BJU DVD's - Spanish ~ anyone use these?

[Tami in CA]

I am wondering about BJU's DVD courses for Spanish. If you have used these I would love to hear how you liked them. I am thinking of using these for Spanish 1 and Spanish 2.

Thanks for any help,

Tami

[Susan C.]

I have heard they get the job done, but tapes of the live classes are a bit aggravating. You do get the advantage of hearing the teacher and other students speak it.

 

You have posted about a lot of BJU dvd classes. Looks like you may be thinking of getting whole grade?? If you do, don't try to watch six classes worth of dvds and then do all of the work..... it is too much. We did whole grade for 12th, we were still watching the dvds in late afternoon without starting the work, and there was a lot of work. We ended up ditching Physics (got Apologia), and gov./econ. just did the book, only used the dvds for math and lit. (never opened Bible or Spanish).

[Tami in CA]

Thank you for your responses. I was looking at getting a complete BJU DVD package, but only using for maybe 3 classes. I agree that trying to do all DVD classes would be overwhelming. I can't imagine watching that many DVD classes in a day.

Tami

[TravelingChris]

It was a flop for my daughter. THe DVD had lot waiting times and my ADHD daughter just couldn't get into it.

[1shortmomto4]

We used the DVD Spanish I this year. My son enjoyed watching the class and he was very good at reading and writing but speaking it just didn't happen. I think you have to make more of an effort to get them to practice the skills but then, that would mean you probably should be able to speak the language yourself or add some supplementation (audio tapes perhaps). I'm probably going to end up ordering all the DVDs for this year but have been rethinking the Spanish (if my son had started with French I could have been more of a help to him) and will, instead, use the AOP SOS program and call it a day. Definitely a lot of written work (read busy work) but my son seems to enjoy that (who knew?).

[LynnG in Arizona]

I would heartily recommend doing BJU Spanish with the DVDs. This is the best combo of resources I have seen for actually learning Spanish (both oral and grammar) for the typical homeschooling family. The exception would be if one has access to an excellent Spanish co-op class or tutor . . . but for the majority of us who do not, I think this is a great way to go.

 

We did Spanish I and II this way the previous two years. I would recommend the parent try to stay as involved as time allows, though in a pinch situation it is not absolutely necessary. I used to watch the DVDs with my students and we would grade their work together. I would also correct their tests. (I have a reasonably strong background in Spanish, so was able to do this easily . . . but I left the actual teaching to the DVD teachers.)

 

My only complaint at all about the BJU Spanish DVDs is that they do move a bit more slowly than I would like. The Spanish II DVD series finishes maybe 60% of the book, which is unfortunate. But both teachers are excellent in every way.

 

Also, there *is* an unfortunate amount of silly chit chat in most classes. We got good at simply fast forwarding through the opening chit chat and prayer, which could easily be a full five minutes. Also, some of the live student questions are downright silly and sometimes not even related to Spanish. But none of us considered that a deal breaker; we just fast forwarded through the fluff.

 

We also used Rosetta Stone about 30 minutes/week for additional oral practice.

 

HTH. :)