ChemMommy Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Maybe it is just my kids, but the last two want to study Chinese and Arabic. Seriously, kids!!! I can find Spanish classes all over the internet, but Chinese and Arabic! Has anyone used an on-line program for Chinese or Arabic? The Potter School has both classes and a different child used their French program with great success. I was wondering, though, if there are better sources out there. HELP!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Dd is taking Arabic 1 from TPS (and a friend's son is in Chinese 2). I had a difficult time finding a live online class for dd. TPS and CTY were the only real options. CTY didn't work because the classes are in the evenings, our time, when dd has ballet. I also wanted a native speaker for dd's teacher to get the accent as correct as possible. I read somewhere this week that another school is starting Arabic next school year. TPS uses the most common Arabic curriculum, Alif Baa followed by al-Kitaab. Those texts and subsequent volumes are used in the Arabic program at the university in our city. I wanted dd to not have to change curriculum if possible. I have to run dd to the studio, but I'll be back to give you the pros/cons of dd's Arabic experience w TPS :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 My 17 yo daughter has done Mandarin for several years, and the oldest did Turkish. If you can find a local tutor, I recommend going that route.. We were never happy with any of the other options, and Mandarin in particular is quite difficult to master without live input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Chinese is getting to be pretty common actually so far as I can tell. You could start these via Mango and see what takes hold. I think Instant Immersion also has both. Rosetta almost certainly does. Pimsleur. ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 http://www.clrchomeschool.com/available-courses/german Dr. Godwin will be teaching Arabic on M/W at 11-12am. The schedule is not up yet, looks like they are updating the website. If there is no clash in schedule, we will be taking it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephinsocal Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Have you looked at BYU? is.byu.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 We do CTY and are very happy with it. I don't like once a week language classes. With the CTY class, Ds has "contact" with the language most days. The only downside is the cost, but I feel we get value for it and I plan to continue with them as long as I can afford to. To be clear. DS takes the Arabic class meant for elementary kids. He does take a high school level French class elsewhere though (CTY doesn't offer French) so I felt qualified to respond ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemMommy Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 I would have access to tutors both in Arabic and Chinese, so I have that end covered. One positive of living in a college town. I'm not sure my kids would qualify for CTY. They are good students and smart (IMHO) but not super smart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemMommy Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 The BYU programs looks very interesting. I like the self-paced aspect a lot! The one who wants Arabic doesn't enjoy good health so self-pacing would be a nice feature. Can you tell me more about your experience with BYU, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Back with a mini-review of TPS Arabic: Pros • teacher is a native speaker, so important for learning an accent properly • twice a week live class meetings for 1.5 hours each time (she does the "optional" speaking class) • that optional speaking class is fabulous for extra oral practice • the curriculum covers Modern Standard Arabic (MSA; formal written Arabic) and the Egyptian and Levantine dialects • grammar is covered extensively • they use Arabic script, with very little transliteration after the first few classes • both written and spoken practice during every class • both oral and written midterms and finals • Arabic 2 and 3 are offered with the same teacher, good for continuity Cons---which could happen with any class • dd is not being challenged at all. A grade of 99.87% is unacceptable to me. I cannot tell if she is just grasping the language easily or if the class is moving too slow for her. • some of the kids in the class just are not getting the subject--several still do not understand/apply basics from the first several weeks • an inordinate amount of class time is spent on going over the homework and reviewing---a few weeks ago dd said the entire class period was a waste of time • because of the TPS class format, the teacher and kids are automatically kicked out of the classroom and practice rooms at a specific time, which means the teacher is unable to work separately after class with a student having issues Dd wil not return to TPS for Arabic 2. This summer she will be attending a month-long Arabic immersion camp, equivalent to a full year of high school language. In the fall she will begin studying Arabic at the university (one of the benefits of living next to the state flagship university!). We won't know which level she'll be placed into until two weeks before the start of the semester because of the camp dates. I also don't know if it would be better for her to begin with the first class in the sequence (for an easy first class, because it will mostly be a repeat) or the second (for a better challenge), a tricky decision to make considering we have to pay the full cost of the credit-hours and the class will be on her permanent record. HTH :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemMommy Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Cons---which could happen with any class • dd is not being challenged at all. A grade of 99.87% is unacceptable to me. I cannot tell if she is just grasping the language easily or if the class is moving too slow for her. • some of the kids in the class just are not getting the subject--several still do not understand/apply basics from the first several weeks • an inordinate amount of class time is spent on going over the homework and reviewing---a few weeks ago dd said the entire class period was a waste of time • because of the TPS class format, the teacher and kids are automatically kicked out of the classroom and practice rooms at a specific time, which means the teacher is unable to work separately after class with a student having issues Thanks for the review!!! We took French 1 and 2 with TPS. The grade was very high, but it was earned. My kid worked very hard and the teacher was awesome (Madame S...highly recommended). The teacher assigned and