Is 4 years of a language worth the frustration?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

I’m currently 16 years old and obviously beginning to think about college. I know most schools “recommend” 3-4 years of a foreign language. I’m currently finishing my second year of Spanish, since I did not take a language in middle school (language classes in middle school are worth a language credit for high school).

I did pretty good last year in Spanish, finishing with a B+ first semester and then raising that to a solid A in the second semester. That has changed this year with a big shift in the curriculum, which nobody is really a fan of. My school is a part of the IB program, and this year, they decided to overhaul the Spanish curriculum entirely for this, even though I did not sign up for IB anything. Most IB classes are completely optional, Spanish is not and is shoved down our throats now.

I finished with a B last semester and at the rate I’m going now, will finish with a B. I find the IB curriculum to be pretty challenging, more challenging than is necessary and challenging to the point where it’s bringing my grade down. Our tests have literally no multiple choice at all, and we have oral exams too which are even more challenging and especially difficult to really study for. On top of that, it’s not titled as an IB course, so it’s basically regular Spanish but at an IB level, so a B doesn’t really look as good nor does it look like it was a particularly challenging course where a B is acceptable.

I think it is also important to note that I do not enjoy Spanish and would rather take a different class that I’m more interested in, however, I’m not willing to lower chances for the sake of personal preference, if you get what I’m saying…

My question is, should I continue with Spanish for the two remaining years of high school that I have? Will it really make that much of a difference? I’m really looking to bring my GPA up to at least a 3.5 or 3.6, and I feel as if that won’t happen with Spanish dragging me down a bit. I’m looking to get into state universities, like MSU, etc.

Background info:

GPA: 3.45
PSAT: 1050
Obviously haven’t taken the real SAT or ACT yet.
Taking AP World and Honors English, planning to take AP Language (aka AP English/Lit) next year along with maybe one or two additional APs, depending.

2

You should take one more Spanish level, yes.
However, if you really hate it that much, stop at level 3, you’ll have fulfilled the recommendation for most state universities.

This is how it SHOULD be and definitely what it’ll be like when you take your foreign language requirement class in college (except MUCH faster paced). But since you feel the class is already IB-paced and formatted, why not take Spanish SL, this way you’d get recognition for the work you did. Also, when you take your college placement test in Spanish, you’ll be glad you studied like this. :slight_smile:

3

Yes, you should definitely take one more Spanish Class.
If you feel that you struggle in Spanish and your school offers Spanish AB Initio, you can take the former class. AB initio is much, much easier than Spanish SL, but it still counts for IB credit (if you decide to take the test) and many people have said that colleges view both classes in the same way.

4

its only worth the frustration based on the major you are planning to pursue in

5

No. It is not worth it.

I took Honors Spanish III sophomore year. It was the class I dreaded every single day, and it dragged my GPA down (I had a 78 first semester, 88 second semester). I dropped it and took a class this year that I enjoy more and I’m maintaining a 95 average in that class.