Importance of Foreign Language--In context?

Applying to College
1

<p>Is it a universal rule of thumb for college applicants to have an extra year or two of a foreign language even when their planned major has NOTHING to do with it? I'm planning on majoring in medical technology, and I don't plan on venturing into the Arts or Social Sciences at all.</p>

<p>Would the rules be tweaked a little bit if the applicant is already fluent in a second language? For example, I can converse, read, and write in Vietnamese and have been able to since before middle school. Shouldn't 17 years of casual in-home foreign language conversations (and a bit of schooling) trump four years of THEORETICAL proficiency in a high school foreign language?</p>

2

<p>Uh, I mean any language you know is good.
However, you should take the SAT II and/or an AP exam to prove fluency. </p>

<p>I mean, say you speak Spanish, but grammatically incorrectly and with only common-word knowledge (meaning err… the equal of not knowing that languages “SAT” vocab), that isn’t THAT impressive.</p>

3

<p>I know Vietnamese. There is no AP or SAT II for it.</p>

4

<p>Forget knowing how to speak a second language at all. Why is it a requirement?</p>

<p>I’ll never be good enough at that language to actually use it to the point where it would be professionally useful. I can always hire a translator who can fluently speak both and dedicated his or her studies to learning multiple languages.</p>

<p>And I already know enough to communicate basically. Why do they make us take more foreign language when we get to college?</p>

5

<p>Exactly. The most common foreign languages taken are Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, and German. Maybe Latin, too.</p>

<p>The only time you’d actually need to use one of those foreign languages is when you encounter an international student who only speaks that language. But internationals are scarce, and they’re not always from the respective countries above. So what’s the point?</p>

6

<p>Because knowing more than one language is one of the hallmarks of an educated person, and there are some colleges that still actually care that they produce educated graduates. </p>

<p>The same reason that those who are going to spend their professional lives as art historians should know something about biology, physics, and mathematics. </p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

7

<p>^^
I didn’t think Japanese was commonly taken. But yeah, and if you’re encountering an international student, then they probably would be able to communicate in English better than you would be able to in his or her language. </p>

<p>Imagine a lawyer or investment banker trying to communicate in a second language. It would be beyond confusing.</p>

8

<p>But I already know a second language. And I’m at least 98% sure I’m more fluent in it than most high school students who’ve taken 4 years of a language.</p>

<p>So why conform to the PC bull? Not every college applicant is monolingual, and it’s about time colleges resort to common sense and acknowledge that.</p>

9

<p>bump10char</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>In theory, if you know the language better, yes. The problem is that if your second language is not common enough to have recognized means of validation (e.g. by SAT Subject or AP test, some other accepted language proficiency test, or jumping straight into an advanced high school or community college course in the language and doing well in it), it may be hard to prove your fluency and literacy in the language for college admissions purposes.</p>

<p>(You may say that this situation is not fair, compared to other languages like Spanish or French, and I would agree, but there can be practical problems with trying to cover every language that someone may have learned outside of the usual school context.)</p>

11

<p>I just feel that, when it comes to foreign language proficiency, colleges are being too politically correct for their own good. If I mark myself down as an Asian-American, specify that I am of Vietnamese descent, and label Vietnamese as a main language, that should be a pretty good indicator of my fluency in some language (<em>cough</em> it’s a foreign language <em>cough</em>). My last name is Nguyen, for God’s sake.</p>

12

<p>Note, however, that a lot of heritage speakers of a non-English language are fluent, but illiterate or poorly literate, in the language. And not all Nguyens in the US are fluent and literate in Vietnamese, just as not all Suzukis, Tanakas, and Yamamotos in the US are fluent and literate in Japanese.</p>

<p>One other means of validating language knowledge accepted by some college admissions is a record of going to school in a certain grade level (often 7th or higher) in a school and country where the main language of instruction is not English.</p>

13

<p>My parents used to send me to a Vietnamese writing school when I was in elementary school. Nighttime classes.</p>

14

<p>The vast majority of High Schools require some amount of foreign language- or an ELL equivalent. Most people, almost all however, will forget the language they learned, be it French, Russian, or Latin.</p>

<p>A foreign language is regarded so importantly for a few reasons. First, its a basis for devotion. Learning a language is not fun, and your skills are obvious to see- fluent, or broken phrases.</p>

<p>Secondly, the US is the world’s superpower- meaning that Americans aren’t learning other languages. A language learned is as important as the ability to speak.</p>

<p>And while those of immigrant families might speak two languages (or four in my case), the fact you were able to learn something in a certain amount of years is like another SAT test to schools. Prior knowledge is exactly that. You might luck out with an AP, SAT II, CLEP, or fluency test if offered, but languages learned prior is like those years of baseball in elemantary.</p>

<p>Apart for my speech up there, collees don’t always hold languages with that much regard. If you satisfied your credits, good job. Going over is nice, anothrr language can’t hurt, in any major. Its important, but taking APs and a high GPA are what really catch the eye of colleges.</p>

<p>EDIT: Reading the last posts, yes, standardized tests don’t cover everyone, and thats life. If you could take a HS level MCAT or AP Anatomy, or AP Vietnamese test you probably would- just like I would in World Geography or Malay. The best you can do is include that in your essay, and if offered, take a Vietnamese fluency test (like the TOEFL for English or JLPT for Japanese).</p>

15

<p>Good, because I already took two years of Japanese and got A’s :D</p>

16

<p>So what’s your problem?</p>

17

<p>Just the overall preference for an extra two years of foreign language even when your planned major has nothing to do with it. Or when you just flat out don’t need it.</p>

<p>I have nothing against the 2-year requirement for admission. It adds selectivity to colleges that don’t have enough room to accept every math wizard that applies.</p>

18

<p>My major has nothing to do with math. Yet I’m pretty much required to take it every year. I didn’t want math so much, I tried forcing it oit of my schedule. My counselor substituted science for it instead.</p>

<p>Just like how some people don’t need history or biology, fitness or Japanese, being a well rounded student can only be determined if you actually took all thr classes.</p>

19

<p>mrlaurencenguyen -</p>

<p>The “standard” admission advice about foreign languages doesn’t accommodate native and heritage speakers of other languages well at all. As the parent of a bilingual child, I can rave about the insanity of this for hours, but it won’t get any of us very far. If you meet the minimum requirements for graduation in your school district, and the minimum formal requirements for admission at the colleges you intend to apply to, then you can drop the foreign language (or any other subject for that matter). That is what matters.</p>

<p>You have two years of Japanese on your transcript. You can quit now. If you want a piece of paper that provides documentation of your level of proficiency in Vietnamese, google “Vietnamese proficiency exam” and you will find links to a number of colleges and universities that offer their own placement and/or proficiency exams, as well as information about the US State Department exams, and exams offered through the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages [ACTFL</a> Certified Proficiency Testing Programs (oral and written) - American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages](<a href=“http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3642]ACTFL”>http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3642) and other organizations. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

20

<p>

The type of schools that offer degrees in things like medical technology are often not as selective at the top LACs and Universities. For the colleges with your major look at their admit range of SAT scores and GPA; if you are towards the higher end your chances will be very good.</p>