Guest inoubliable Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Asking for a friend. Her son is in high school and she's trying to work in a French curriculum. What French curriculum would you recommend that is secular, for a Canadian high school student who does speak some basic French, has no reading or writing skills and no formal knowledge of grammar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 We used Espaces. It has textbook, workbook, audio (either on CD or online through the supersite) with lab manual. We also used several cheap grammar exercise books from the Practice Makes Perfect series and books. Harry Potter in French worked very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Thank you! I'll pass it along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Did you ask on the bilingual WTM board? There are a lot of knowledgeable people there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 We used Espaces. It has textbook, workbook, audio (either on CD or online through the supersite) with lab manual. We also used several cheap grammar exercise books from the Practice Makes Perfect series and books. Harry Potter in French worked very well. Regentrude, do you happen to have a link for where you purchased this? Was it here? http://vistahigherle...nd-edition.html Do they allow homeschoolers to purchase instructor materials? How much prior language instruction would the student have to have to do this program? Sorry for all the questions! :D KK - we've been using the stuff from N'Allenart French. It's not exactly secular but it's sort of a Canadian version of non-secular, KWIM? :) The author occasionally has a character reading a bible or one of the sentences to translate will be "We are going to build a church." I think in one of the books, there was a little story about Easter. I was just flipping through Book 4 of the L'Art de lire series and there's bible verse given in French at the bottom of one of the pages but it's just there - it has nothing to do with the lesson and the kids don't have to do anything with it. None of it is terribly in your face and it just sort of seems to pop up randomly - it isn't the theme of the books. We're agnostic and I haven't found that it's bothered me but I guess if you're looking for completely secular, this wouldn't fit the bill. From Grades 3-8, it's a very low-key and non-demanding curriculum. She has a high school course that's meant to meet the university-stream Grade 9 Ontario requirement for French but it requires some previous knowledge of French (students here begin French in Grade 3). Here are some sample pages (opens a pdf!). ETA: In the sample pages for Grades 3-8 (opens a pdf!), here's a mention of God: "It is interesting that French always uses the more familiar tu when addressing God, instead of the more formal vous. This emphasizes the close relationship that God desires to have with us. The English language once made the same distinction. Our words thou and thee correspond to the French tu and toi. Though they are now archaic, they were once part of everyday language." She then just goes on with the rest of the explanation of French grammar and religion doesn't come up again. Just sort of random "drive-by" mentions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 We combine French in Action (the complete program) with Breaking the Barrier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Regentrude, do you happen to have a link for where you purchased this? Was it here? http://vistahigherle...nd-edition.html Do they allow homeschoolers to purchase instructor materials? How much prior language instruction would the student have to have to do this program? I have purchased all student materials (book, workbook, CDs) used on amazon or abebooks where I also bought a CD-Rom which turned out to be the instructor version (I have not used it, since DD was enrolled in the class at this point.) We have purchased access to the supersite directly at the website; it was required for the class. (Had I know this, I would not have needed to purchase the CD, as the videos and audios are on the site) My DD used the program for her college French 2 class. She had prior French, but as I understand the program, it starts from the beginning and does not assume any previous knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 It's not exactly secular but it's sort of a Canadian version of non-secular, KWIM? :) :lol: :lol: I get what you mean. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 I recommend Contacts. It is quite inexpensive if you get the used version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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