Taking 2 languages in high school?

Applying to College
1

Hello!

I’m currently a rising Junior.

My freshman year of highschool I took German 1 and did pretty good in the class.I did not do so great overall though, my GPA was around a 3.3.
I decided to be an exchange student my sophomore year in Taiwan so I could learn Chinese. I just got back from 10 months abroad, my Mandarin level is now upper intermediate. Now that I’m back in the US, in the fall I will take Mandarin classes outside of school, because my highschool does not offer them. While in Taiwan, I had 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 here 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?

2

There is no reason to not continue with all three languages if you want to and can fit them into your schedule. While this is not so common for US applicants, many international students are multilingual. Studying this many languages will not get you into any college or university that you aren’t otherwise eligible to get into. However, it is part of what makes you who you are, and can be something that you would write about in an application essay.

3

I took two languages in high school (French and Spanish) and I would HIGHLY recommend it to other people who enjoy learning languages. I think it is absolutely okay to take German and Japanese in school and Mandarin outside of school. Like happymom said, it’s not going to get you into a college you’re not qualified for, but it might make you stand out a bit and make you memorable. Being bilingual or trilingual (or more!) can be beneficial for the rest of your life. It makes traveling easier, can help you in a job search, helps you connect with other people, etc.

Bottom line: Take the languages because you love languages, learning about cultures, find it fun, etc. Don’t take them just to beef up your college applications.

4

Take the languages! It shows a worldly knowledge, helps with people skills, and can be counted as extracurriculars.