ACTFL OPI Exam TESU Problems

[purpleflowers]

I am having trouble with the ACTFL OPI exam in general, and specifically at TESU. 

Long story short, though listed on my ACE transcript (through the old system), TESU will not accept the test for credit because Norwegian is not listed as a language on the National Guide. 

I didn't even think to check there before I took the exam, because the literature I was reviewing through ACTFL and ITL (the actual testing provider) made it seem that ALL languages are approved. I rushed to take this exam in June before their ACE approval was stated to go out, and was in contact with their offices by email regarding ACE credit. 

I literally only need 6 upper level credits for my BALS at TESU (plus the capstone), so this messes everything up. My other UL credits are TEEX death investigation, a course through university extension, and the old Institutes ethics course. 

I was not satisfied with the customer service at ITL to begin with, it took ages to get them to mail my certificate to TESU. Now I'm soured on the whole experience. I could probably polish up my Swedish skills enough to pass that exam (Norwegian and Swedish are mutually intelligible), but it looks like the ACE recommendation expired on June 30, 2020. 




Does anyone have any advice for me? Is there someone I can complain/appeal to?

[rachel83az]

If it's not in the guide, and the recommendation for Swedish has expired, there's not much you can do.

It would cost more than another ACTFL test but probably be faster/easier to just do 2 UL courses at SDC. Coopersmith is another possibility.

[innen_oda]

Just had a look at the 'approved languages' list: a remarkably eclectic selection! I'm thrilled to see they've included Szerbian, Georgian, Albanian and Hungarian, but no Macedonian, Danish or Norwegian.

And lol at them grouping Croatian and Szerbian together, but Bosnian gets its own category. Wow. XD
Wars have been started in these parts for far far less.

Here's the present list, for anyone wondering:

Afrikaans, Akan-Twi, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chavacano, Czech, Dari, Dutch, English, French, Ga, Georgian, German, Greek, (Modern), Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Hmong-Mong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kikongo-Kongo, Korean, Krio, Kurdish, Lao, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Mandingo-Bambara, Nepali, Pashto, Persian-Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tausug, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Wu and Yoruba

[dfrecore]

I might contact ACE and ask about the guide and ask specifically if the languages listed are the ONLY ones covered, or are there additional languages that are worth college credit. They may have just listed SOME languages but not all?

[rachel83az]

That's definitely a weird way to group them. For those who aren't aware, Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian are all pretty much the same language. The biggest difference is that Serbian (usually) uses the Cyrillic alphabet while Bosnian and Croatian are written in the Latin alphabet. It'd almost be like grouping American and Australian English together and saying that British English is a different language.

[innen_oda]

That's definitely a weird way to group them. For those who aren't aware, Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian are all pretty much the same language. The biggest difference is that Serbian (usually) uses the Cyrillic alphabet while Bosnian and Croatian are written in the Latin alphabet. It'd almost be like grouping American and Australian English together and saying that British English is a different language.

This was exactly my thought (right down to the UK/US/Aus analogy)! I speak and understand just enough Serbian to get by (barely), and I can parse Bosnian, Montenegran and Croatian in much the same manner (i.e. just enough to embarrass myself), because they're barely different. You could chuck a national of each of the four together in a room and they'd have zero issues communicating. The distinction between the four is genuinely political. So awkward, ACTFL.

[purpleflowers]

Just had a look at the 'approved languages' list: a remarkably eclectic selection! I'm thrilled to see they've included Szerbian, Georgian, Albanian and Hungarian, but no Macedonian, Danish or Norwegian.

And lol at them grouping Croatian and Szerbian together, but Bosnian gets its own category. Wow. XD
Wars have been started in these parts for far far less.

Here's the present list, for anyone wondering:

Afrikaans, Akan-Twi, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chavacano, Czech, Dari, Dutch, English, French, Ga, Georgian, German, Greek, (Modern), Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Hmong-Mong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kikongo-Kongo, Korean, Krio, Kurdish, Lao, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Mandingo-Bambara, Nepali, Pashto, Persian-Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tausug, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Wu and Yoruba

I went a little crazy last night and compared the lists from ACE and ACTFL. Languages not listed on both lists are in bold. Surprisingly, Danish isn’t even a language offered for testing at all 


From ACTFL, currently offered-
Afrikaans, Akan-Twi, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chavacano, Czech, Dari, Dutch, Egyptian, English, French, Georgian, German, Greek (Modern), Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong/Mong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Iraqi, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kazakh, Kashmiri, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Levantine, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marshallese, Nepali, Norwegian, Pashto, Persian Farsi, Polish, Portuguese Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian Croatian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tausug, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Wu and Yoruba.


ACE National Guide list:

Afrikaans, Akan-Twi, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Cebuano, Chavacano, Czech, Dari, Dutch, English, French, Ga, Georgian, German, Greek, (Modern), Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Hmong-Mong, Hungarian, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kikongo-Kongo, Korean, Krio, Kurdish, Lao, Malay, Malayalam, Mandarin, Mandingo-Bambara, Nepali, Pashto, Persian-Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tausug, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Wolof, Wu and Yoruba.

---

I might contact ACE and ask about the guide and ask specifically if the languages listed are the ONLY ones covered, or are there additional languages that are worth college credit.  They may have just listed SOME languages but not all?

I have contacted ACE now, am waiting for reply. I also asked about credit being extended until 2023 as per the ACTFL website. I might have to become fluent in Swedish soon. 

---

That's definitely a weird way to group them. For those who aren't aware, Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian are all pretty much the same language. The biggest difference is that Serbian (usually) uses the Cyrillic alphabet while Bosnian and Croatian are written in the Latin alphabet. It'd almost be like grouping American and Australian English together and saying that British English is a different language.

This was exactly my thought (right down to the UK/US/Aus analogy)! I speak and understand just enough Serbian to get by (barely), and I can parse Bosnian, Montenegran and Croatian in much the same manner (i.e. just enough to embarrass myself), because they're barely different. You could chuck a national of each of the four together in a room and they'd have zero issues communicating. The distinction between the four is genuinely political. So awkward, ACTFL.

As my partner says about the Swedish/Norwegian/Danish divide, a language is a dialect with its own king and army.