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Hating Latin I


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My 8th grader is taking Latin I and has decided that she officially hates it and does not want to take Latin II next year. Instead, she wants to take French. Well, I don't speak French, and there are no French classes for her to take. Now what? Do I pull out the parental authority clause and make her take Latin II, or use Rosetta Stone? Language of any sort is a very weak point for her, and I could really use some guidance.:bigear:

 

thanks,

Laura R FL

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And what curriculum are you using? Maybe that is part of the issue? I am thinking for my ds that I want 2 years of high school Latin at a minimum and then he can decide if he wants to continue with Latin. We are going to slowly begin to fold in a modern language next year (Spanish). What about a compromise of continuing Latin but also starting French? Two days a week/Three days a week then switch the following week. She could spread her Latin 2 over two years as well as her French 1. Hope I am making sense...I really need to start the coffee pot!

 

No help on the French ideas though. You might ask on Jessica of Trivium Academy on the K-8 board. She has youngers, but is such a terrific planner that I know she would have some suggestions for you.

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Agreeing with the other poster that part of the problem could be your curriculum. If you are using a grammar based curriculum, you might want to try a reading based (Cambridge, Oxford). The latter is more successful for some kids.

 

Secondly I think that you may need to analyze what the problem is with Latin because your daughter may have the same problem with French or any other language. If grammar is challenging, is it because she is weak in English grammar? That in itself is a good reason to stick with Latin. Does she have an ear for other languages and thus desires conversation? That might be a reason to switch.

 

As I understand it, Rosetta Stone introduces vocabulary, but you will need to supplement the program with grammar.

 

My son is wrapping up Latin III (Oxford) and French II (French in Action).

 

Good luck.

 

Jane

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We are using Latin in the Christian Trivium with an online class. I'll be honest...the goal is to get the required two years of hs foreign language credit. Finishing Latin II AND starting French isn't exactly what I'm looking for, KWIM?

 

This is my assessment of the situation: it's the end of the class and it has become progressively more difficult like one would expect. In recent chapters, she has become overwhelmed with the translations and the amount of vocabulary. Her English grammar is OK, thanks to Rod and Staff :). Keeping up with the endings of verbs and nouns while wrestling with the fact that the words are out of order is quite challenging for her. She is truly dyslexic and dysgraphic-part of the reason why I chose Latin for her. She has had it before in Prima Latina and LC I, I thought it might help her English spelling and vocab, and it's not a spoken language, so she wouldn't struggle with reading it aloud.

 

Beginning with another two years of a conversational language and no teacher in sight seems a bit much to me. She doesn't like Spanish and wants a language that only deals with conjugations and has a similar word order to English. I took a semester of French in high school, but that's not enough to check her pronunciations and work with her conversationally. Rosetta Stone would be cool from the conversational point of view, but what about the grammar?

 

Switching to another book for Latin II also seems confusing.

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