Too many languages? History ideas too?

[HSHS]

DD is very interested in languages. She's been excited about latin for a long time but she's also interested in a few other languages: greek, japanese, spanish, german and french. Greek is something she's willing to drop but then there's all the others...

 

She's always thought japanese would be too difficult for her but she was encouraged my a friend to do it. Spanish, she's also willing to drop and pick up in a few years time when she's at college if the worst comes to the worst but that still leaves Japanese, German and French as well as Latin. French is something she's done in school for years so she's past the basics but the others are languages she's never done before.

 

We've been given recommendations for Minna no Nihongo books 1 and 2 and the Genki books for Japanese and we haven't decided on which to go for yet. What would you recommend for the other languages, particularly French? Would you recommend we work out where she's up to in the textbook and start from there skipping the stuff she already knows? She's told me she has difficult with understanding how the verbs work and a few grammar problems and then all she needs is some more advanced vocabulary so I wonder if a textbook would even be worth it?

 

For the other languages - Latin and German, any recommendations?

 

DD's goal is a to be able to read books in another language and apparently lots of languages. I'm pleased she's taken such an interest in languages since I never picked anything other than basic french up.

 

She's also a big fan of history and I'm going to merge the languages into them slightly but is this all going to be too much? We're also puzzled about where to start with history. DD wants to buy the story of the world: history for the classical child but supplement it with kingfisher history of britain for british history and great books too. I'm worried it's going to be too young for her but this will be her first time going through history completely. What do you think?

 

Sorry, there's a lot of questions =D

[Chris in VA]

I think SOTW would be too easy for her--it's really written for elementary kids, starting in first grade. She would probably enjoy SWB's new Ancient History book--Is she going to do a 4 year rotation? She could also follow WTM's rec of doing Spielvogel next to Great Books. Kingfisher British is very good, but will just give her facts, not really delving into cause and effect, and upper logic/rhetoric level analyzing. It makes a nice supplement, tho.

 

Can't help you with the Japanese stuff.

 

Could she go to CC for advanced French? You could at least call, and possibly have her skills evaluated to see what would be appropriate.

 

That's all I got for ya!

[HSHS]

DD is going to do a four year rotation, yup but I'm feeling the pressure since she'll only go through it once before going to college.

 

I didn't know SWB had written another book but we've just found it on amazon and will probably order it as soon as one of us has put money in our bank account.

 

Kingfisher we bought purely as a supplement anyway. She knows most British history from what she's learnt herself or the small amount she's learnt in school but we bought it as a quick refresher. Still waiting for it to arrive D:

 

CC wise, we're in the UK unfortunately and unless we pay pretty extortionate amounts (£3498 for five GCSEs plus exam fees) there's no chance there. Our colleges don't really work in the same way and we envy the people that can go to CC, believe me. Haha! : D

 

Because of what you said about them evaluating her though for some reason the idea clicked in my head about placement tests for curriculums. No idea why I didn't think of that sooner but I suppose we'll have to find a curriculum to take a placement test for first. The search goes on xD

 

Thank you so much for your help. =)

[Amy Jo]

That's a lot of languages! Try this website - http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/index.html - it has a language learning guide (including estimated study hours to basic fluency) and a good forum. You could also try All Japanese All the Time. Its an immersion method for any language (not just Japanese) that can be done without leaving the country :) ! Start with the "Table of Contents" (at the top of the page).

 

For French, have her do some reading in French, possibly with a French Audio-Book so she can hear and see the language. Maybe a French email or pen-pal? You could try having her listen to the French FSI courses. (They cover several languages and are public domain, created by the US government for training diplomats. They are being made available slowly at http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/). They don't slow down the language so she can test her listening comprehension and there is a text so you can preview what she will be learning. It's not (to me at least) a user-friendly course, so I am putting it off until I hit the intermediate level.

 

How many she does at the same time depends on how much time she has, but continueing her Latin and French while starting a 3rd language would probably work. After she has the basics of the 3rd language she could start another one. The good news is she is old enough for adult level material, which gives you a lot more options.

 

I love languages, currently I'm working on Ancient Greek and Spanish! Best of luck to your daughter.

 

Amy

[Joan in GE]

She's told me she has difficult with understanding how the verbs work and a few grammar problems and then all she needs is some more advanced vocabulary so I wonder if a textbook would even be worth it?

 

For the other languages - Latin and German, any recommendations?

 

For French verbs - there is

French Verbs Skill Builders: Master all the tenses and speak fluently

for 14.74 pounds

 

You could also use the free EAD courses from Belgium (see the Bilingual Board - I posted about those courses recently) - since you understand French yourself to be able to navigate the site.

 

German - also offered at EAD, but we will use the Oklahoma online course (search this board with Oklahoma German)...

[Patricia in WA]

Galore Park is my favorite publisher for languages. I have used their Latin, Spanish, and French books with great success in my home. You definitely need to check them out.

 

My daughter is 13 and sounds just like yours. She would drop all subjects and just study languages if I let her. She is currently studying Latin, French, and Spanish. We anxiously wait for GP to publish their Greek series but it may not be ready in time for her. We are now trying to find a way for her to study Arabic and Cantonese (her latest obsession).

 

Good luck!

[Laura Corin]

Galore Park We are now trying to find a way for her to study Arabic and Cantonese (her latest obsession).

 

Good luck!

 

It is the language of many overseas Chinese communities (because of the amount of emigration from Guangdong/Canton) but it's definitely a small (and rather despised) language within China.

 

Laura

[HSHS]

Thanks so much for all your suggestions. (: I'm going to look through them later with DD and then we can make a decision! The panic's setting in since it's half way through august and we have absolutely nothing textbook/curriculum wise. We're waiting for our biology textbook to arrive and our kingfisher encyc but everything else is waiting to be ordered. Arghhhh!

[Michelle Liebgott-Osinga]

I have been using the Pimsleur language tapes for myself. They are great to get exposure to lots of languages, and also teaches conversational skills better than any other program that I have used. Lucky for me they have them at my local library, but I bet you could also get them on interlibrary loan to try them out.

[Julie in MN]

I have been using the Pimsleur language tapes for myself. They are great to get exposure to lots of languages, and also teaches conversational skills better than any other program that I have used. Lucky for me they have them at my local library, but I bet you could also get them on interlibrary loan to try them out.

 

If you use something like this, then a good grammar go-along is Barron's "French The Easy Way," etc. These cover most of the grammar you would ever need, before beginning to just read literature in the language.

 

Warning: Many textbook language courses are completely written in the foreign language by year 2 -- including the teacher's guide. This makes them impractical for homeschoolers.

 

Julie