French AND Spanish??

[Grantmom]

For several reasons, DS is learning French and enjoys it.  We would like to have 4 years of one foreign language for his transcript.  However, we live in an area with Spanish speaking friends and neighbors, and we would all like to learn to speak Spanish conversationally.  

 

So, I am trying to decide when to introduce it, and if I should count it as another credit.  An elective?  Or is it just a hobby?  I am really struggling with the idea of feeling like homeschooling gives us all this time to do so many wonderful things, but then wondering what I need to make into a credit and what is simply enjoying your life and doing interesting things!  I think our focus for Spanish would be to not worry too much about reading and writing it, but rather just focus on reaching conversational fluency, to be able to speak and understand.

 

[maize]

You could start with something like duolingo, and maybe start working through a Spanish textbook at half pace. Count it as a half credit. This way you would not be adding too much extra time to your schedule and could still focus on the French.

[chiguirre]

French and Spanish have very similar grammar and vocabulary. I took French in high school and added Spanish my Junior year. I managed to self-study/test out of all four years of Spanish my Jr and Sr years. I think your son could easily start Spanish when he's covered all of his French grammar and starts doing more applied activities. I wouldn't be surprised if he could cover a lot of territory very quickly and get 2-3 Spanish credits done in high school.

[Grantmom]

That is great to hear!  Thank you!  That is really my thought too.  And it is honestly why I wanted him to have French first, because I really thought it would make Spanish easier.  Also, we are aiming for complete fluency in French, not just in speech but also with regards to grammar, reading, writing, etc.

 

So, when you say you managed to self-study and test out of all four years of Spanish, what do you mean?  Did you take a test that gave you credits for Spanish without taking a formal class?  I am still trying to grasp these transcript issues.  I am struggling between what we call credits and what we call extracurricular or just interesting side projects.  We homeschool so that we have time for these extra things we want to do, and for the student to be able to follow their interests.  So I feel like right now I am walking this gray line between traditional transcripts and making things that we do pull together into a credit. 

[chiguirre]

So, when you say you managed to self-study and test out of all four years of Spanish, what do you mean?  Did you take a test that gave you credits for Spanish without taking a formal class?

I took Spanish in public high school in the early 80s. I started the Spanish 1 class, quickly realized all the parallels to French and studied ahead on my own. At the end of the first 9 weeks, I explained to the teacher that I'd finished Spanish 1 and he let me self-study Spanish 2 by taking the unit tests after school. I still sat in the Spanish 1 class and helped out tutoring. I enrolled in Spanish 3 and talked to the teacher to see if she'd allow me to work ahead and she also agreed so she gave me extra assignments to cover the Spanish 4 material (reading, writing and oral reports) while I sat in the Spanish 3 class.

[Grantmom]

That's awesome!  So then you had four credit of Spanish on your transcript, in addition to French?

[chiguirre]

That's awesome!  So then you had four credit of Spanish on your transcript, in addition to French?

Yes.

[prairiewindmomma]

I had four years of Spanish and two of French in high school. They are very similar. No one blinked an eye about it on my transcripts.

[Grantmom]

Did you take them at the same time?  Thanks for sharing!

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Well, I had English and Spanish, if that counts? (French being my mother tongue..)

It is almost expected here to leave high school at a functioning level in three languages. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Yes, I took them at the same time.

 

Even in college I took a couple of different languages concurrently.

 

Universities want to see one language with continued study....so don't do a year of Latin, a year of Spanish, a year of French, and a year of Italian. Take one language for at least 3 years in high school, and if you want to play around on the side with other languages, that's fine.  You can stick with one secondary language, or you can mix it up.  In college, I stuck with Spanish through the graduate level courses and then played around with a few other languages so that I had enough of an understanding to read and travel well in many places.