<p>I speak 2 languages: English and my first language. I used to take classes in German for 2 years. I've been also learning Hebrew for a year (so it would be 2 years at the end of my senior year) Overall, I speak 2 languages fluently and 2 languages so-so.
I'm bilingual already, but still... I wonder if it would affect my chances significantly?</p>
<p>Some colleges are want to see language proficiency equivalent to or higher than 3rd or 4th year of high school foreign language courses. Having only level 2 in the languages you took in school may not look too good, but if you can show fluency in the other language you are fluent in (acing an SAT subject test or AP test in the language may be the most convenient way for US college admissions purposes, although there are other language proficiency exams as well), that may help.</p>
<p>What’s your first language? can you take a test in it proving your proficiency?</p>
<p>My first language is Russian, and I’m afraid it would be quite difficult to prove my proficiency in it. Difficult, but possible, I suppose. </p>
<p>@ucbalumnus So you think that the main thing is that I know the language - not the fact that I took it in school?</p>
<p>Katheryn, I don’t presume to speak for ucbalumnus, but what you said isn’t exactly what I see in his post. I see ucbalumnus saying what matters isn’t your proficency in Russian, but documenting your proficiency in Russian. Two different matters.</p>
<p>You’ve said documenting your proficiency in Russian wouldn’t be easy. But if what you have other than that is a couple of years of high school German and a smattering of Hebrew, I think it will be worth a lot of inconvenience to demonstrate that you can read, write, speak and understand Russian.</p>
<p>OK, I feel foolish now. Do you actually live in Krasnoyarsk? If you’re applying from Siberia, they’ll take your word for it that you can speak Russian. If you’re applying to American universities from Siberia, you’ll need to demonstrate your skills in English. Probably by taking TOEFL.</p>
<p>For schools that requires 3 or more years foreign language, they mean the same language. If you are applying to schools that only requires 2 years of foreign language, you are totally fine. And you have the advantage of being multilingual.</p>