Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

My son will be enrolled next year at a high school that does not offer the language that he wants to re-learn: German. We lived there when he was age 10-13 and he learned to speak on the sports teams and play areas (he was at an international school.) His grammer and spelling are bad, but he can hold a reasonable conversation. I lived in Germany two different times and am quite proficient-enough that I was able to work in a german office while there the last time. I would be able to devote the time and energy to teaching him but we don't know how to approach it. What are the resources and how does the school credit work? Any help much appreciated

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 02:17 pm: Edit

I think you might be missing the point a bit.

Imagine how impressive it would look to a college admission committee to get an application where the student explains that his regular high school did not offer the language he wanted... so he studied it on his own----and then give a long-ish outline of German books studied, tapes used, "I even met with a German person in my town and had weekly conversations in German...." "I write to a German pen pal." "I read the following German books..."

Colleges are interested in students with initiative. Don't worry about getting credit from your high school. "Credit" would only put him in the same class as many thousands of other students who "take" a language. He's not "taking" a language---he's going to study a language that he has enormous passion about. If the high school makes a stink about not taking (one of their languages) get permission to home-school the German---or just take Spanish in school and do the German language thing at home.

To get the full "benefit" of this, you MUST write about the German project to the colleges. This can be done in the applications and/or in a cover letter that goes along with the appication. Colleges only know about you what you TELL them. Write a "contact" letter to the head of the German language department at the college (cc: the admissions office!) Win him into your corner and admission to the college becomes easier. You don't have to claim to want to major in German... just explain your interest. Just my hunch: German professors get very, very few letters like that! If you go for an interview with a college admissions officer, ask that you also be scheduled for an interview with someone from the German language department. All this can be done even if the student intends to major in psychology or history!

This is NOT a lesson in how to deal with the bureaucracy of high school language requirements. It is a HUGE OPPORTUNITY to show colleges that you are the kind of student who loves to learn, and are the kind of student who takes the initiative to learn what HE finds interesting. Colleges want to identify and accept those kind of students. Colleges are choking on applications from students who "take" all the required high school subjects.

Guten Tag.