graded every single problem in the BJU French I and II texts. My child and I were both stunned how completely lost and unmotivated students were in the class. However, when she took French in college, she saw the same thing. They met 5 days a week for the class in college and some students three months in to the class still could not formulate a simple sentence. I'm not happy, though, to hear that the class period is spent going over HW. It should be spent teaching material. But, I love the twice a week meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Back with a mini-review of TPS Arabic: Pros • teacher is a native speaker, so important for learning an accent properly • twice a week live class meetings for 1.5 hours each time (she does the "optional" speaking class) • that optional speaking class is fabulous for extra oral practice • the curriculum covers Modern Standard Arabic (MSA; formal written Arabic) and the Egyptian and Levantine dialects • grammar is covered extensively • both written and spoken practice during every class • both oral and written midterms and finals • Arabic 2 and 3 are offered with the same teacher, good for continuity Cons---which could happen with any class • dd is not being challenged at all. A grade of 99.87% is unacceptable to me. I cannot tell if she is just grasping the language easily or if the class is moving too slow for her. • some of the kids in the class just are not getting the subject--several still do not understand/apply basics from the first several weeks • an inordinate amount of class time is spent on going over the homework and reviewing---a few weeks ago dd said the entire class period was a waste of time • because of the TPS class format, the teacher and kids are automatically kicked out of the classroom and practice rooms at a specific time, which means the teacher is unable to work separately after class with a student having issues Dd wil not return to TPS for Arabic 2. This summer she will be attending a month-long Arabic immersion camp, equivalent to a full year of high school language. In the fall she will begin studying Arabic at the university (one of the benefits of living next to the state flagship university!). We won't know which level she'll be placed into until two weeks before the start of the semester because of the camp dates. I also don't know if it would be better for her to begin with the first class in the sequence (for an easy first class, because it will mostly be a repeat) or the second (for a better challenge), a tricky decision to make considering we have to pay the full cost of the credit-hours and the class will be on her permanent record. HTH :) Is she attending a StarTalk language program this summer, or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 It's only been the last couple weeks that so much time has been spent on homework. Dd says the teacher sounds frustrated with these particular students. Usually they'd just spend 5 minutes at the start of class to go over homework---kind of the "does anyone have questions?" thing. The students are supposed to look at the corrected homework before the class begins, assuming they turned it in the day before class (it's technically not due until right before class begins). Dd spends about 3 hours on the homework. She has perfectionist tendencies ;) so she likes her writing to be perfect. Some of the characters are really tricky. Added something to the list above about the writing.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosyne Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I have Ahlah wa Sahlan, Alif-Baa with DVDs, and Arabic for Beginners (Hippocrene LS). These are books, not courses!! They are good resources, however. I also have an ancient Arabic grammar textbook, but I can hardly get through it, I dunno how appropriate it'd be for teens. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Is she attending a StarTalk language program this summer, or something else? The nearest StarTalk is not residential and is four hours away. She'll be at Concordia Language Villages. She chose that over the only other residential option for her age (most places require students to be 16+) because it sounded more fun with cultural activities and traditional camp things mixed in with the three classes and evening study session each day. There are a lot more language study options available for her next year. (Will return to add links here) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I'm not sure my kids would qualify for CTY. They are good students and smart (IMHO) but not super smart. Well, that's pretty much how I'd describe DS We do no talent searches and only did the CTY one for utilitarian purposes --there were no other secular arabic classes we could take. I was shocked when he passed, frankly. I'm worried he won't make it when we have to retest in middle school, and by now he is so used to those classes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemMommy Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 The nearest StarTalk is not residential and is four hours away. She'll be at Concordia Language Villages. She chose that over the only other residential option for her age (most places require students to be 16+) because it sounded more fun with cultural activities and traditional camp things mixed in with the three classes and evening study session each day. There are a lot more language study options available for her next year. (Will return to add links here) I teach at Concordia College (chemistry, not language!) EXCELLENT program! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Check with Harari College Worldwide http://www.harari.edu.pl/ I know they do Arabic, not sure about Chinese. They are free, online, and they have just gotten through the first phase of their courses being accepted by NCAA. We did a semester of Spanish with them, skyping with a teacher in Barcelona. Their website is not as intuitive as I would like but they were always happy to answer questions. Their sessions are also a bit off the traditional US schedule. Summer ran June to Sept, then they had sessions Oct-Jan and Feb-May. Our local public school began offering some free options, so we ended up switching to that and didn't further pursue Harari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 If your child has zero knowledge of Chinese, take this self-paced Coursera course by Peking University just for introduction. You can even do the course on an iPod touch/iPhone. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learn-chinese Also this YouTube course "Growing up with Chinese" http://english.cntv.cn/program/learnchinese/growingwithchinese/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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