@bomerr so what you are saying is that colleges just want proof that I can speak 2 languages? rather than actually taking the class. Or would testing for the credit show that I took the class?
Also, if it really comes down to it. It might be feasible that I take Spanish 3 over the summer then Spanish 4 senior year if colleges really want to see me take 4 years of foreign language classes. Though it would require some serious studying because I haven’t taken the class in 2 years.
@dallascowboys1
In terms of college admissions I think saying they want students who can “speak” 2 languages is going too far. They just want you to fulfill the requirement (with good grades obviously). Students doing credit by exemption at 4 year unis for foreign languages not offered at their high schools is not all that uncommon.
@bomerr sorry to perpetuate this thread, I am just unfamiliar with this whole process. By testing out of Korean 2 at a 4 year uni, it would be considered equivalent to 4 years of language by that 1 test? Most top universities do not care if I get the foreign language credits from taking classes or credit exemption at a 4 year uni, correct?
It’s called “credit by examination” so you take an exam and you get college credit as a result. You would then apply that credit back to your HS. (although you would most likely need to send both HS and college transcripts when you apply for colleges)
Most schools don’t care but call the school you want to attend and verify with them.
@dallascowboys1 I’m going to warn you that the vast majority of kids taking the Korean sat ii or ap exam are native speakers or speak it at home. Look at the percentile charts for it provided by the college board… You will have to do very, very well in order to receive credit for the course. Not saying that’s impossible, but it would be difficult.
@Qwerty568 I second what he said. Like OP said in the first post, Europeans want to learn European Languages and flip-side to that is usually only Asians want to learn Asian languages. Thus mostly native or near-native level Koreans take the Korean test. Likewise for Chinese. Atleast with Spanish, a lot of non-native speakers will weight down the average score.
The 4-yr university placement test will also be no joke. It’ll be heavily focused on the grammar and proper style of formal Korean. A basic home knowledge wouldn’t even cut it to get a B. That’s why I said it’s important to study for the exam prior to taking it. And by study I mean learn all the material typically taught in a elementary and intermediate korean classes.
With that said tho, the important question is how much home knowledge do you have? If you have internalized some grammar and can speak it yourself then you’ll have a MUCH faster learning curve compared to a true foreign language (like Spanish kids in Spanish classes). The best part is, you’ll have a MUCH easier time in the intermediate or advanced level courses. Also taking upper division koran classes can be a great GPA booster once you are at university. But if you are starting from scratch then you’ll be borderline screwed since it’ll be nearly impossible to reach the near-native level of Koreans for the SAT.
For reference I am a heritage speaker of Russian and I went from illiterate to HS level 2 (aka 2nd semester college) in about 2 months of strict studying. So I skipped hs level 1 entirely.
I then skipped hs level 3 and went to straight to level 4 in about another 3 months.
You could take the Korean exemption exam for Intermediate Korean AND Spanish 4 - THAT would be a combination that’d work if you’re shooting for a Top 25 university/LAC.
The great majority of admitted students at HYP&equivalents have taken at least one foreign language up to AP level, and a sizable minority have learned another one. (Harvard published a chart with typical preparation of admitted students, not the “basic requirement”. The only students who only have the basic requirement are those whose high school does not offer anything else.)
For top schools, core subjects are: English, Math, History, Foreign Language, and Science. If your HS offers APs, you should either have at least one AP in each category, or double up in another (ie., Spanish 4 Honors + 2 AP sciences would be okay if you don’t have AP Spanish).
@myos1634 Thanks for you response. I think that it should be worth mentioning that during my time taking Spanish II, my teacher left the country, after a month, randomly after a supposed scandalous event that she was apart of.This left my class with over 10 substitute teachers over the course of the year, clearly diminishing my learning experience. So if I were to take Spanish III over the summer then Spanish IV next year, it would require some serious studying/tutoring. As bomerr has said, don’t colleges consider the credits that I gain from the 4 yr uni equivalent to taking 4 years of a language at high school. It should also be considered that Korean is not the language spoke in my house nor did I have any knowledge of it before a couple of years ago.
@bomerr I have basic knowledge I have acquired such skills. This includes basic writing/reading, basic conversational skills, and speaking/listening. I would definitely need prepare more on my own for the test. But I believe what I have so far will increase my learning speed.
Is another option letting the university know that I am willing to take extra language courses in college?
" Korean is not the language spoke in my house nor did I have any knowledge of it before a couple of years ago."
If that is the case then you won’t have any heritage speaker advantage when learning the language. e.g. the advantage Hispanic kids have learning Spanish. i.e. going from level 1 to level 4 in only a single year.
Therefore I would recommend just continuing down the Spanish route. As it’s been pointed out, the vast majority of people talking Korean AP will be native or near-native level so you’ll be weighted against that difficulty.
Does a college near you offer Korean? You could try and take the class over the summer.
