Foreign Language Proficiency Exam

cookderosa · #11 (**permalink**) 08-01-2008, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reshab912

Dear Jeniffer,
someone in the other post has stated that Excelsior is accepting both CLEP and ACTPL without duplication ( FRENCH) . because CLEP is written and listening whereas ACTPL is speaking. and he have done that. even he had also posted the email from course adviser from Excelsior.

But as the languages in which i want to do ( Hindi and Punjabi) is not in CLEP , but in NYU ( which is written , listening and translation) (not ACE approved) (also NYU doesn't give credit's themselves.. accepting colleges should) and ACTPL ( speaking ) ( ACE approved) so am curious what's their policy on these two exams.

Thanks and Hope I made myself clear.
Reshab

Reshab,
Take one and get it evaluated when you pay your $75 application fee.
Honestly, I don't believe that someone got duplicate credit. Sorry, I just don't believe that it's possible- no matter what the test asked. There has to be more to the story that is missing. Also, don't take an exam that IS NOT ACE evaluated until you are enrolled, that could be a mistake. You need that confirmed by an advisor. Just take the test that is ACE evaluated for now.

Regarding where credits fall-
Bilingual ability is VERY ATTRACTIVE to any number of employers- wear those credits as a badge of honor.

ali4nia · #12 (**permalink**) 08-01-2008, 09:22 PM

I never said they are going to ask you personally but certain jobs and definitely grad schools, when they look at your transcript they basically wanna know what you have been studying and general edu credits are more important than free electives, it shows basically what type of general education you have beside your major, I m sure somebody who has 20/30 credits in Punjabi is not considered the same as somebody with a broad range of knowledge. common sense 101

and psy 101 and sociology are very useful in almost every field.

cookderosa · #13 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ali4nia

I never said they are going to ask you personally but certain jobs and definitely grad schools, when they look at your transcript they basically wanna know what you have been studying and general edu credits are more important than free electives, it shows basically what type of general education you have beside your major, I m sure somebody who has 20/30 credits in Punjabi is not considered the same as somebody with a broad range of knowledge. common sense 101

and psy 101 and sociology are very useful in almost every field.

>>

I mean this in a kind and respectful way, but why do you believe that to be true?

ali4nia · #14 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 12:52 AM

because I dont believe in your ''who cares?'' theory

I think we live in a very competitive era, employers, schools every thing.. once the transcript is requested, consider this :they DO care!! so you better build your degree right from day 1 ! myself I speak 3 other languages beside English, I only decided to take 12cr from Clep french and move on with other subjects,I can always mention my language skills on my Resume

picture this :
--well tell me about yourself
--I m Mr X I graduated from college/university X regionally accredited located in state X in United States of America!
--Ah very impressive so lets look at your transcript, umm..general education I see mostly Punjabi, arabic,Hindi etc..

dont you see any thing wrong here?? I would be like WTF ??

hope you get my point !

BrandeX · #15 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 03:56 AM

I also wanna throw a question out there regarding this, considering the posters unique case. He is apparently Indian (based on the name) and will be taking the proficiency tests in his native languges. Is this eligible for credit? I seen on one of the websites (NYU i think) that you can also do this test for English for non-native speakers. Surely a native speaker of english couldn't do this exam and get university credit for it, so how about people that learned these other testable languages natively? Now... the reason why I care, is because my wife is also working on her bachelors degree, and she is Chinese, and speaks/reads natively Cantonese and Mandarin. English is her third language. If she were to take these proficieny tests, like Mr. Reshab, is she eligible for credits, would you think, in her 2 native languages - or only if she took the English proficieny test? It would be a heck of a lot of credits if she could take this proficiency exams based on her native languages for credit, probably enough for her to finish undergrad since she is already 3+ years in to Uni.

april004 · #16 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ali4nia

because I dont believe in your ''who cares?'' theory

I think we live in a very competitive era, employers, schools every thing.. once the transcript is requested, consider this :they DO care!! so you better build your degree right from day 1 ! myself I speak 3 other languages beside English, I only decided to take 12cr from Clep french and move on with other subjects,I can always mention my language skills on my Resume

picture this :
--well tell me about yourself
--I m Mr X I graduated from college/university X regionally accredited located in state X in United States of America!
--Ah very impressive so lets look at your transcript, umm..general education I see mostly Punjabi, arabic,Hindi etc..

dont you see any thing wrong here?? I would be like WTF ??

hope you get my point !

I' m sure somebody who has 20/30 credits in Punjabi is not considered the same as somebody with a broad range of knowledge. common sense 101

and psy 101 and sociology are very useful in almost every field

Actually Hindi, Punjabi could be a great asset since India is the second most populous country on earth and may beat out China population wise in the future. It may be even more important later. As far as arabic....there aren't enough people who can speak the language here in the states and in this day and age a very valuable skill. One of my friends is in the Army at the language school in Monterey and currently studying Arabic. From what he's told me- a lot of people fail the course.

