This is a presentation for students who are speakers of
languages other than English on how to fulfill the Hawaiian/Second Language (HSL)
Requirement for the Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts at Kapi`olani
Community College. If you are a native or fluent speaker in a language other than
English you may receive a language waiver, meaning that you do not have to take any language credits. You can receive this waiver by contacting the Languages,
Linguistics, and Literatures department chair, Nawa`a Napoleon at nawaa@hawaii.edu. Remember that if you receive a language waiver you must
make up those credits with elective credits for the AA degree. If you are a native or fluent speaker in a language other than
English you can also take a service learning class for credit in that
language where you do community service as part of the curriculum for
the class. Before registering for the class, speak with the instructor. One benefit of taking one of these classes is that if you receive a C or higher in the class you may petition for free back language credits, eight at KCC, and eight at UH Manoa, if you transfer there. Currently Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish offer this
possibility. Finally, if you are not fluent in a language, but you have some
knowledge in it, you are encouraged to take a placement test in that language
either in the testing center in the Lama Library or at UH
Manoa. The testing center offers tests in Chinese, Filipino, French,
Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. If you are interested in taking a placement test in American
Sign Language, contact Jan Fried at jfried@hawaii.edu. If you receive a C or higher in the class in which you place, you may petition for free back language credits up to eight at
KCC and for the maximum if you transfer to UH Manoa. For example, if you place into 201 of that language and
receive a C or higher in the class, you may apply for free credits for 101 and 102 in that
language. If you place into 202 and receive a C or higher in the class, in addition to the eight free back credits you may receive at
KCC, you may receive four more at UH Manoa. When petitioning for back language credits, speak with your
instructor to receive the petition form. You may also test out of the HSL requirement entirely at KCC
by placing in the second year or higher of that language on
the placement test. If your language’s test is not offered at KCC, you may take
the test at UH Manoa. Please note that students are only able to apply for free back
language credits for one language. This has been a presentation on options for fulfilling the HSL
requirement at KCC. Thank you for listening.