-171 If a child grew up speaking a language other than the language of the country they live in, they should not be allowed to take it for foreign language credits (ex: a Chinese immigrant to America should not be allowed to take Chinese) amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They can't at my school.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

or if they grow up in a family that they start learning a language at the age of 4 like some hispanic families that their grandparents speak real complicated spanish because they learn the language and culture at home

by Anonymous 14 years ago

that how it works at my school. I'm Jewish so i went to Hebrew school and my Cuny college doesn't let me take Hebrew classes

by Anonymous 14 years ago

As long as they freaking speak English understandably, I don't care what they do haha :)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A Spanish class for someone who already knows Spanish can be just as hard. They grew up speaking conversational Spanish so they never got the chance to learn about the grammar and stuff of the Spanish language.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, my friend's parents came from venezuela and he grew up speaking Spanish, but he still gets B+s.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Most of the Mexican transfer students at my school went to school in Mexico, and learned the language in school, just as we know English grammar in America. So the Mexicans that have no clue of grammar in there on language probably means they are illegal.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Or it could mean they were born here and their parents just happened to be Mexican so that's how they learned Spanish.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I suppose that's another scenario that I hadn't thought of.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If you were in their place would you say the same thing? Or would you say that it isn't anyone's business what classes you take, who are they to stop you from getting an easy credit, and why don't they leave you alone?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I have a friend that can speak fluent Spanish but can't write it down or use the proper grammar like accents over letters. so sometimes taking a class on your own language can be helpful.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That is exactly why I take Spanish class! Although it does get bothersome when people start gloating when they get a higher score than me.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Some people are given opportunities to advance in a subject. Should the kids who are really good at math or art be stopped from taking said subjects just because they've mastered it? No, so kids who got the opportunity to acquire a second (maybe even a third) language shouldn't be descriminated against either.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Does it apply for other things? If my parents enrol me in a sport/athletics program when I'm 4, am I not allowed to take Gym? If I start learning how to cook and sew at age 6, am I disqualified from taking Home Ec coz it'll be an easy A for me?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

For me, that's a different concept. There are sports programs and cook books all over the place, but it'd be kind of difficult to up and learn German fluently in enough time to teach it to your kid, just so they could have an easy A in that language later on... but I do see what you mean.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah that's true. It just seems stupid to me but. Some people are going to have advantages on particular classes - I learnt how to read before I went to school, some kids were taught about World War II or whatever by relatives before taking History, some kids already know how to see before Home Ec, etc., and I don't see knowing Chinese before Chinese class as being much different.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

At my school they can't.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It's also bad because they ruin the class for others. When I took a foreign language class (2nd year level) at the local community college, literally half the students had were already fluent; some had even graduated in that country. So a big part of the class was just the professor and those students rapidly conversing. Everyone was held to those standards, even those of us who took the class to _learn_ the language.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Then that means it's time to take a stand and work on it independently, so you can at least understand the idea they want to get past. It's not your fault that you were behind the class.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It's like saying you can't study English because you already speak it....

by Anonymous 13 years ago

At my school, for some languages you can just take the AP test for the college credits that way you don't have to waste your time on a language you already speak if you don't want to.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

we all speak english (i'm assuming) and take english in school as a credit. just because you can communicate verbally, doesn't necessarily mean you have the skill to properly display your thoughts in to writing and definitely doesn't mean you'll get an easy A...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I have a hispanic friend who takes Spanish 7 because she wants to be a translator, therefore she needs to know complicated words that the ordinary person may not know.

by Anonymous 13 years ago