A badly needed skill that I think is unwise of you to just write off.

Another friend of mine took Chinese through the Army language school as well. No degree and makes a great living working in Hong Kong.

Did I mention she beat out people with degrees for her current position? That's right - she came armed with no degree and just the ability to speak Chinese.

I guess those people that employ her didn't care about her lack of psych and sociology 101. In this global economy being bilingual/trilingual etc. will become more important. I would think you who mentioned speaking 3 languages would at least understand that.

And I'm not just talking about taking in for a few years and passing all the requirements. We all know plenty of people who are college educated took a foreign language, passed and unable to handle a basic conversation. Passing is much different than proficiency. Just like all those people who took psych 101 and sociology 101. Passing those courses makes no one an expert in the way people think/interact with others. Trust me. I work at a health care facility with an abundance of social workers/ Counselors with degrees majoring in psychology. I can also say having a degree in the subject isn't a guarantee that they know either. It just got their foot in the door.

A good friend of mine works Human resources. They could care less about what's on the transcript. How many human resource managers actually do that anyways? I doubt many do. All they want to know is proof one has the degree. I don't think they are going to really care about all the courses one took to obtain it.

cookderosa · #17 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ali4nia

because I dont believe in your ''who cares?'' theory

I think we live in a very competitive era, employers, schools every thing.. once the transcript is requested, consider this :they DO care!! so you better build your degree right from day 1 ! myself I speak 3 other languages beside English, I only decided to take 12cr from Clep french and move on with other subjects,I can always mention my language skills on my Resume

picture this :
--well tell me about yourself
--I m Mr X I graduated from college/university X regionally accredited located in state X in United States of America!
--Ah very impressive so lets look at your transcript, umm..general education I see mostly Punjabi, arabic,Hindi etc..

dont you see any thing wrong here?? I would be like WTF ??

hope you get my point !

I wasn't rude to you, but I know, that's your style.

If you believe that someone on this planet will ever in your lifetime ask you what your GENERAL EDUCATION ELECTIVES were from an undergraduate degree.....um.....ok...you should always go with what you believe will serve you the best.

cookderosa · #18 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by april004

Actually Hindi, Punjabi could be a great asset since India is the second most populous country on earth and may beat out China population wise in the future. It may be even more important later. As far as arabic....there aren't enough people who can speak the language here in the states and in this day and age a very valuable skill. One of my friends is in the Army at the language school in Monterey and currently studying Arabic. From what he's told me- a lot of people fail the course.

A badly needed skill that I think is unwise of you to just write off.

Another friend of mine took Chinese through the Army language school as well. No degree and makes a great living working in Hong Kong.

Did I mention she beat out people with degrees for her current position? That's right - she came armed with no degree and just the ability to speak Chinese.

I guess those people that employ her didn't care about her lack of psych and sociology 101. In this global economy being bilingual/trilingual etc. will become more important. I would think you who mentioned speaking 3 languages would at least understand that.

And I'm not just talking about taking in for a few years and passing all the requirements. We all know plenty of people who are college educated took a foreign language, passed and unable to handle a basic conversation. Passing is much different than proficiency. Just like all those people who took psych 101 and sociology 101. Passing those courses makes no one an expert in the way people think/interact with others. Trust me. I work at a health care facility with an abundance of social workers/ Counselors with degrees majoring in psychology. I can also say having a degree in the subject isn't a guarantee that they know either. It just got their foot in the door.

A good friend of mine works Human resources. They could care less about what's on the transcript. How many human resource managers actually do that anyways? I doubt many do. All they want to know is proof one has the degree. I don't think they are going to really care about all the courses one took to obtain it.

Langauges, especially those that the USA puts on the list (what's it called....."highly needed" or something? I'll look it up) are worth a lot more than a PSYCH101 CLEP exam.
It doesn't matter if you are a native speaker, because the exam is in English.
We do let our native speakers take an English test/class (English Comp!) but we test them in English of English. In this case, the exam is in English of Hindi, etc.

cookderosa · #19 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 10:26 AM

Ok, this is fun.

Look at the highlighted box on the bottom left....

United States Secret Service

Epiphany · #20 (**permalink**) 08-02-2008, 11:35 AM

Not that any of this has any bearing on the question asked originally....

but...

I would say knowing a language such as Hindi, Arabic, Cantonese etc could serve someone very well. You should leverage that skill as much as you can. I don't think it matters if that language skill is documented in a college degree, or in some other manner.

As to whether or not you should use those tests/credits instead of more general credits. I don't think that having Pottery 101 or Sociology 100 on a transcript will get you your dream job or help you compete any more successfully. The only exception could be if you needed Pottery 101 to get into an upper level course, like Theories of Pottery Management 300.

Want to use that language skill for credit? Go for it. Want to take a more general exam? Go for it. No difference in utility.

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