Foreign Language Proficiency

I am very fluent in German. I think my knowledge is equal or greater than that of almost any graduate of a typical undergraduate program in this language. How do I get credit for all of this knowledge without having to study the language again? It seems an incredible waste of time to spend 4 years-or even 1 year-studying a subject you already know.

 

CLEP offers testing, with up to 12 hours
credit for such skills. However make sure
your school will allow CLEP credit for this.

Billy

 

I see that I did not make myself very clear. Perhaps I should have posted in German. My problem is that 12 hours of FIRST YEAR GERMAN is all I can find that I can get and I already did that, with the very test you named. Thank you, but that's been done. 12 hours of first year German will get me nothing, not even a concentration or major for an AA.

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Stu

 

Stewart,

This is off the topic of your post, but I notice in your bio that you are a hospital chaplain living in Evansville, Indiana. Are you familiar with Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, which has been the source of numerous posts on this forum? If so, what is the perception of TTS in the Evansville area?

Russell

 

OK - how did you find his bio?

 

You mention in another thread that you already have a B.A. from Excelsior, so it's a bit unclear exactly what type of credit you're looking for, and for what type of degree program.


Bruce

 

US RA/ATS doctoral research skills, Peter!

Seriously, I was referring to the "profile" listed on this site.

Russell

 

12 sh should be equivalent to the first two years (4 semesters), not just one year. To go beyond this without taking courses you may need to either go with portfolio assessment or find a university that has a full fledged German department and will allow you to challenge these courses. The latter will probably only be allowed after you are an enrolled student at that school. I'm pretty sure that I remember Purdue allowing this sort of thing when I was there.

 

The Modern Language Association used to have proficiency exams, and I remember hearing from readers long ago that these attracted significant amounts of credit (like 50 or more units) from the 'big 3' (Edison, Excelsior, Charter Oak). But, I think, no more. The MLA exams, I think, reflected knowledge of both language and literature of a country.

 

Stewart, take a look at the material on the independent studies pages of Ohio University. In some circumstances they will attempt to negotiate a means of earning credit for almost any course listed in the university catalog, and they do offer a major in German.

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Bill Gossett

 

One thing to bear in mind is that any half-way decent program in German (or in any language) will not only require that you can speak the language, but that you have an understanding of the literature and linguistics related to that language.

12 semester hours would be two years at most schools (German 101, 102, 201, 202 would take four semesters and be worth 12 credits).

Tom Nixon

 

Hey, Tom!

In addition to language competency, literature and linguistics, I must add that culture, art, and history should be part of a good relevant program at the university level. In particular, in the case of a good Spanish major, all those subjects are covered. Indeed, the former GRE in Spanish tested all those subjects, not just language competency.

All the best,


Karlos Alberto Lacaye
[email protected]

 

I took the Advanced Placement test for Spanish a zillion years ago while in high school and got credit for 12 hours. I had to take one third-year course as a freshman in order to receive them. All fifteen credits were riding on the one course. You even received a grade that figured into your GPA using some rule (a graduated scale) based on the result of the one course.

 

Stewart,
you can earn up to 16 semester credits (12 lower level and 4 upper level) through the New York University’s Proficiency Testing in Foreign Languages. If your German is quite good, the 3-hour exam is a piece of cake, and it would cost you only $290. You can find all the information at: www.scps.nyu.edu/dyncon/acfl/gene_fore_prof.html
I earned 32 credits this way (testing for Italian and Portuguese). Highly recommended. Good luck,
Giancarlo