Minoring in a language..

This maybe a question for college in general but this is a language thread so I'll ask it here.

I've had three years of Spanish in High School but was never stellar at it/ never grasped it. I'm going on a servive trip this summer to Peru and am going to try and go through the Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur programs to try and relearn/further my knowledge of the language. If I did this and became familiar with the language and good at the grammar, would it be better for me to further my experience in college with it? Or would it be better to take a different language in college and therefore know a little but about both Spanish and another language (was hoping Russian)?
 
That, Stormtrooper, is completely up to you. If you're good at a language, then I would definitely learn more. If after three years and an overseas trip and you still cannot validate the first year class, then the language probably isn't for you, and you could try to learn another language, though Spanish is an easier language to learn while Russian is not.
 
Well, simply saying that Japanese sucks probably isn't very helpful. Yes, Japanese is a relatively difficult language (my roommate is taking the class), but so are many other languages, such as Chinese (what I'm taking) or Russian. But it is easy to get a B if you simply put in time everyday to go over material covered in class. I currently have an A in Chinese and got an A last semester, and it's very possible if you set up regular studying habits and get E.I.
 
JustCallMeDan7 said:
Everyone has to take a language, at least 2 semesters worth. It is alot easier to convince them to move you up then move you down languages. I knew a lot of people that got french and convinced them to give them chinese or russian, but i wanted french and apparently did really well on the test and had to choose strategiv language. They wouldn't budge, since i had the ability to learn it, i had to take it.

If you want to "prepare" for the test, even though you really cant....

http://www.2lti.com/htm/Test_mlat.pdf

follow that link and there will be sample questions, in section 11 i think....
Click to expand...
Just wondering if a student with 2 years of CLEP credits in one of those required languages would be exempt from taking 2 semester's worth of language?
 
FL_FlyMom said:
JustCallMeDan7 said:
Everyone has to take a language, at least 2 semesters worth. It is alot easier to convince them to move you up then move you down languages. I knew a lot of people that got french and convinced them to give them chinese or russian, but i wanted french and apparently did really well on the test and had to choose strategiv language. They wouldn't budge, since i had the ability to learn it, i had to take it.

If you want to "prepare" for the test, even though you really cant....

http://www.2lti.com/htm/Test_mlat.pdf

follow that link and there will be sample questions, in section 11 i think....
Click to expand...
Just wondering if a student with 2 years of CLEP credits in one of those required languages would be exempt from taking 2 semester's worth of language?
Click to expand...

The CLEP credits will not be enough to validate the language requirement. You will be given the opportunity to take a language placement exam during BCT and, based on the results of that exam, USAFA may opt to validate one or two of the required language requirements. Good luck.
 
I'm in the class of 2021 and for us if you were interested in Arabic that got you in we are only going to have about 12 or so minors from our class. The non-strategic languages are the hard ones to get into such as spanish because everyone wants to take them since most of us are familiar with spanish. If you want arabic you will most likely get it if you even finish your placement test.
 
As someone who is minoring in Arabic and validated 2 years worth of classes by taking the placement test last year, I can assure you that unless things have drastically changed, there will definitely be a placement test with Arabic on it. Last year all basics were given the option to take placement tests in languages we had previously taken. The Arabic exam had a listening section, a reading comprehension section, and an essay. As of last year there wasn't a speaking portion, but it is possible that could change.

From your original post I can't tell if you've taken Arabic or not. Let me clarify something: the placement test has only one purpose - to determine the current ability of someone who already has experience with the language. It is NOT a requirement for taking the language. You will have a separate opportunity to indicate your preferences for which language you want to take. As I understand it, you are highly likely to get the language you ask for if you have previous experience and take the placement exam. You are also very likely to get a strategic language (like Arabic) if it is your first choice.

If you don't have experience with Arabic don't try to take the placement exam. That's not its purpose. Just put it as your first preference and you will probably get it. If you have taken Arabic, review what you've learned in your courses, stay awake in the exam, and hope for the best!
 
Thank you FMHS-79, that is good to know. Do you have any idea if they will consider the 2 years of CLEP credits as equivalent to the 2 high school credits in a foreign language? For example, a student may have 4 years of Latin, but the academy wants 2 years of a modern language. So, if a high school senior is a 4-year Latin student and passes 2 years worth of CLEP in Spanish... might admissions accept that for the 2 years of a modern language??
 
The only thing that matters is the placement test. If you do well enough you can place out of both semesters of required language
 
FL_FlyMom said:
Thank you FMHS-79, that is good to know. Do you have any idea if they will consider the 2 years of CLEP credits as equivalent to the 2 high school credits in a foreign language? For example, a student may have 4 years of Latin, but the academy wants 2 years of a modern language. So, if a high school senior is a 4-year Latin student and passes 2 years worth of CLEP in Spanish... might admissions accept that for the 2 years of a modern language??
Click to expand...

+1 @c17hopeful

The two semesters of foreign language are required as part of the core curriculum. During BCT, basics will be allowed to take a placement exam for the eight languages offered at USAFA (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish) and, as stated in the Curriculum Handbook, "Cadets who place into the 200-level or higher will receive validation credit for For Lang 131-132 and will have fulfilled their two semester foreign language requirement".
 
I thought Portuguese was indeed now considered to be a strategic language, with all the aircraft coming out of Brazil? Maybe I'm misinformed.

Don't make your plans etched into stone at this stage. The Needs of the Air Force come first, even at the Academy. You may get Chinese, Arabic, or even the dreaded Spanish. Your DUTY will then be to do your very best in whatever language the AF decides they need you to study. See? Simple.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top