Staceyshoe Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 We are slowly working our way through GSWL, and ds really loves it. (I don't know if we'll ever finish SSL because he has such a strong preference for GSWL.) I would like to give him extra translation exercises. There are some in the book with each lesson, but I think he would retain better if he had more practice. Does anyone know if something like this exists? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 (edited) My advice would be to do it every day, or at least every weekday. No skipping. With my kids, that's the best way to retain. Also, you could go back, say, two or three or five lessons and re-do an earlier set of translations. That could be a daily activity for you. When that becomes too easy, then you know he's retaining ;). I think you're on the right track - more translation should improve retention. Another option would be to back up to the point where you're sure he has it all down and move forward from there. The problem I see with such a young student (and I did the same with my boys when they were newly 7, started GSWL, which they loved till we fell off the wagon with afterschooling), is what to do when he's done. He's too young for Henle, which is what my dd10 is doing, but not using that great knowledge base may result in losing it. Hopefully you'll be able to find another program with lots of translations, though my understanding is that a lot of the programs geared toward early elementary don't necessarily contain the same level of translations (hey, if anyone wants to pipe in here with a program that does include a lot of translation, that would be great!!!). For my boys, who are now 8 and heading into 3rd grade, I've held off on finishing GSWL until they're closer to a time that I'd feel comfortable starting Henle (much to dd10's dismay; she claims it's "not fair" :glare:). ETA: Just had a fabulous idea. A lot harder, but will certainly improve retention. Go back a few or even several lessons, and have him do the translations from English to Latin using the answer key. Henle has a lot of this (English to Latin), and I believe it really, really helps to cement things. It's not easy, so you might have to go back nearly to the beginning. And you'll probably have to write for him, because it takes longer to think through - harder to do entirely orally. Edited May 31, 2011 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaid Dad Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Another way to reinforce the material is to give the student English sentences (from the answer key) to translate back into Latin. It's much more challenging, so I'd only do a couple of sentences a day in addition to the Latin-to-English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzf242 Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I agree with the first two suggestions. Also, if you are doing it with him, perhaps you could make up some sentences from the words he has already learned. BTW, my dd8 is just finishing GSWL and she really loves it, too. Take care, Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 (edited) Another way to reinforce the material is to give the student English sentences (from the answer key) to translate back into Latin. It's much more challenging, so I'd only do a couple of sentences a day in addition to the Latin-to-English. :iagree:One thing I really dislike about GSWL is that all the translation is from Latin to English. Translating from the answer key is a great thing to do. ETA: Something like Lingua Angelica might work for you. It might be a bit advanced right now though and it's Christian, if that makes a difference. Edited May 31, 2011 by Aquinas Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam101 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I recommend translating from the answer key to Latin as well, I think Mr. Linney recommends that too. We would also go back a few lesson for review before moving on to the next lesson and chanted the verb endings until they were memorized. My 9-year loves GSWL as well! It's such a simple straight forward approach. He (we) have learned a lot this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staceyshoe Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thank you all! I think we'll start regularly doing the English to Latin translations from a few lessons back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 We are using Getting Started with Spanish and I have always had the kids translate from Spanish to English and compose (I believe that's what Mr. Linney calls it) from English to Spanish. It is harder for them, but I've never let on that it's supposed to be harder, so we just do it. I've never understood the idea that translating from another language into English is the best practice, because that is NOT our ultimate goal in learning a foreign language ... we want to be able to use the language, and if we can't compose original sentences in the target language ... :confused: Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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