Hi all! This is my first post here, and I was just wondering something. I currently go to a 7-12th grade school, but I started in 9th grade, while most started in 7th. A foreign language is a requirement at my school. However, my middle school didn’t offer a foreign language, so I did Spanish I in 9th grade, compared to 7th grade like many other kids in my school. I’m aware that colleges compare you to other kids at your school - will this look really bad on my transcript?
What are they doing in 6 yrs though? Some kids don’t even ever get to AP after all that time. My own did language from 7th and their top level is IB SL. Don’t assume middle school language teaching was particularly stellar. Can you get to AP in 4 yrs?
No
For most, but not all, middle schools, 7th + 8th is the equivalent to one year of HS, so you are really talking 4 years vs. 5. But again, it will make no difference.
Just get to the 4th level…e.g., Spanish 4. It doesn’t matter how many years it takes.
Hi! I’m sorry for reviving this thread, but the school I’m going to has just discontinued Spanish I, meaning that I would have to take Spanish IA freshman year, Spanish IB as a sophomore, Spanish II as a junior, and Spanish III as a senior. (if this seems inconsistent, it’s because the first post was talking in the perspective of me in a year or so…) How will this look?
Same answer. 4 years is 4 years. Your GC can discuss the change in curriculum on the Secondary School Report.
^ I disagree. Slow paced Spanish over 2 years +2 regular classes doesn’t ‘mean’ the same rigor as Level 4.
If you’d start at basic Spanish, why not pick another language that has level 1,2, 3,4 rather than slow paced versions of 1 cut into two years (which would be excruciatingly slow…)
Does the school make regular and honors freshmen start at Spanish 2 and do you have a way to cover Spanish 1 (online? Summer school?) to jump into Spanish 2 with your cohort?
Since the OP’s school is a grade 7 to 12 school, it may be that they primarily offer 1a and 1b courses for the equivalent of high school level 1, since that is commonly what middle schools offer to 7th and 8th grade students. So a student starting a language in 9th grade could take four years to complete high school level 3 (1a, 1b, 2, 3) if there is no level 1 (instead of 1a and 1b) course offered.
@MYOS1634 While I agree with you in principle, if the HS does not subscribe to the same curriculum philosophy as you or I, a college will not hold it against the applicant; s/he can’t take what is not offered.
Assumes facts not in evidence. My assumption (also not in evidence 
)is that a faster track would not exist in another language considering that Spanish is the most commonly taught foreign language in the US, but the OP can correct me. Even if such a track did exist, I would not suggest it unless the OP is really interested in the other option. Let’s be real (and I say this as a polyglot), unless the OP lives in an enclave like Fall River for Portuguese or Brighton Beach for Russian, any other FL will have limited usefulness for most students.
I will concur that this is a valid option, if available. There may be opportunities to accelerate later on, if the OP is interested, but that’s really getting ahead of ourselves at this point.
Since this is a 7-12 school, my assumption is that the FL program is coordinated and that it goes like this:
7th grade: spanish 1a OR remedial reading
8th grade: Spanish 1b OR remedial reading/writing
9th grade: Spanish 2 OR 1a OR another foreign language (French/Latin/Italian/Hebrew/Chinese…)1
10th: Spanish 3 OR 1b or Other FL 2
11th: SPanish 4 OR AP Language or 2 OR other FL 3
12th: Spanish AP Lang or Lit or 3 or other FL 4
1a/1b is slow paced, which would indicate the existence of a normal paced class in parrallel to the slow paced version. I don’t know of any school where the “remedial” version is the only version.
Nor do I.
Anyway, I’m a bit confused about the OP as the posts seem contradictory, so I am asking for an explanation. Are you are current 8th grader or 9th grader, as the info is inconsistent:
The OP said that the regular pace Spanish 1 was discontinued, leaving only the middle school slow pace Spanish 1a and 1b. Could be that there were too few students starting Spanish in 9th grade (as opposed to 7th grade), so they dropped regular pace Spanish 1 to free a teacher for some other in-demand Spanish course.
It is not clear whether there are other foreign languages offered, and (if so) whether they offer a regular pace level 1 course. But it seems unlikely, given that Spanish is the most common foreign language offered in US high schools, so that other foreign languages typically have more limited offerings, if they are offered at all.
Sorry for any confusion - I am in 8th grade, going to 9th grade next year. They discontinued the 1-2-3-4 language track for students starting in 9th grade, instead making us do 1a-1b-2-3 (people starting in 7th would do 1a-1b-2-3-4-ap)
I did think it was due to the 1a-1b being for the 7-8th grade kids and the school going 7-12 this not accommodating the 9th graders (except, I assume, for those who were not enrolled in FL in middle School due to being in remedial classes).
So basically they’d want you to take a class with the 7th graders? Or would there be a special 9th grade section?
Are there any other languages offered?
1a-1b is excruciatingly slow. (HS 1 is slow already.)
Is there any normal track for any language or any way you can take Spanish 1 in summer school (HS or college) so you start in Spanish 2 freshman year with your cohort?
I’d pull my hair out if the already super slow hs1 curriculum were split over two years. Just my own situation here but it’d be unbearable for me. Seriously can’t imagine putting a kid through that unless they actually need a slow paced class.