Galore Park Spanish question

[kokotg]

How easy would it be to adapt "So You Really Want to Learn Spanish?" to Latin American Spanish? Is it mostly a matter of leaving out the vosotros form, and, if so, would that be pretty simple to do? DS9 has had quite a bit of exposure to Spanish through various classes, programs, DVDs....but he's been in weekly classes regularly since last fall. His teacher is Latin American, so that's what he's learning in class. I'd like a grammar heavy program to supplement with at home, but I don't want to confuse him by having him learn different stuff at home than he is in class (not to mention that I learned Latin American Spanish in HS/college, and I don't want to confuse ME, either ;)).

 

So. Do you think the Galore Park Spanish would work for us? And/or what other late elementary/middle school programs are out there that have an emphasis on grammar (we've tried Spanish for Children, and neither of us liked it)?

[wapiti]

:lurk5::bigear: (will be looking for a program to follow GSWS)

[kokotg]

a hopeful bump. anyone?

[Matryoshka]

How easy would it be to adapt "So You Really Want to Learn Spanish?" to Latin American Spanish? Is it mostly a matter of leaving out the vosotros form, and, if so, would that be pretty simple to do? DS9 has had quite a bit of exposure to Spanish through various classes, programs, DVDs....but he's been in weekly classes regularly since last fall. His teacher is Latin American, so that's what he's learning in class. I'd like a grammar heavy program to supplement with at home, but I don't want to confuse him by having him learn different stuff at home than he is in class (not to mention that I learned Latin American Spanish in HS/college, and I don't want to confuse ME, either ;)).

 

So. Do you think the Galore Park Spanish would work for us? And/or what other late elementary/middle school programs are out there that have an emphasis on grammar (we've tried Spanish for Children, and neither of us liked it)?

 

 

The main difference between Spanish and Latin American Spanish is pronunciation (which would only come up in audio) and maybe a written explanation of one or two letters, some vocabulary words (and it's easy enough to teach another word there -even in Latin America there are regional variations in vocabulary), and of course the vosotros form.

 

I must say, though, I would never teach Spanish without teaching the vosotros form. You would be doing your student a huge disservice. Even if they never visit Spain, huge amounts of literature comes from there. It is almost no extra work to learn the vosotros form, but not knowing it can be a big handicap. A lot of the exchange programs available also happen to be in Spain, and there it's all they use - Ud. and Uds. are not used almost at all. And, if you know the vosotros form, it's almost no extra work to figure out the vos form, which is a singular second person used in Argentina (and I think even some other South American countries), which is not usually taught in textbooks but is used in speech and some literature from those areas. It would be very hard to figure out, though, if you'd never learned vosotros.

[StephanieZ]

My kids are using GP Spanish, and their tutors have been Latin American, and it isn't really any problem. When asked, I just tell the tutor that, yes, I want them to learn everything in the GP books, but feel free to teach them any additional/alternative things from your country. . . Works just fine for us. :) We are very happy with GP Spanish. I don't know Spanish myself, so I can't offer much more insight. HTH

[kokotg]

I must say, though, I would never teach Spanish without teaching the vosotros form. You would be doing your student a huge disservice. Even if they never visit Spain, huge amounts of literature comes from there. It is almost no extra work to learn the vosotros form, but not knowing it can be a big handicap. A lot of the exchange programs available also happen to be in Spain, and there it's all they use - Ud. and Uds. are not used almost at all. And, if you know the vosotros form, it's almost no extra work to figure out the vos form, which is a singular second person used in Argentina (and I think even some other South American countries), which is not usually taught in textbooks but is used in speech and some literature from those areas. It would be very hard to figure out, though, if you'd never learned vosotros.

 

Okay, okay--you're winning me over here :). I guess he's a bright enough kid that I can explain the differences between what he's learning in class and what he's learning at home. Alright--Galore Park is my frontrunner at this point. If anyone wants to talk me into something else, though, I'm all ears.

[Allearia]

ooo, I think I'll get this for our spanish - we are doing the Discovery Steaming spanish but would like a more comprehensive program, this would be great for the more formal grammar portion.