<p>Im not really sure if its a requirement at most universities, but I think it might be a good thing to learn a second language. I am in German 5 in high school, though I probably dont belong. I guess if I want to continue I should take a placement test, but I wanted to know if foreign language classes in college are usually extremely difficult or not. German is a pretty easy language anyways, I just never tried whatsoever in high school, which I definitely regret now.</p>
<p>It varies among universities. Some have no foreign language requirement for engineering. Some anywhere from 1 to 2 years of college language but then many of those waive that requirement if you have 3 to 4 years of high school language. Classes at the college level are difficult in the sense that you will be covering in a semester what you would cover in a year at the high school level (also, you will find many profs who require that only the foreign language be spoken in class). Having more than you already have -- which I assume is five years high school level -- is mostly not necessary for undergrad engineering; however, foreign language becomes more of an aid, and sometimes required, on the graduate level for engineering (if you go for a masters or Ph.D).</p>
<p>Stunna,
My son is a freshman engineering student and takes German as a double major. Through AP exam and placement test, he was able to omit all of the language aquisition classes and takes German major classes as his engineering elective. It works out just fine. Colleges will probably give you a language placement test, no matter what you got on your SATII or AP Exam.</p>
<p>Regarding difficulty, I guess it depends on your skill level. His classes are conducted in German. The first semester was a writing course where the students had to write a short essay each week. This semester is a reading course with class discussion and standard tests. Most of his classmates are upperclassmen. Some of his high school classmates opted to take the 2nd year language aquisition class just to be sure they were up to speed. You should speak to a German department advisor to decide.</p>
<p>OK sounds good, I dont feel like I should jump right in at level 3 or anything, but maybe I should skip the 101, though I wont really know until I take a placement test of some sort.</p>
<p>Because of the rigorous nature of engineering study, very few programs require a foreign language. There are a few cases where it may be required in graduate school, but I'd say this is rare.</p>
<p>Trust me, if you're going to be an engineering major, foreign language classes will be the very least of your academic worries.</p>