Exam Categories
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In order to allow students with like-exposure to compete against one another, NSE has defined three categories of exam competition as follows:

 

REGULAR

A student whose only contact with Spanish is in the classroom.

 

OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE

A students who has had specific experiences with Spanish beyond the classroom.

  1. The student has participated in a FLES program (Grades K - 6) for 3 years or more.
  2. The student is a heritage speaker who has had exposure to Spanish but limited practice in his/her home environment.
  3. The student has been enrolled in a Spanish immersion program for the prior 3 years or more.
  4. The student's principal language is (1) another romance language (French, Italian, Portuguese, Rumanian) or (2) a language derived from a romance language (Catalan, Galician, Sicilian, etc.)

 

BILINGUAL

A student who comes from a home where Spanish is the predominant language.

  1. The student has grown up in a home where Spanish is spoken.
  2. The student is bilingual to some degree in both Spanish and English.

 

The following language experiences may place a student in either the outside experience category or in the bilingual category.  The teacher should advise the student as to which category is appropriate. 

  • A student has lived (after age 6) in a Spanish speaking country for more than a year.
  • A student has studied in a Spanish speaking country for more than 4 months.
  • A student whose principal language at home is Spanish or Spanish/English.
  • A student whose principal language outside the home is Spanish or Spanish/English.