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Are you getting ready to study foreign language? Be sure you include these 5 things to increase your success!
Foreign language studies should include these 5 things:
My oldest wanted to study Latin in high school. I cannot help her much with that, so researched curriculum and settled on Memoria Press First Form Latin. She is now in her second year and doing really well. The program includes workbook, quizzes and tests, a DVD with lessons, a CD for pronunciation, a teachers guide with answer keys and flash cards.
We've focused our home school on foreign language learning. The hard truth is that it's virtually impossible to get to a high level of skill, particularly oral/aural skill, without interacting with a native speaker. Fortunately, the internet has made that much easier -- although in some cases it's not cheap and the quality of the teachers can vary significantly. There are a number of websites that list online teachers (or you can do a search). We've been very happy with our son's French teacher at Verbing, a site that has teachers at varying prices for many languages. I can also recommend http://www.esaudio.net for Spanish. The owner is from Argentina and has worked well with our children. For Japanese, we've used http://www.japonin.com, Japanese Online Institute. The private lessons -- which you have to use for children under 13 -- are expensive, but the group lessons are quite reasonable. We like Rosetta Stone only for supplemental work. With all of the teachers you do have to ensure that they provide written materials. When our children were younger we placed ads at the local college and were able to get native Japanese and Spanish-speaking college students to come and play/read with the children using only the target language. The suggestion to supplement with movies and other immersion is also a good one. For many years, the rule in our house was that TV could only be in Spanish or Japanese except for designated "English" times. And, of course, eventually, you need to provide literature. It can be done. Our middle son, now 18, is good enough that in the fall he'll be reading Spanish at Oriel College (Oxford).
After trying (and failing) with 3 different Spanish curriculum (including Rosetta Stone), we are finally have GREAT SUCCESS with BJUP's distance learning Spanish. You can use the curriculum either with DVD's or online. Either way, there are daily video lessons with a fantastic teacher who engages, models, explains and inspires. The curriculum clearly sets forth what is expected each day from the student AND the facilitator (ex. check and record grade for activity___ on page___.). It is very easy to use, even though I speak no Spanish. It includes all 5 things Lee mentions, from listening to culture. I cannot say enough good things about this curriculum, AND it is affordable!
I completely agree with you Lee! My son has studied Henle 1 Latin for the past 2 years, and what an intense curriculum it is! Unfortunately, my son despises the subject. In the state of Florida we can not receive a foreign language credit unless the course is taught by a certified instructor. So,I enrolled my son in the Florida Virtual online Latin 1 course. My son just started the course 1 week ago, but so far he really likes the format and all the visuals.
Anyone else struggling with foreign language course decisions? If your child knows what career he/she wants to go into, then look at a few colleges and what foreign language requirements they have. For some degrees there is zero requirements. Most require 2 years, and some require 3 years!
Call the alternative education office in your county and ask how to receive a 2 week virtual school trial. Another option is ... Sign Language. Ive heard from other seasoned homeschool Moms that Sign Language can count as a foreign language. That sounds fun!
Blessings, Lori
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