NY Board of Regents Gets Rid of January Regent and Language Regents

[checkmatechamp13]

I've heard from all of my teachers that the Regents Board has gotten rid of the January Regents and language Regents, but here is a source that can be verified:

 

http://insideschools.org/blog/2011/05/26/poll-thumbs-up-or-down-on-changes-in-regents-exams/

 

My opinion is that this is a terrible idea. For starters, many of the people who take the January Regents are students who failed the June and/or August Regents. Any money saved by eliminating the January Regents will immediately be lost when you have a bunch of children repeating classes because they couldn't get the Regents credit.

 

For an Advanced Regents Diploma, you are required to take a Language Regents (French, Spanish, or Italian). However, they plan to get rid of those entirely, and they will most likely replace that requirement with something else (I heard it would be another science Regent).

 

I don't think I will be affected because I'm not likely to fail any of my Regents. I am also a year ahead in Italian, so I'm taking the Regent this year (I already got a perfect score on the speaking part). I may have to take an additional science Regent, since I'm not sure if I'll be grandfathered into the old requirements, but I'll be taking another one anyway since it is part of my program's requirements.

 

I think that it is a terrible idea to get rid of the language Regents. Students won't have the opportunity to show off their language skills to colleges (I'm 99% sure that they can still take language classes though).

 

I came up with other ways that will save much more money and provide more benefits than this plan:

 

Allow students in elementary/middle school to take tests that will allow them to bypass grades: I remember being in elementary school and being bored with almost all of the subjects, since I was a smart child who liked to read about those topics, especially science.

 

Allow students in high school to take tests to bypass certain classes: This year and last year, I was sitting in my math and science classes, bored as anything. In addition, I felt that I was proficient in Italian to take the Regents last year, but my teacher informed me that, even if I passed the test, I would still have to sit through the class for another year (even though it ended in that same Regents). If enough classes are bypassed, the student could graduate and go into the workforce a full year earlier, paying taxes instead of using taxpayer services they don't want or need.

[Joel Up Front]

And not everyone that takes the January Regents is a failure. Some people might have missed the June one, for example. I'm just glad I'm done with high school.

[IRT Bronx Express]

I'm just glad I'm done with high school.

Seconded.

 

*passed 6 exams*

[Nova RTS 9147]

And not everyone that takes the January Regents is a failure. Some people might have missed the June one, for example. I'm just glad I'm done with high school.

 

It goes even deeper than that. There's generally three reasons why you take a January regents

 

-You screwed up in last year's June regents and you need a second chance

-Some regents are taken in January, as opposed to June or August (if they still offer that), like some AP regents.

-You're ahead of the pact and get to take it early for whatever reason.

 

Some students also take in January if they can't make it in June or August because of illness, scheduling conflicts with other exams, "acts of god," ect.

 

These decisions are going to have some negative repercussions for students, and punishes the kids that do well.

[YankeesPwnMets]

I don't agree with the January regents because they really do help the kids, but for the foreign language regents, I could care less.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

It's funny that only one person so far has spoken out against doing away with the language regents. I remember back in my college days when I was a Spanish & Italian tutor on the side, how many of my college peers would b*tch to me about how they hated taking Spanish and how they didn't see why they needed it, as most of them would become teachers in areas that had nothing to do with Spanish. Whoever came up with the decision to do away with the language regents is a really clueless as to what is going on in the world. The attitude is that knowing other languages is not necessary in this country because everyone speaks English, despite the fact that the world outside of the United States is becomes increasingly globalized, as is the U.S. For some reason, folks here feel threatened by other languages instead of realizing that languages can open doors to other cultures or perhaps even enhance your salary depending on where you work at.

 

For example, at some point in my career I had considered becoming a linguist for the U.S. military because they pay you something like an additional $600.00 a month for each language that you speak in addition to English on top of your salary for whatever position you have and right now seeing that we're in a few wars, they are probably paying even more because I know for sure that they need linguists, so you could easily double your salary right there.

