College with or without a foreign language

deisemum

I hope this is ok to post here but I'm looking for teachers opinions.

My son is going into 2nd year in secondary and did french in 1st year as it was a choice subject. He's not too keen on it but then again did enough to get by. He just moans that he doesn't like it.

His father is telling him that if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to do it for Leaving Cert. I tell them that as far as I know you need a foreign language to get into most college courses and that he should stick with it as it will give him more choices.

My question is do you need a foreign language for most colleges or not?

sitstill

As far as I recall, for the NUI colleges you need English, Maths, Irish plus a foreign language. For Trinity you need English, Maths and a language, which can just be Irish. I'm not sure about the smaller colleges.

niall3r

you still need a foreign language to get into university courses, though not for IT's. He will have alot more choices if he keeps it, and second year is very early to narrow options like that.

Fair play for being so involved and interested. Kids with a strong support from home tend to do alot better academically than those from families who are disinterested.

pathway33

Go to www.qualifax.ie and click on
‘students’
‘useful tools’ and
‘minimum subject requirements’
You will find that there are 810 courses in the country that do not require French. However there are also over 300 that may require French.
If he can find 20 courses out of the 810 to put on his cao in 4 years then he should drop French. If he is unsure what he wants to do in college then he should keep French in order to keep all options open.
Bear in mind though that entry requirements can change and courses that do not require French now may do so in 4 years or vice versa

gaeilgebeo

You do need a foreign language now for a lot of 3rd level colleges. Why narrow his options? Tell him to stick at it...

pathway33

sitstill wrote: »

As far as I recall, for the NUI colleges you need English, Maths, Irish plus a foreign language.

That's what I thought too but it seems from the UCD entry requirements https://myucd.ucd.ie/admission/entry_ug.ezc that quite a few courses in UCD do not require a third language.

Is this a recent change?

deisemum

Thanks for all the prompt replies.

He doesn't know what he wants to do yet even though he says he wants to be a pilot but I cannot see that happening or something in the science field which are his strongest subjects.

I just want him to be able to keep his options open and not limit his choices. Even if he goes to college without requiring a foreign language who's to say he might not change his mind in college or change careers later on in life.

He's a bright child and in the top classes so far and kept on top of his work in first year but could have put in a bit more effort, he knows he will not be allowed coast through 2nd year and will end up attending the schools supervised study if he doesn't apply himself.

We're not pushy parents but we don't want him dossing through secondary school wasting our, his and his teachers time and that if he applies himself over the next few years it will give him more choices later on in life.

Thing is we've got a lovely native French woman next door who's offered to help him with the oral side of it.

pathway33

deisemum wrote: »

we've got a lovely native French woman next door who's offered to help him with the oral side of it.

well he'd be a fool to turn down an offer like that

freire

pathway33 wrote: »

well he'd be a fool to turn down an offer like that

Just couln't resist eh?!

Tell your son to keep up the French. A lot of kids don't like it.

Because it's difficult.

At first.

The more he learns the easier it gets. The basics are the hardest to grasp, then with a good grounding it does usually get more enjoyable and therefore easier.

I think a language increases opportunites more than most people realise.