language courses

language courses questions and answers

More information about language courses at Education News.

Q: How can you get college credit for high school foreign language courses?
I've heard that if you have so many high school credits of foreign language you can take an exam or something and not have to take as many courses in college. I've taken three years of Spanish and two years of Latin. Does it just depend on what university you go to?

A: Three Options: 1) All colleges have you take a foreign language exam to be placed in the appropriate level language class freshman year. So study hard and maybe you can place into 201 instead of 102. 2) Take AP Spanish or Latin. Most schools give you credit if you get a 4 or 5 on the AP exam, some will give you credit for a 3. 3) check with your high school and see if it's possible for you to take Spanish at a local college. In the state where I live I was able to take college classes my senior year and it was all paid by the state. Or you could take it on your own during the summer. This way you'll just transfer the credits to your school.

Q: Where in the US can I take Turkish language courses?
I do not want to take online courses or to use cds. I am looking for a class room setting, possibly through a college or university.

A: why don't you come turkey and learn it from it's origin? if possible i strongly recommend you to come here and learn it as your native language. if you are a university student,it is better,you can learn it while you study for your lessons.In turkey especially in istanbul there are so many universities where the lectures are told in english.i 've got so many friends from USA in istanbul and they are here to learn turkish as you and plus studying in turkey is really cheap for USA residents.

Q: Where can I find accredited online language courses?
Im interested in quality courses that are affordable and where you can get a diploma.

A: www.omniglot.com

Q: What's the best online foreign language courses?
I'd like answers that include reccommendations for paid courses and free courses. Something that can teach me French and Japanese. Thanks.

A: try studyspanish.com, or rent some sort of program from the library to use on the computer. thanx for the recipe =)

Q: what is the difference between celta and other english language teaching courses?
Celta, which is run by the University of Cambridge alleges that it offers the best english language teaching course. They also allege that their job placement assistance helps get their graduates into better paying jobs... Is this true?

A: CELTA is highly respected along with Trinity. Perhaps the most respected of the TEFL Courses. But, it is expensive and in my opinion really only for people who have had at least a couple of years experience in the classroom before taking the course. I think a newbie would find it too difficult and the pressure to great. My advice? Get a more basic course and see if you like teaching then take a CELTA if you plan to continue in the business. By the way, CELTA is a course, it doesn't offer job placement. That *may* come from the school you take CELTA at.

Q: Are two and three week intensive language courses abroad worth the time and money?
I´m currently in Germany, and I´ll be here for the next month. I speak Spanish and English already. It´s my first time in Europe, and I´ve always wanted to pick up another language- german seems like a good choice. I looked up some intensive language schools and I´m interested in doing either a two or three week 4-6 hours per day program. Yet I´m curious as to whether people really learn anything during these short-term intensive couses.

A: I am an English teacher. Intensive courses exist for one reason: to make money for schools. It would be better to get a job where you can spend time with German people. You will learn much more. Also, don't expect to learn much in a month - just tourist German.

Q: How many foreign language courses are you allowed to take in college?
I'm currently in high school and I'm not quite sure how classes are selected in college. So how do you select your major, electives, and such? I really love learning languages and I hope I can take at least Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean - possibly French in the future.

A: Most college language classes are considered freshman/sophomore classes (most schools designate these as 100- and 200-level). You have to take a certain number of 300- and 400-level classes in your major. For a major in a foreign language, these higher-level classes are mostly literature, culture, etc. in the target language, although there will often be a few advanced courses in language and translation too. The difficulty with taking all those languages would be that, if you started from scratch, you'd spend so much time on 100- and 200-level classes (because you'd also have to take 100- and 200-level classes in other subjects for general requirements) that it would be hard to fulfill your major requirements. And really, you will not speak a language very well if you don't study it for at least two years (more like three for your East Asian languages unless you're already fluent in, say, Cantonese) or spend significant time immersed in it. My suggestion would be to take two languages throughout the rest of high school and hope to pass out of at least the first year of each (colleges usually offer language placement tests right before classes start). Otherwise it's going to be hard to fit so many languages in with your other requirements. It sounds like you might be interested in an Asian Studies major, which would include language as well as cultural components. And remember, college won't be your last chance to learn languages. You can always go back later and take language classes at a local college or enroll in non-academic language programs (e.g. with the Alliance Française).