[SoSpectacular]

I'm glad I got my 94 on my Spanish Regents

 

Easy as pie!

[Joel Up Front]

95 on my French Regents... but my teacher could speak Italian better, considering she was Italian herself, she did go to college in Lyon for a few years. She even showed us her college ID to prove it.

[checkmatechamp13]

It's funny that only one person so far has spoken out against doing away with the language regents. I remember back in my college days when I was a Spanish & Italian tutor on the side, how many of my college peers would b*tch to me about how they hated taking Spanish and how they didn't see why they needed it, as most of them would become teachers in areas that had nothing to do with Spanish. Whoever came up with the decision to do away with the language regents is a really clueless as to what is going on in the world. The attitude is that knowing other languages is not necessary in this country because everyone speaks English, despite the fact that the world outside of the United States is becomes increasingly globalized, as is the U.S. For some reason, folks here feel threatened by other languages instead of realizing that languages can open doors to other cultures or perhaps even enhance your salary depending on where you work at.

 

For example, at some point in my career I had considered becoming a linguist for the U.S. military because they pay you an something like an additional $600.00 a month for each language that you speak in addition to English on top of your salary for whatever position you have and right now seeing that we're in a few wars, they are probably paying even more because I know for sure that they need linguists, so you could easily double your salary right there.

 

Agreed 100%. Plus, even in the U.S, not everybody speaks English, so even then it is important to learn other languages.

 

Almost every career can involve language in one way or another. If you are a policeman or fireman, you may need to communicate with people in an emergency that may not speak English. Even if you are a teacher, you may get students who don't speak English (though most of them might be in ESL). Even if the students do speak English, they may be more comfortable talking to you in their native tongue (say you wanted to discuss something after class), and they can relate to you more if you speak their language.

 

I'm glad I got my 94 on my Spanish Regents

 

Easy as pie!

 

That's good. I think I'll do pretty well on my Italian Regents. I got a 24/24 on the speaking part, and the remaining 76 points I'll take in about 2 weeks. The practice tests we took in class seemed relatively easy (the passage is long and there were a decent number of words that we haven't reviewed, but it was still possible to figure out the answers).

 

For me, the only disadvantage of getting rid of the January Regents was that I lost a week off from school. B)

 

By the way, I got an 87 on the Geometry Regents and an 88 on the Algebra Regents (I heard that it was only 1 or 2 questions, but they scale it so that it takes off a lot of points). Unfortunately, in order to get an Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors, you need to get a 90 on all Regents. I asked if I could retake them to get a higher score, but the guidance counselor said that, because of the budget cuts, I couldn't do it (how much does it really cost to print out an extra exam? :mad: )

[IRT Bronx Express]

I'm glad I got my 94 on my Spanish Regents B)

 

Easy as pie!

99 for me. Yet I didn't take Spanish 2, 5, and 6 at all because I immediately took AP Spanish. :tup:

[SoSpectacular]

Lol very good!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Agreed 100%. Plus, even in the U.S, not everybody speaks English, so even then it is important to learn other languages.

 

Almost every career can involve language in one way or another. If you are a policeman or fireman, you may need to communicate with people in an emergency that may not speak English. Even if you are a teacher, you may get students who don't speak English (though most of them might be in ESL). Even if the students do speak English, they may be more comfortable talking to you in their native tongue (say you wanted to discuss something after class), and they can relate to you more if you speak their language.

 

 

Exactly... I originally started my career in the construction industry and we would often get invoices and such from companies in Italy that I would be asked to translate because even though we had Italians from Italy in the office, English wasn't their first language, so I would translate those and other short documents for them. Here where I work now, it amazes me that Spanish speakers will call and give me the business to translate their documents because the other smaller translation agencies here in NYC don't have Spanish speakers in their offices, so I get tons of Italian and Spanish projects to run for that reason. They figure that I have to run the projects good because I'm Italian and speak Italian, but also speak Spanish. lol

 

 

In my college here in the States, the language dept. was hit hard by budget cuts and I always got pissed because I couldn't take Latin because of that and they cut back on German classes too, so they only offered it every other semester which conflicted with my schedule. :mad:

 

In short, the U.S. should really re-think its stance on languages. It has nothing to do with catering to others either. The more we realize that a world exists outside of the U.S. the better off the U.S. will be. We are falling behind in math, science and languages and other countries are accelerating ahead of us in education meaning shortages in these fields in the future when we can ill afford them.