But for your self study to “count” (and the initiative, since you’re not a heritage speaker, will be well-considered) does need to be validated, by a test, such as the November Korean SAT Subject, or by a college class.
@skieurope, what is the reason?
@redpoodles
Most European languages fall from the indo-european language family or in other words they are closely related. English is the probably the most distant language in terms of grammar and syntax to all the other languages.
Spanish.French,Italian, are all from latin and so there is some overlap between vocab. More importantly the grammar is very similar as all have verb conjugations.
German, Russian, Polish, Latin feature verb conjugations and noun declinations.
So a german learning french is already familiar with verb conjugations and just needs to learn the french replacement for declinations. Likewise a french person trying to learn german will too be familiar with verb conjugations except they will need to learn the case system; that’ll be slightly more complex but still.
When the grammar is similar then you can just think the someway except with different words. It makes it easier to learn. We English speakers are just out of luck because English no longer has either verb conjugations or declinations so that slows down our ability to learn the other European languages.
Hmm, bomerr, I disagree with some of your statements above.
I guess it all depends compared to what -
German is much harder - in the DoD classification, German is in another category, and the conjugation rules make Spanish much harder than French (Three types of Subjunctive!!!) English has its own idiosyncracies (extensive vocabulary, spelling/pronunciation, irregular verbs).
Cases are another situation that’s tough, which is why I assume you put German, Russian, Polish, and Latin together.
Russian/Polish, sure. Italian/French, yes, absolutely - a native speaker of one would quickly learn the other. And there’s some vocabulary overlap between French and Spanish, similar to English and French. But it’s not easier for a French speaker to learn German than it is for an English speaker. An English speaker would have as easy a time learning Dutch as an Italian speaker learning French, or a Polish speaker learning Russian. But that is not very common, for a variety of reasons (practically, history, tourism, school offerings…)
No one I know learns Hungarian or Basque 
… except for a few Korean kids learning Hungarian in order to go to med school there.
One reason Europeans study foreign languages is that they don’t have a choice: in order to graduate lower secondary schools, everyone must have taken at least three years and up to 5 for those aiming at academic high schools, in a foreign language; in many countries they must study English + another one, and frequently Latin on top of this. The rationale is mental gymnastics and because it’ll be useful later on in life as the basis for higher-level work (kind of the same reason we take algebra.)
Korean would certainly be impressive to learn for a non heritage speaker. Asian languages are very different from European languages. Adding a language such as Spanish, and certifying your level in both would be really great if you can pull it off, but I understand it may not be feasible. Can you review Spanish a bit before the summer?
@MYOS1634
A French person learning Russian would have a harder time than a Polish person for sure. Likewise an English person would have the hardest time of all. But it would still be easier than any one of those people trying to learn Arabic, Turkish, Vietnamese or any other non indo european languages.
Hungarian or Basque are non into european which probably explains somewhat the lack of desire to learn those languages.
@bomerr I am of Korean heritage but do not speak Korean. Would you still recommend that I go the Spanish path? I would very much want to learn Korean more depth so I could talk to my relatives who live in Korea and my grandparents. I feel like the motivation factor is something to consider.
Also, would just letting the college know that Korean was not the language spoken at home then take the Korean SAT II to show proficiency suffice as the language “recommendation” or “requirement,” in some cases? Or would credit by exemption at a 4 yr uni be the only valid substitute for foreign language credit.
As is the case in just about all of life, it depends. Some schools may give you the benefit of the doubt, others will not.
@Erin’s Dad
‘As is the case in just about all of life, it depends. Some schools may give you the benefit of the doubt, others will not.’
As long as a person hasn’t been in a foreign language school (usually a high school) they are free to enroll in that language.
@dallascowboys1
" I am of Korean heritage but do not speak Korean. Would you still recommend that I go the Spanish path? I would very much want to learn Korean more depth so I could talk to my relatives who live in Korea and my grandparents. I feel like the motivation factor is something to consider."
Motivation factor is good important no doubt BUT you won’t have any natural advantage trying to learn Korean so it’ll take you a relatively long time to learn. How long do you have until the test?
@bomerr, I wasn’t replying about whether the OP can take Korean. No problems there. The question was if the school would give the benefit of the doubt on giving credit for the language not being spoken at home. If the OP has grandparents and family in Korea who speak Korean there is a good chance some Korean is spoken at home.
@Erin’s Dad
I’m not aware of any universities that care about whether a language is spoken in the home or not for credit. It’s about whether a person has had a formal education in the language.
Yale: “If any of your education prior to secondary school has taken place outside of the country where you currently reside, please list the dates of attendance, institution, country and language of instruction.”
It seems you’re right @bomerr.
http://theivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/tag/sat-subject-tests/
It looks like the high scores that native speakers get drive the curve much higher so the student has to be fairly proficient.