I found this link online to old O-levels. The English language, literature, Biology, history and foreign language exams do not seem particularly difficult for the end of 10th grade.They look pretty close to what we would expect from a student in a college-prep class. (The foreign language and bio exams actually seem a bit easy to me.) http://www.cie.org.u...olevel/subjects

I work with lots of Brits and their education is not superior-- just more specialized. Compared to the schedule listed above, for example, over the first two years of my local public school, the students would have another science, probably a physical one, like Chemistry. So, over thos 2 years, they would have: English Language and Literature for both years, Math for both years (here, the average student takes Geometry and Algebra II at the beginning of high school but, throughout the country, Algebra I and Geometry are the more typical sequence), one foreign language for two years (at my local school, the typical student is either doing level 2-3 or 3-4 in the first two years of high school), Biology, Chemistry, U.S. History, U.S. Government, at least one year of art, one year of physical education/ health and two more years of *something* which could be a second foreign language, computer courses, additional science, etc. The school system here operates on 7 periods a day, so students would have 14 years of classes by then and have 2-3 hour finals in all the academic classes at the end of each year. By graduation from high school, they would have taken 28 credits. At my public high school, back in the 80s, we took 8 classes at a time. By the time I graduated, I had studied three foreign languages, as had my sister. One of my kids also graduated ps with credits in 3 foreign languages (one through AP level, one through IB level and the other was Latin, of which he had a reading level). It's not that it can't be done, it's that, in public high schools, more than one foreign language is optional and few Americans are interested in doing that. They're more likely to take computer classes, for example. So schools often schedule different foreign languages at the same time because it causes a conflict for few students. This is less of a problem in large schools or school districts with a lot of foreign languages. There is a lot more interest in Europe in learning multiple foreign languages. By the way, I've asked my British coworkers who have children in our public school system to compare it with theirs and none has said ours is easier than what they studied. The only problem some of them have had is transferring their child in at the high school level because I don't think the studies align well. Most of them end up having their kids finish high school in whatever system they started.

Sorry to hear about the sorry state of foreign languages. We have 3 immersion programs here-- Spanish, French and Mandarin-- that start in K. There are only a few hundred kids involved and our school system is huge. Many other schools have an afterschool language class for elementary grades but I think those are only taught once a week. Some schools start a second language in grade 6, all start by grade 7. At most schools, middle school students will complete 1-3 years (1-2 credits) of high school level foreign language. They can choose between a number of languages. At the school one of my kids attended, the choice was Spanish or French starting in grade 7. At the school some other of my kids attended, they could start in grade 6 and choose from Spanish, French or Italian. Foreign language is not mandatory in middle school. Starting in 9th, students can begin a 2nd foreign language. My kids' high school had Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese and Arabic. Latin is only taught through level 4. Arabic is only taught through level 3. The other languages are taught to AP or IB level. The school system is huge and other languages taught in high schools in the school system are Japanese, Russian and American Sign Language. For high school graduation with a regular (non special ed) diploma, students must have 2 years of a foreign language OR have completed a vocational tech program. Most students complete the foreign language credits.

I'm coming in a bit late but think I can add to this discussion. My kids attended immersion schools for much of their education. From K-1, it was all in a foreign language. After that, their English time increased from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. In grades 6 and 7, they had only 2 hrs daily in the foreign language. In grades 8-10 or 8-11 (they finished in different years), they had just 1 period a day in the foreign language, studying literature and reviewing grammar. They are fluent. I saw a number of students leave the program (often because parents were concerned about their lack of English skills). If they completed grade 5, they always had a solid knowledge of the language-- not college-level, but able to speak and understand well and a decent ability to read and write. (Writing suffers the most.) If they made it through grade 8, they were fine. If they made it though the high school classes, the better students were able to go to university in that language or in English. (The English bounces back in high school.) If they quit before grade 5, it was not very useful. I did a recent amount of research and the pronunciation is acquired in childhood. Also, it makes a big difference in the target language if the immersion is full day or half-day although the difference in English is small. (In other words, kids in full-day immersion have a much greater knowledge of the foreign language than kids in part-day immersion.) I think the real question is how well do you want the child to learn the language? If you want your child to have a smattering of languges, then it makes sense to put him in for a year or two. If you want your child to be able to function in the language, I would suggest you keep him there for a good 5 years in that age range. If, however, you want your child to be able to function professionally in the language, you may want to consider even more years. I am happy with our decision.

http://www.alfaguarainfantil.com.ar/alfaguara/ppalista.asp?serie=naranja http://www.cuadernointercultural.com/materiales/lectura/cuentos-fabulas-y-leyendas/

Our school goes through literature in both Spanish and Italian so there is material at his level but he can't fit that many languages with his other classes. He has chosen Italian. Unfortunately, the number of kids studying it is low so it's mixed-grade. The teacher (a native speaker) will place him but they have tentatively estimated he will go into IB Italian SL. The French had a purpose. He's wanted to learn French for years and I think if he studies it this summer, he could maybe keep it up through the school year which would leave him open for immersion next summer.

It's hard for me to say whether he's fluent in Spanish. He went to elementary school in Spanish and then took Spanish in school every year (up to AP). So he understands everything and had an excellent vocab (this is where the Italian has crept in) but I was never too happy with his verbs (because he did less grammar than kids who study it as a foreign language). Italian is probably stronger than his Spanish right now. Yes, he was in Italy studying Italian and lived with native speakers for a school year.

Thanks but I do think he's forgotten some Spanish because of his Italian; they are so similar. (He hasn't taken any formal Spanish for 2 years and spent the last year with no Spanish.) I don't know whether it would make sense to spend some time this summer reviewing his Spanish or it'll just be lost when he goes back into studying Italian.

I have an older teen whose native language is English, learned Spanish and Italian through immersion and studied some Latin. Teen is just returning from living in Italy and is inserting Italian in his Spanish. Is planning on taking Italian in school next year. Would you spend the summer reviewing Spanish or introduce a new language (maybe French)?