[Amtrak7]

Compare last year's August schedule with this upcoming August's. Look at all the reductions! And it will be even more shocking when we see June (which was drastically rewritten this year anyway).

 

Schools will just make final exams for the subjects without Regents, which are usually easier than the finals anyway. Don't forget that for the vast majority of us who take it in June, we'll lose a lot of practice tests!

 

This is what I've taken so far: Algebra I (100), Earth Science (99), Geometry (97), Living Environment (98)

[checkmatechamp13]

99 for me. Yet I didn't take Spanish 2, 5, and 6 at all because I immediately took AP Spanish. :tup:

 

Congratulations! Or should I say, felicidades!

 

I wish my school would let me go right into AP Spanish (or Italian) and bypass the earlier classes.

[checkmatechamp13]

Exactly... I originally started my career in the construction industry and we would often get invoices and such from companies in Italy that I would be asked to translate because even though we had Italians from Italy in the office, English wasn't their first language, so I would translate those and other short documents for them. Here where I work now, it amazes me that Spanish speakers will call and give me the business to translate their documents because the other smaller translation agencies here in NYC don't have Spanish speakers in their offices, so I get tons of Italian and Spanish projects to run for that reason. They figure that I have to run the projects good because I'm Italian and speak Italian, but also speak Spanish. lol

 

I would think that, since Spanish is the second most common language in NYC, there would be many Spanish-English translators available. Or maybe because there are so many Spanish speakers, the demand for translators is more than the supply.

 

That might also be a good career choice for me, since I assume that means that companies will pay a premium to a Spanish translator.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I would think that, since Spanish is the second most common language in NYC, there would be many Spanish-English translators available. Or maybe because there are so many Spanish speakers, the demand for translators is more than the supply.

 

That might also be a good career choice for me, since I assume that means that companies will pay a premium to a Spanish translator.

 

Sorry, you misunderstood me. While I have translation experience, I'm a project manager, and not a translator per se, although I am a linguist and do translate from time to time when necessary. My main function is to oversee the translation projects and make sure that they are done according to the client's specifications and interact with the clients from start to finish. That means that if for example I get the translation back and see that something is translated incorrectly or looks weird, I'll get involved and tell the translator what needs to be fixed and so forth, or if I know what the problem is I'll just go and correct it myself and point it out to the translator. Last week for example, I had a 10 language project to deal with and the English version had several typos in it. I had to stop the entire project and go back to the client and ask them what they were trying to say. Then there was an issue about whether the word "credit" was referring to a "refund" or an actual store credit based on the context of the sentence, so I had to have several translators revise their translations after I spoke with them directly or have my editors make changes.

 

I sort of guide the translators and answer questions that clients may have about the translations. Sometimes they may ask me cultural questions about whether or not certain things can be said or used and I'll have to explain everything to them.

 

Now there are some projects where I really get involved if I see that the translator is just not getting it and I may translate pieces of it myself and then I'll consult with the translator and or editor about what I'm looking for and then we'll go from there. It becomes tricky sometimes because you have little text to deal with or no background.

 

As far as Spanish translators go, there are tons of them, but there is fierce competition, so you really need to specialize in a lot of different fields if you want to command a high salary and since there a lot of them, that drives down the prices since Spanish is pretty common in general. There is one Spanish translator though that I work with a ton so she earns pretty well.

