Spanish Help: 12 yod w/ 3 yrs instruc.

[nelewaf]

Hello,

 

I would really appreciate some advice on Spanish curriculum for my 12 yod, who had had 3 yrs Spanish @ private school, and loves language.

She has v. good retention, and a thirst to learn. (She started Latin this yr, really loves it*).

 

Rosetta Stone is a possibility:

but I don't think she should start @ Level 1, maybe Level 2? Yes?

They do have a sale now, so I've was thinking of trying this....

 

Any thoughts/experiences would be greatly appreciated, (esp. since RS is not cheap!)

 

Muchas Gracias :)

 

*Also, she's doing Latina Christiana I, her first exposure to Latin and finding it fun. Thinking of getting Latina Christiana 2. Has anyone done this? What did/do you recommend next? She's thinking of taking Latin thru high school. Thanks.

[Azalea]

I also have a 12 yod we are considering using this:

 

http://spanishonline.okstate.edu/programinfo.php

 

My kids are currently using www.fluenz.com, they like it.

 

Azalea

[Azalea]

Oh, we have tried Rosetta Stone, it was glitchy, so those problems have probably been resolved, but generally I just didn't like it.

 

Azalea

[nelewaf]

Azeala (love that name!), when you glitchy, what do you mean? Thx.

[Beth in SW WA]

I enrolled dd 13/8th in Spanish 2 at a local private Chrstian high school. I take her every day for 7th period (in a class of sophomores). It is a win-win for everyone since she is the most advanced student in the class, in terms of grammar. The class offers her a chance to converse daily to keep up her skills.

 

Unless she has daily conversation and grammar, your dd will lose what she has learned at school.

 

We tried once/week classes, weekly tutors, RS, etc. It's not the same as daily conversation -- and the challenge to 'think' in Spanish -- in a classroom on a regular basis.

 

Just a thought.

[gingersmom]

I also have a 12 yod we are considering using this:

 

http://spanishonline.okstate.edu/programinfo.php

 

 

 

Azalea

 

My daughter is currently halfway through Spanish 1 and we are loving it.

[Azalea]

Azeala (love that name!), when you glitchy, what do you mean? Thx.

 

Thanks! With the version of RS I have, there is a student management system that has extensive options that can be set to allow the student to progress only if they have mastered the material to a certain level. I left these settings at the default. For some reason we never seemed to be able to progress far even though we were 100% accurate. I had a couple of friends who tried RS a couple of years after me, and they had the same problem even though their version must have been newer. At one point, I did set the accuracy setting lower, and this tragically caused us to lose all data for that student.

 

Anyway, I hope I haven't offended any loyal RS users. I wanted to love the product, by any chance has it been drastically improved? I like the concept, especially for little kids. For my 12 yod, she enjoys the conversational aspect of Fluenz.

 

Azalea

[KAR120C]

My daughter is currently halfway through Spanish 1 and we are loving it.

OKState has been exactly what we wanted. It's also very much self-paced (but with the accountability of talking with the tutor every week) so DS has been able to go through at a faster pace than he could with a synchronous class. That was perfect for his having had a fair bit of background but no "credit".

[nelewaf]

I enrolled dd 13/8th in Spanish 2 at a local private Chrstian high school. I take her every day for 7th period (in a class of sophomores). It is a win-win for everyone since she is the most advanced student in the class, in terms of grammar. The class offers her a chance to converse daily to keep up her skills.

 

Unless she has daily conversation and grammar, your dd will lose what she has learned at school.

 

We tried once/week classes, weekly tutors, RS, etc. It's not the same as daily conversation -- and the challenge to 'think' in Spanish -- in a classroom on a regular basis.

 

Just a thought.

 

Beth - thanks so much. This is what we may do down the road, and there is a Christian school 40 min. away, but for this yr my daughter really wants to stay home, having been schooled since pre school - 6th , she is really loving her school time at home. She is in 7th grade now, and maybe towards high school (9th grade, maybe even next yr). she will want to take an outside class.

 

Yes, I agree w/ you in using a language w/ others is key to learning it. I will save this in my next yr plans!! Thanks.

[nelewaf]

My daughter is currently halfway through Spanish 1 and we are loving it.

 

Azalea & gingersmom, Thanks so much for the info! I tried to sign onto the OK state site as a guest, but did not get too far :confused:; I will try later today. Just a few questions:

Is this a full yr course? If she starts now, do you know if can she work thru early summer, if need be?

 

How is the Spanish conversation handled? i.e., w/ a teacher, other students, a lesson?

 

Is there "homework" or reinforcement of the lesson?

 

Thanks!

[nelewaf]

OKState has been exactly what we wanted. It's also very much self-paced (but with the accountability of talking with the tutor every week) so DS has been able to go through at a faster pace than he could with a synchronous class. That was perfect for his having had a fair bit of background but no "credit".

 

KAR12OC, I'm sorry, I didn't read down further, to see your post! You answered some ?s' for me. Thanks. So, the students do talk w/ the Spanish tutor every week? My daughter would love the self-paced aspect, and is doing this w/ Latin & Logic online, independently through Memoria Press this year.

[KAR120C]

KAR12OC, I'm sorry, I didn't read down further, to see your post! You answered some ?s' for me. Thanks. So, the students do talk w/ the Spanish tutor every week? My daughter would love the self-paced aspect, and is doing this w/ Latin & Logic online, independently through Memoria Press this year.

There's actually quite a bit of oral work... The conversation with the tutor is the only "live" stuff, and that's once a week. Other than that, each chapter has an oral assessment (response to situations, like "you need to buy a movie ticket") which you can read ahead and prepare for - not spur-of-the-moment. And there's another thing... oral responses to spoken comprehension questions about some reading. That one is spur-of-the-moment, although you can re-record your answer over and over, so it's not quite "live". Then every second chapter they do a speaking quiz, where you submit oral answers to spoken questions, having known beforehand about ten possible questions you might be asked (but not knowing which four they'll actually choose). But as far as quick-thinking and keeping up with a conversation, it is only the weekly phone call. There would definitely be a benefit to more of that, but I like this as a compromise. We've done Pimsleur as a supplement on the side just to add a little more of the quick-thinking oral work.

 

As far as the schedule, I think you can work through the summer... I haven't asked, but they've been very flexible with everything so far.

 

When we first looked at it the guest account didn't work, but Senora Klopp gave me a different login that did.

[StephanieZ]

We love Galore Park's So You Really Want to Learn Spanish.

 

I'd start her with Level 1 and expect her to progress quickly on to level 2. She might cover both in 12-18 months, then a year with the third level.

 

HTH