Q: Where can my neighbor find adult English as a second language courses near Taunton MA ?
A neighbor recently moved here from Brazil with little English language skills. He wants to take classes to learn English. Does anyone know of Adult ESL classes in southeastern MA, or the name of an agency to assist him?

A: The Taunton Public Library offers free ESL (or ESOL) courses. http://www.tauntonlibrary.org/lit.html DAY CLASSES 508-977-9565 Cynthia Correira, Counselor - ESOL Tuesday - Thursday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 Noon EVENING CLASSES 508-821-1131 Cynthia Correira, Counselor - ESOL Monday & Wednesday 6:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. Taunton Public Library 12 Pleasant St Taunton, MA 02780 Boa sorte.

Q: Maybe a cliched question, but do Germanic language courses in college teach Old Saxon?
I know we might not have a perfect picture of how it was spoken, but is Old Saxon (aka Old Low German, NOT Anglo-Saxon) available in any courses the fine folks here are aware of? I'm very interested in learning it, but all I've been able to find so far have been lexicons. My hope is to be able to pick some of it up in higher level education. Thanks.

A: Depends on which college you go to. If you're going somewhere with a strong linguistics program, the faculty might be able to whip something up, but if it's a generic liberal arts school, it might be more difficult.

Q: For college foreign language courses, should your notes be in English or in the foreign language of the class?
For example, should your notes for a Spanish course be in Spanish or English, or a combination of both? This is an advanced Spanish Literature class.

A: It should depend on how skilled you are in the foreign language. If you are an absolute beginner, it would be worth your while to take most notes in English so that you understand what you are studying, however as you gain in skill and your vocabulary increases, it would be more beneficial to start trying to write the notes in the foreign language as much as you can so that you are using the language more often and allow it to stick in your head better.

Q: What do you think of the Teach Yourself language courses?
By Hodder and stoughton. I've tried out a few and although most of their courses contain tons of vocabulary, grammar explanations and the like, it is put across to you in the most boring way immaginable. They're mostly designed to be used as Beginners books, but they read more like an academic textbook. Your thoughts?

A: The format of the Teach Yourself series was layed down back in the 1950s, long before electronic media made audio even possible with a book. The format of the books remains the same, but technology has passed it by. The packages you can buy simply consist of the old-style book with a CD where someone reads the examples out of the book. You are better off investing in Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur.

Q: University language courses for Finnish and Swedish in the UK?
I'd like best to know a university which would do both Finnish and Swedish as languages for courses. But as they arent so popular courses if you know a university that does either one of them as courses that would be great. Ive had a look but cant seem to find any, then again i may just be useless. Please note i dont want to study just history or culture in either of those countries i mean the actual language and as seperate courses. Also i would prefer more to find one which would do Finnish as a course more than Swedish. But just if you know or can find any universities which do those languages then just dont hesitate to say. It would help alot, as i cant find any at the moment, so thanks in advance.

A: May be this site can help you http://www.sgpak.com

Q: Is it hard to take two foreign language courses at one time?
I've taken Spanish I last year, but I really want to learn German, too. So, my question is, would you find it extremely difficult to learn two languages at one time, or with some studying, could it be done? How do you know? Have you done this?

A: my 12yr old son is learning French and German at the moment, and is thinking of taking Latin next year as well! It can be done, but it depends if you enjoy languages, structure of sentences, grammar etc. The rules of language are similar (its learning the terminology), and if you have an aptitude for languages you'll be fine. Learning languages as a beginner is hard as it is a steep learning curve where you need to learn alot of new vocab first before you can get to the interesting bit of manipulating it into sentences and conversations etc. You need to be willing to put in practice and revision, certainly in the first few months to get a good grounding - it will then get easier :) Good luck!

Q: What are some good colleges that teach Japanaese language courses?
Preferably a Liberal Arts College or University....... I don't really want to study abroad either...... Also, maybe somewhere in the south, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, ect.

A: The SOuth is very limited on Japanese language study. You can try one of the UT schools. They are great and cheap too.