 

That's not to say that you can't earn well though. You can earn very nicely if for example you work in the courts as a court certified interpreter or like those ASL interpreters on TV. They are in high demand and command a high salary for their work. :cool:

[checkmatechamp13]

But if there are a lot of Spanish translators, how come a lot of the smaller companies don't have them?

 

And what do you mean by "specialize in different fields"? Give an example. Do you mean experience translating for courts as well as translating for, say a TV network?

[Forest Glen]

Schools will just make final exams for the subjects without Regents, which are usually easier than the finals anyway. Don't forget that for the vast majority of us who take it in June, we'll lose a lot of practice tests!

 

There was a math class in which my final score was an 80. I got a 94 on the Regents. Regents are generally easier than regular classes (Physics is the exception) since you have access to study guides.

[SevenEleven]

There was a math class in which my final score was an 80. I got a 94 on the Regents. Regents are generally easier than regular classes (Physics is the exception) since you have access to study guides.

 

I wouldn't say that's the case for all the classes. The hardest Regents I had to take was Chemistry, Physics and Trig. I did just fine in the classes itself.

 

As for this doing away of Regents, I disagree with it because its just making it easier for everyone to find shortcuts for an easy graduation. If I had to deal with the 2 day English Regents and the Spanish Regents for an Advanced Regents diploma, I think that everyone should have to... or have a good equivalent for it.

[Amtrak7]

As for this doing away of Regents, I disagree with it because its just making it easier for everyone to find shortcuts for an easy graduation. If I had to deal with the 2 day English Regents and the Spanish Regents for an Advanced Regents diploma, I think that everyone should have to... or have a good equivalent for it.

 

The conversion from a 2 to 1 day English Regents wasn't to save money. It was to reduce problems like the one that occurred a few years back involving schools closed for weather.

[checkmatechamp13]

There was a math class in which my final score was an 80. I got a 94 on the Regents. Regents are generally easier than regular classes (Physics is the exception) since you have access to study guides.

 

I don't see the point in wasting money for those study guides, since I do just fine in the classes. For example, in my Algebra II/Trigonometry class, the teacher insisted that we pay $9 for a review book, but I figured that, since the important part was the Regents from previous Regents, I would just print them out (using the school's ink and paper of course :cool: )

 

I agree that the Regents are pretty easy. The thing is that they make it hard to get a high score. My Biology teacher (who is now my Chemistry teacher) told me that I got a single short-answer question wrong, and it cost me 7 points (I got a 93). She says they scale it so that most of the scores are between 65 and 85 (or something like that).

 

On the Algebra and Geometry Regents, the same thing must've happened, because I got an 88 and 87.

 

Right now, I'm struggling to stay awake in my Chemistry class, and I haven't been copying notes since March, and yet I'm still getting 100+ on all the tests, so I should do fine on the Regents. :cool:

[Via Garibaldi 8]

But if there are a lot of Spanish translators, how come a lot of the smaller companies don't have them?

 

And what do you mean by "specialize in different fields"? Give an example. Do you mean experience translating for courts as well as translating for, say a TV network?

 

You misunderstood me. I was referring to the project managers... The smaller companies to my surprise don't have tons of Spanish speakers in the office. That can be because sometimes a small translation agency will open and say the owner is from Sweden. The owner will target Swedish companies that need translation services because there's that connection there from the old country and the assumption that the Swedish companies will be taken care of. Now of course the agency may do other languages, but their primary focus may be on Scandinavian languages, so no one there will speak Spanish, especially if it is a small office.

 

Now I work for a European company and since the company has strong European ties, we tend to get a lot of business from Italian, French, German and Spanish companies from Spain because we have a strong presence in those countries internationally in comparison to say Japan.

 

By specialization I was referring to specific fields. For example, there you see the interpreters that work in the United Nations. They specialize in various fields, but the U.N. is very anal about what sort of vocabulary they want the translators and interpreters to use there.

