Should you take 2 foreign language classes in high school?

Applying to College
1

Hello!

I am a sophomore student from the US, currently studying abroad in Taiwan.

My freshman year of highschool I took German 1 and did pretty good in the class. I decided to be an exchange student my sophomore year in Taiwan so I could learn Chinese. In just 8 months, my Mandarin level is now upper intermediate. When I go back to the US I will take Mandarin classes outside of school, because my highschool does not offer them. While in Taiwan, I have Japanese class twice a week. I took it for kicks, not really because I was serious about learning, but now that I can read and write Japanese, I’ve gained a ton of interest! I’m even going on a trip with soon to Japan to visit a Japanese highschool and practice more. My highschool in the states does offer Japanese class and I’m starting to consider trying to take Japanese 2. The thing is, I have an amazing German teacher and I don’t want to give up German. Mandarin is my strongest language and the one I have the most interest in, so I want to devote the most of my time to that, but it won’t be an actual class I have in school so I don’t believe it will be as stressful. So my question: Do you think it’s okay to take German and Japanese class in school, while taking Mandarin outside of school? What will colleges think of this?

I am interested in attending NYU (preferably NYU Shanghai) or American University.

2

Taking additional academic courses like foreign language courses is fine, if they do not crowd out other academic courses that are usually seen as necessary for college admission (e.g. English, math, history / social studies, science). For foreign language, getting to a higher level of proficiency in at least one language typically matters more than the number of languages. You may want to check released AP and SAT subject tests in Mandarin; if you are able to function in Taiwan using Mandarin, you may already be beyond what is typically expected from US high school courses in Mandarin (and may be able to prove it to colleges with the AP and SAT subject tests).

3

Yes, taking German 2 and Japanese 3 (likely) is okay, as long as you have space for all other core classes, ie., English, Math, Social Science/History, and Science.
DO take the Chinese with Listening subject test in November to certify the level you’ve achieved.
Congratulations on going abroad as a sophomore, it takes a lot of maturity and courage. It’ll certainly be something colleges will be interested in hearing about, through essays or interviews.

4

Sounds like you may be interested in majoring in linguistics.

5

…or not. I love languages, but I hate linguistics, which to me is like language algebra. :wink: