I’m very worried about taking French again for my sophomore year of high school. French has dropped my GPA by tons since I have gotten a C for one quarter and a B for another quarter. I was thinking of dropping it and taking Spanish instead just so my GPA wouldn’t be as hurt. I’m already fluent in Spanish so I could most likely transfer into the higher level of Spanish classes. However I don’t know if colleges will think that is ok, and I think it might look bad for me. I don’t know wether I should stick with French and lower my GPA for the rest of highschool or take Spanish and possibly look bad to colleges.
Since it seems you will not be majoring in French in college, I would switch to Spanish. This will free up time to focus on your other classes and hopefully enjoy your language class. If you do well in the Spanish class, I don’t think it will “look bad”.
I don’t think it will look bad if you drop French unless you receive a W on your transcript. Also, if you can transfer into a higher level Spanish class and do well, that will help you more in the long run. Do whatever will raise your GPA.
You’re a freshman, right? Look at the number of years of high school foreign language study your target colleges
want. You need to plan wisely. Yes, many fluent kids take that language. But this isn’t about being fluent, it’s about what’s learned in the sequence of courses, that breadth.
Taking Spanish won’t look bad on your apps just because you are fluent in it. SImilar to the above statement, as long as you don’t receive a W in the course, then why not opt for an easier language class? Just be sure to fulfill your language requirements for your HS.
Make sure you start in a high level and complete AP Spanish.
You can take Spanish, starting at the appropriate level (ask the Spanish teachers at your school). Many heritage speakers need more reading/writing instruction; some schools have special courses for heritage speakers.
^ this is so important. There was a heritage speaker in my Spanish 2 honors class that struggled so much that she had to drop to regular. Formal education is VERY different from speaking a language colloquially at home. This is why my university allows people to skip the FL requirement if they prove that they were formally educated in a different language and otherwise, they can take the placement test like everyone else.