 

Now Japanese translators that specialize in things like patents earn very well because the Japanese create a lot of patents, so there are ton of those to translate and they are very technical, so they command a high fee for their services, plus there aren't tons of Japanese translators, so that makes me "rare" thus allowing them to charge even more. :cool:

[Amtrak7]

I don't see the point in wasting money for those study guides, since I do just fine in the classes. For example, in my Algebra II/Trigonometry class, the teacher insisted that we pay $9 for a review book, but I figured that, since the important part was the Regents from previous Regents, I would just print them out (using the school's ink and paper of course :cool: )

 

Last year we had to pay $3. This year we paid nothing and were told to hand back the book at the end. Now we are told that we can keep them. The review book is really 100% old tests for everything except math. Since you and I are both in A2/Trig, I assume you are talking about that green book. There are 3 tests that are not former Regents that are in there and you can't get those anywhere else. As for paper and ink, our school buys all the paper in September so we run out at this time of year. Last year my non-Regents finals were all printed on colored paper. This year isn't so bad but it's still a problem.

 

I'm even surprised that the tests are not copyrighted and can be redistributed FOR PROFIT freely.

[checkmatechamp13]

You misunderstood me. I was referring to the project managers... The smaller companies to my surprise don't have tons of Spanish speakers in the office. That can be because sometimes a small translation agency will open and say the owner is from Sweden. The owner will target Swedish companies that need translation services because there's that connection there from the old country and the assumption that the Swedish companies will be taken care of. Now of course the agency may do other languages, but their primary focus may be on Scandinavian languages, so no one there will speak Spanish, especially if it is a small office.

 

Now I work for a European company and since the company has strong European ties, we tend to get a lot of business from Italian, French, German and Spanish companies from Spain because we have a strong presence in those countries internationally in comparison to say Japan.

 

By specialization I was referring to specific fields. For example, there you see the interpreters that work in the United Nations. They specialize in various fields, but the U.N. is very anal about what sort of vocabulary they want the translators and interpreters to use there.

 

Now Japanese translators that specialize in things like patents earn very well because the Japanese create a lot of patents, so there are ton of those to translate and they are very technical, so they command a high fee for their services, plus there aren't tons of Japanese translators, so that makes me "rare" thus allowing them to charge even more. :cool:

 

I see what you're saying now.

 

I've always imagined that the U.N standards would be very strict, since you're dealing with translations that affect entire countries, so using, say a slang interpretation could be detrimental. I would imagine the standards are strict for court translators as well.

 

Last year we had to pay $3. This year we paid nothing and were told to hand back the book at the end. Now we are told that we can keep them. The review book is really 100% old tests for everything except math. Since you and I are both in A2/Trig, I assume you are talking about that green book. There are 3 tests that are not former Regents that are in there and you can't get those anywhere else. As for paper and ink, our school buys all the paper in September so we run out at this time of year. Last year my non-Regents finals were all printed on colored paper. This year isn't so bad but it's still a problem.

 

I'm even surprised that the tests are not copyrighted and can be redistributed FOR PROFIT freely.

 

I know which green book you are talking about, but it was the Barron's Regents Review Book that she wanted us to get. For some reason, when she gave the class the option of the green book for $3 or the Barron's Book for $9, the class chose the Barron's Book.

 

I guess it worked out better for me because I was able to get the Barron's Book from the library (I don't think the green books are available in public libaries). When the teacher saw that it wasn't the latest edition, all I had to do was print out the extra tests from the school computer.

 

In my middle school, we had that problem of a paper shortage, where many of our tests were printed on color paper (I don't get it. Isn't colored paper more expensive?). In my high school, our teachers skimp on things like copies, so I don't think we've had a paper shortage yet.

[LRG]

Lol...regents...I'm glad I don't have to deal with them anymore. I had to take the Math B Regents (which they don't offer anymore along with Math A) four times before I got a passing grade for the Advanced Regents Diploma.

 

As for the language regents I took Latin in high school meaning I had to take the Latin regents. I got a 79 on it. I'm more intrigued by the fact that I had Latin in high school whereas most schools would never carry such a language cuz it's...dead.