulfill IGETC (two), where every other CCC appears to be fulfilling it with one 5-unit semester course.
Berkeley says you need what amounts to one UC-equivalent semester in language to fulfill IGETC. So 7 hours a week for one semester doesn’t cut it and CSM demands two semesters of 7 hours a week (10 units) to equal one UC semester?
Something seems off. I’m going to look in to it. Grrrrr
4th semester of foreign language at a semester system CC will fulfill the foreign language requirement for this major at UCLA. Note the alternative option of 2nd semester of foreign language plus two additional foreign language or literature courses.
If you took four years of high school Spanish, you may be able to place into a higher level Spanish course than the beginner one, so you may need fewer than four semesters to get to the 4th semester Spanish course.
