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How many US high school credits would you give this? (crosspost)


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My son is in Lausanne for 2 1/2 months. He will be taking 6 weeks of summer vacation French classes at the University of Lausanne. He is will have about 115 hours of instruction but he is not taking the supplimental tutoring that would give him European college credits. He is staying with a French speaking family (or two) in Lausanne. We are definately considering this part of his high school foreign language so I want to give him credit for this rather than consider it an extra, the way one would if one were in public school. (Experiences like this are a major part of our homeschooling philosophy and the homeschooling education we are offering our children.)

 

Nan

 

(Thank you thank you thank you. My son has this opportunity entirely due to the WTM hive and its close ties.)

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How would you list the immersion stay as an activity? When I did my older one's transcript, at the bottom I added a simple list of extra curricular activities and jobs: gymnastics team, sailing, rock climbing, carpenter's helper, ... I'm not sure what to call this activity.

 

Nan

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How would you list the immersion stay as an activity? When I did my older one's transcript, at the bottom I added a simple list of extra curricular activities and jobs: gymnastics team, sailing, rock climbing, carpenter's helper, ... I'm not sure what to call this activity.

 

 

French immersion?

French language camp?

France homestay program?

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Maybe just plain French immersion would be best. I think it is the word "activity" that is bothering me in a sort of persnickety grammar/definition way. I don't think of immersion as an activity. It sounds more passive than that. Or more active. Or something. LOL.

Thanks,

Nan

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Maybe just plain French immersion would be best. I think it is the word "activity" that is bothering me in a sort of persnickety grammar/definition way. I don't think of immersion as an activity. It sounds more passive than that. Or more active. Or something. LOL.

Thanks,

Nan

 

Then maybe think of them as "extracurriculars" instead of "activities"?

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Maybe I'm easy, but I would consider giving him 1.5 credits: 1 credit for the instructional time, and .5 for the immersion. If he spends at least 1.5 hours per day being immersed in French conversationally, for 40 days, that is 60 hours, or half a credit. Concordia Language Villages offer 4 week courses for high school, immersion style, for which they award 1 credit. This would be 6 weeks, thus 1.5 credits.

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Can I hijack your question and add one of mine?

 

Maybe I'm easy, but I would consider giving him 1.5 credits: 1 credit for the instructional time, and .5 for the immersion. If he spends at least 1.5 hours per day being immersed in French conversationally, for 40 days, that is 60 hours, or half a credit

 

Hm, let me calculate... my kids are immersed for at least one hour/day in a German speaking environment... 365 days a year, plus 3-4 weeks stay with in Germany each summer... 2-3 credits per year? :)

Seriously: how do those of you who raise their kids bilingually deal with the other language on the transcript?

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Can I hijack your question and add one of mine?

 

 

 

Hm, let me calculate... my kids are immersed for at least one hour/day in a German speaking environment... 365 days a year, plus 3-4 weeks stay with in Germany each summer... 2-3 credits per year? :)

Seriously: how do those of you who raise their kids bilingually deal with the other language on the transcript?

 

Personally, not that I have experience with this, but I think this is a different situation. German is a native language in your household. I would be more inclined to label it as such on a transcript, with an accompanying letter of explanation. Something like:

 

German for Native Speakers 9

German for Native Speakers 10

German for Native Speakers 11

German for Native Speakers 12

 

and then say, "These classes were not conducted as foreign language classes. Instead the student learned what students in Germany would be learning at this age level and performed at a native level." You could have separate literature credits - German Literature (original texts).

 

I also, and I think you do this, would have a language that is actually a foreign language on the transcript.

 

This comes up with Spanish in the US fairly frequently. Native or bilingual speakers of Spanish are put into Spanish as a foreign language classes and IMO it does no one any good. The Spanish speakers need their own "Spanish for Heritage Speakers" class with a native-speaking teacher that focuses on their own issues (non-existent accents, lack of formal register, whatever). When they are put into Spanish classes, it intimidates the non-Spanish speakers, it causes the teacher problems, the student is usually bored, and it robs them of the chance to learn another language.

 

Well, just my thoughts on the subject. :001_smile:

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and then say, "These classes were not conducted as foreign language classes. Instead the student learned what students in Germany would be learning at this age level and performed at a native level." You could have separate literature credits - German Literature (original texts).

 

 

Unfortunately, we have not been able to accomplish this lofty goal- the German instruction is not on the level of a same age peer in a German college preparatory school. We have achieved oral proficiency active and passive, and age appropriate reading comprehension (but slower and less volume), but are not on the same level with regards to composition and literature. We do speak German at home and travel each summer, but we are not doing enough formal academics each school year to consider it a separate subject.

DD has an 800 on the SAT2 in German, to substantiate her ability.

 

I also, and I think you do this, would have a language that is actually a foreign language on the transcript.

 

Oh yes, DD will have four years of French which she studies as a genuine foreign language.

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Unfortunately, we have not been able to accomplish this lofty goal- the German instruction is not on the level of a same age peer in a German college preparatory school. We have achieved oral proficiency active and passive, and age appropriate reading comprehension (but slower and less volume), but are not on the same level with regards to composition and literature. We do speak German at home and travel each summer, but we are not doing enough formal academics each school year to consider it a separate subject.

DD has an 800 on the SAT2 in German, to substantiate her ability.

 

 

Oh yes, DD will have four years of French which she studies as a genuine foreign language.

 

That was just an example of how to word it off the top of my head. :grouphug:

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Seriously: how do those of you who raise their kids bilingually deal with the other language on the transcript?

 

What about "Conversational German"? Some language schools here offer courses - beginner, advanced......but I don't know about giving four credits of that...

 

How much grammar, etc are you doing?

 

Our bilingual situation is different than yours possibly...we always have grammar, vocab, spelling, writing, literature elements...and I keep track of time spent out and about in native speaker setting if it involved conversation or study. But we go way over the 160, 210, etc hours...for each credit...I just give the typical French I, etc. starting in 7th grade...and will make note somewhere of the level, though it should be obvious with AP exams, and hopefully some Goethe Institute European level exams for German...For French ds3 used correspondance courses from Belgium to have a higher level than AP but I doubt an American school would really comprehend what they entailed unless it was spelled out in detail. Since he only applied to European schools, it didn't matter. For some countries he would have probably had to have taken language exams....

 

Joan

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I'm not really in this classification, but I do have a similar problem - how to list subjects that were done in a foreign language (as opposed to instruction in a foreign language) on the transcript. I think what I am going to do is list them in French. French and Englsih are close enough that they will still be readable to non-French speakers. So my son will have Histoire/Geographie 6e, 5e, 4e, 3e, Grammaire, etc. For the bits that involved instruction in French, I will list French #. We're probably going to have him take the DALF test in Dec., since it looks now as though he will score high enough to make it worth the expense. Somebody here said that in her US high school, French 1 and 2 was grammar and vocab but French 3 and beyond involved literature and composition, so I am sort of keeping that in the back of my mind. This wasn't my own experience, but I know my own high school language classes were definately sub-par.

 

That might have been extremely unhelpful. The idea might not translate to German at all.

 

Nan

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