<p>I have a looooot of questions which you all may or may not be able to answer for me.. thought I'd give it a shot anyway.</p>
<p>Can you double major at the SFS? I realize it'd be a substantial time committment, but is it technically allowed?</p>
<p>What is the max number of classes you can take per semester? What's the recommended number?</p>
<p>Is it possible to pursue two languages at Georgetown? In my case, I want to continue studying Spanish (in which I have a basic understanding of all tenses but am lacking in practice/vocabulary/fluency) and begin studying Arabic. Is this feasible, or should I ditch one?</p>
<p>What's the Arabic department like at Georgetown?</p>
<p>How tough is it to get into the 5 year joint master's program?</p>
<p>Georgetown recommends 4 years of the same language. However, because my high school's courses were not very challenging, I ended up taking all my Spanish classes at the local community college. I had taken every one of the 4 semester classes they offer by the end of my sophomore year. Will Georgetown view this as 4 years of the same language, since that's what it's roughly equivalent to, had I taken it at the high school? Or should I explain the situation in some way on the application? What to do, what to do! Also, if I had a chance to begin studying Arabic next year through a special program, should I do that, even though I'll only have one year under my belt when I graduate?</p>
<p>Additionally, I have been accelerated through much of the English program at my high school, meaning that I have no English class during my senior year. Currently I'm considering taking 2 semester courses at the University of KS, but since I live about 30 minutes away from it, this does present something of a challenge. What should I do?</p>
<p>I suppose double majoring in the SFS is technically allowed, but no one does it. It's pretty much impossible.</p>
<p>I think you can take up to 20 credits, but different classes have different credit amounts. Most people take 5 classes a semester, but it depends on your major. </p>
<p>Yes it's possible to take 2 languages at gtown, many people do in fact. </p>
<p>Languages in general are really good. I know a few people majoring in Arabic and they seem to like it, so I think it's pretty good. </p>
<p>No, double majoring in SFS is NOT allowed. It is not possible, there are so many core requirements on top of language proficiency and such. The closest thing we have are certificate programs.</p>
<p>SFS kids usually take 4 classes if they're taking an intensive language, though some take 5 (Chinese and Arabic are really hard, I wouldn't recommend taking 5 classes with one of those languages first semester at least). I'm taking 17 credits right now (5 classes plus Map and another 1 credit p/f class). </p>
<p>It's difficult as an underclassman to take much more than that, for the sheer reasoning that a lot of the lower-level classes are offered at similar times either MWF or TR, so you'd have a tough time filling the schedule. </p>
<p>As far as the Master's Program, from what I understand, it is pretty difficult to get in...and if you're going to take two languages and not have significant AP credit to eat through the core, you will either have to sacrifice some summertime for summer school or not go abroad during the school year in order to get through enough of your major program to even apply.</p>
<p>I would recommend finishing Spanish and then starting a new language. Get proficient at Spanish, pass the test, and then you can take Arabic on your own time and not have to worry about proficiency.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks, that's good to know. How difficult are the proficiency tests? Will four years of Spanish adequately prepare me for them, or not? </p>
<p>Additionally, can I transfer credits from my local community college to fulfill the core, or will they just transfer as electives? If they just go in as electives, should I even bother trying to transfer them in?</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of electives you are trying to transfer. Also, if you use them towards your high school diploma you cannot use them for Georgetown. (for instance, I took two art history courses at my community college for an art requirement at my high school, those didn't transfer). What kind of classes are you talking about? I'm also not sure if community college stuff would transfer for CORE classes.</p>
<p>As far as whether or not you'll pass your proficiency, it depends. I've taken spanish for almost 6 years and I could probably pass it with a Fair. (I took AP Lang and Lit in high school and got a 3 and a 4, respectively..but speaking was not emphasized as much as it should. and it was a public school. so..)</p>
<p>Basically, to pass a proficiency test you need to be able to read any article in any spanish newspaper in 15 minutes, then put it away and be able to talk about it for 10-15 minutes. You also should have a significant background on the region (so my Spanish classes here are geared toward the culture and history of Spain and Latin America). </p>
<p>So, let's say for instance they gave you an article about the inauguration of Evo Morales as the President of Bolivia. You would have to summarize the article to the proctors, and then possible connect that to the significance of an indigenous man winning the presidency, how this fits a Latin American context, and what it means for Bolivia.</p>
<p>So it just depends on how you feel, if you have a large enough vocabulary to draw on, and you can conjugate verbs irregular and regular, in any tense (preterite, present, imperfect, present perfect, subjunctive, etc, etc) without hestitation, and your confidence level (being put on the spot by two professors in english is intimidating enough, now try it in spanish!)</p>
<p>I'm in high school like you, so I can't tell you much about Georgetown's programs. But just a note from one Arabic speaker to a prospective one: it's hard. Arabic is the language spoken in my home and living in it for 16 years still hasn't made me as fluent as I'd like to be. It will be at least 2 years before you grasp the basics. And it is completely different from the Germanic and Romantic languages (I've also studied French). I would advise you to get your Spanish proficiency all done and then study Arabic without any pressures or limitations on you. You'll want a clean split from all other languages and ways of thinking before immersing yourself in Arabic. And, though I don't doubt you have the potential for it, a very large amount of people who attempt to learn Arabic drop out before learning comprehensively. One year of Arabic isn't enough to do anything, so if you're going to go for it, throw yourself into it and vow to finish.</p>