Is it worth it taking French in high school?
I'm a freshmen this year and I'm taking French as my foreign language class. :) Do you think this class is worth it? Will it help me to be more social/meet more people and how about for college? I already speak 2 languages English and my first language Vietnamese. I really love French class it's so much fun and I've already memorize the French alphabet and the numbers 1-10 (I'm a very fast learner)!!
Is it worth taking french all 4 years of high school!!?
definitely. I took 3 yrs, and my 3rd was independent study, I wish it had been a real class because i did not have the aural element of learning. If you get into international business or travel, it will be very useful for you. French is the language of business, and countries all over use french--5 of the 6 inhabited contents have a significant use of french. By the time you get past your 2nd year, it really solidifies it, and while it is true you will lose most of it if you do not use it for a few years, you will still retain the foundation, and if you ever go to learn another language, esp a romance language, it will be much easier. also, high school classes are a lot more conducive to learning a language than college. you have classes spread out over 10 months instead of 4 months, which is time to really pound it in. you will not get any certificate, but it may just prove to be well worth it, and sometimes it means extra money no matter what your career. i wish i knew it better so I could list that I speak it. I am a nanny and french is in demand. also my mom is a corporate accountant and she worked with european counterparts, and even travelled to europe for her job bon chance!
Highschool French horn range?
I'm going to be a freshman in highschool, and I've been playing French horn since 5th grade. Currently my range consists of all the way down to pedal C up to the third octave B. I just can't seem to hit the high C. On good days I can, but most of the time, I struggle. Is this an appropriate range for someone going into highschool? I feel like I should be doing better than I am. :/
What fluency level does high school French take you to?
It really depends on the school, as Anceline Noel mentioned in her answer. Since the US has no unified federal educational system, it is up to the school district to dictate the foreign language curriculum (if there is one at all—a statistic that startled me was that 25% of American high schools do not offer foreign language classes). Some schools require only two years of foreign language, some three years, and some don’t require any foreign language at all.As you can imagine, 3 years of high school French will not take you anywhere close to fluency without your putting in extra effort outside of class. Most of the students in French classes couldn’t care less about their French class, let alone the language itself. By the end of the year, the kids in my French 3 class could barely talk about their hobbies (other than doing homework, which says a lot about my school…).I’m a bit of an anomaly in that I have been exposed to French since I was 5, so I have an ear for how the language should go. (However, that doesn’t mean that I could form complete sentences in French when I was younger! I could, however, sing Alouette, gentil alouette without understanding what it actually meant.) Then, I began putting in enormous amounts of time into immersing myself into French by the end of my sophomore year. That year, I was also incredibly lucky to have had a native French speaker for a teacher, so I was able to learn so many more idiomatic expressions and culture than I would have. At this point, I’d say that I’m either at a B2 or maybe even low C1 level in French.To get to this point, I’ve had to read voraciously (I’ve read books like L’Étranger, and I regularly read Le Monde to get the French perspective on global events), listen to as much French as I can (I enjoy science podcasts like Autour de la question as well as some French rap), watch French media (mostly popular YouTubers like Cyprien and Norman, as well as some movies), and talk to native speakers (which now means that I know much more slang than workplace-appropriate vocabulary, whoops). It’s incredibly fulfilling to be able to understand a language that most Americans don’t, so I’m making the most of my French-learning experience in high school!If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out! I’d be glad to give you some recommendations and tips for learning French in high school.
College and University Admissions: Does taking french throughout high school really matter?
I was facing the same situation when I was in High School; Should I keep taking Mandarin and will this actually have an effect when I apply for school?In the end, I chose to stick with it and finished AP Mandarin and SAT2 Chinese. To be honest, it did not effect my college admission one bit as I was not applying to be a Mandarin Major at UC Irvine. I went to school for Business Economics and now the benefit of me learning Chinese is that I can do a lot of business with people in California in Chinese! I talk to a lot of Chinese parents to help them understand the education process here in America and that wouldn't have happened if I stopped mandarin classes while I was in High School.During my fourth year of UC Irvine, I did their EAP program and studied abroad in Taiwan for a year. While my peers couldn't take "normal" classes at National Taiwan University, I had the ability to take classes with the local students. This gave me an amazing opportunity to hang out with a lot of local students during my stay.So to answer this question is very simple: Instead of thinking of whether or not you should take French in High School, you should ask yourself whether or not you want to study in France? Work in France? Do business with French people? be in International Business between USA and EU?Based on that; I think you'll find your answer very easily!
I'm a transman (FtM) in high school –– should I bother going on with French class next year?
Perhaps you should speak to the teacher but I would advise you do it in a non-confrontational way. Most teachers are understanding about issues like this and welcome the chance to help - I'm sure if the teacher is one of those 'awkward' ones you wouldn't be asking the question in the first place. What's more important is whether or not you feel you will benefit from another year studying French. If the answer is yes then don't drop it. In the long term you will remember what you learn but some of the nuances will be less relevant. This is not to say that it will not be a lot of hard work. Being different is hard work. There''s no 'getting over it' but there are ways to cope better. You said you have some close friends who know you are a FTM transsexual. Are any in your French class? Perhaps you could talk it over with them and if you are able to speak to the teacher then maybe you can bring a trusted friend with you. There are many reasons to select or drop a subject - I feel that just because you're asking means you don't really want to do so. So don't but try and make the situation better. Another thing you can possibly look up is how TS in France identify themselves, perhaps you can even connect with one? I'm not sure how but feel it would help.
Can I major in French if I never took French classes during high school?
In theory, perhaps, but it is pretty much unheard of. Who could you be sure that French is what you want to major in if you have never taken a course? There is also the problem that you are going to have to study the first four semesters before you can even get started on your major courses, and you are really going to need to spend at least a semester and probably a year studying in France if you are really serious about this major. It sure would be a lot easier if you get at least a little bit of a head start. It really isn’t very hard to begin learning French, for there are plenty of free learning resources out there.The one scenario I can think of where this might make sense is if one has already managed to become fluently bilingual (or very nearly so), and are now ready to acquire a third language. If that 2nd language is Spanish, then this might be really feasible, because the grammar is very similar to French.