Sahamamama Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 :blushing: This is not likely to be a popular question, but.... How can anyone stand to listen to the poor musical quality of these songs? I like the book well enough (someone kindly sent us an extra copy). The song CD -- the heart of the program -- seems to need a remake. The singers don't sing synchronously, the strumming-guitar "background music" is pathetic (except the flute), and the overall production quality is atrocious. Not only that, but the pronunciation is inconsistent at times with what is taught in the teacher guide. Grrrrrrr. I would be upset if we had actually spent money on this product. In fact, I would return it. :glare: Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 we never used the CD either. dd didn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I just listened to a sample, and yeah, I couldn't do that. They're not in tune with each other in some spots! *shudder* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Me! A friend lent it to me. We won't be using it. (We need a cringing smilie) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossFitMama Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Anybody know if the Greek version is any better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Bummer :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I love most of CAP's materials, but SSL is a definite exception. Anybody know if the Greek version is any better? You can listen to samples here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) Bummer :glare: Yes, that is exactly how I feel about it... because I like the idea of singing Latin with young children because the songs themselves truly are catchy (IMO) because my children learn so well with music Also, I like the book part of the product (quite a bit). I like the company. I like Latin. :D I just dislike the CD. Sigh. We still might use the program, but I could never pop in that CD and say, "Hey, girls, come listen to these Latin phrases that have been sung so nicely to rich background music." It isn't the lyrics or the tunes that turn me off, it's the guitar strumming, the irritating tambourine, and the flat, off-synch (and inconsistently pronounced) singing. In fact, my oldest daughter heard part of the CD and (with zero input from me) said, "Mommy, those people do NOT know how to sing. I hope that's not something you plan on using to homeschool me." :toetap05: :lol: I played it for my husband. He said, "Oh, that is painful. Nails on a chalkboard." :) Maybe we'll record our own version (for home use only). ;) Edited June 29, 2011 by Sahamamama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I have to say the songs don't really float my boat, but my kids LOVE them.:001_huh: So I am doomed to listen to them over and over and over....:blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinlunachick Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I pick and choose. Some of them seem incredibly lame and awful and others are okay. My biggest beef so far is that the copywork is all D'Nealian style, so I wind up recopying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrightmom Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 My kids really really despise the SSL cd. It's shelved.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Sigh. I do not understand why would anyone "fabricate" songs like that when there are some traditional Latin songs which are a part of Western university heritage (think Gaudeamus igitur, an informal academic 'hymn'), when there are musically adapted Carmina Burana (okay, some of that may thematically not be very suited for kids - but hey, on the other hand, there is :tongue_smilie:). Then you have some nice Latin chants from the Catholic tradition, some of that adapted into broader musical tradition; you have Mozart's and Verdi's Requiem... In other words, maybe not much, but there is definitely SOMETHING relatively authentic out there and there is no need to "fabricate" songs. You can expose your children to Latin AND great music that way - and go with them over the Latin text translating it to English to give them an idea of what they are singing, while at the same time they are formally learning Latin. From my experience, kids take it well - EVEN Dies irae and Fortunae plango vulnera. You may wish to try that method instead of SSL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I wasn't a fan of SSL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I was all set to buy SSL, and then I had the fortunate idea of having my son listen to an online sample. I was SURE he would love it, he loves music, he chants along with his older sister's Latin for Children DVDs, so how could SSL be a miss? He listened to it for about 2 seconds and declared he hated it. Thank goodness for online samples! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewLittleTime Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Thanks for this thread! You guys just saved me some money. DH will be pleased about that! ;);) I have thought about getting SSL for my middle ds to use, but after your reviews I'll stick with our original plan of starting with LFC in grade 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAmom Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Oh no! I thought it was well-liked and used by many?! How could I have been stupid enough to buy it and not LISTEN to samples!!! Ugh. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gailmegan Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I hated all of it and so did my boys. Music was terrible and learning vocabulary outside of grammar/structure was a huge waste of time. But there are people who really like it - it just wasn't a good fit for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 My girls love the songs. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeghanL Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I'll be the lone dissenting voice and state that we loved it! If you don't like the music on the CD, just listen to it long enough to get the melody of the song and then just sing it yourself. It's actually not a bad way to make sure your child(ren) are actually learning the song too! :) We had Sapien, the sock monkey foreign exchange student stay with us. He only spoke Latin and would greet my child on Latin days. Then they would sing the song together, learn the vocab words and have a conversation, using as many review words as we could creatively fit in! I had heard somewhere that kids are more motivated to learn a foreign language if there is someone in their life that only speaks that language. Since we didn't have this for Latin, we just created it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Sigh. I do not understand why would anyone "fabricate" songs like that when there are some traditional Latin songs which are a part of Western university heritage (think Gaudeamus igitur, an informal academic 'hymn'), ... My kids love Gaudeamus Igitur and sing it frequently. When DS9 was 6 we were at Latin Mass and DS started singing Gaudeamus Igitur during one of the readings. Several people in the church, including the priest, knew the song and joined in. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Oh no! I thought it was well-liked and used by many?! How could I have been stupid enough to buy it and not LISTEN to samples!!! Ugh. :glare: It is well liked and used by many :001_smile:. I think it's cute, my younger boys enjoy the songs, and they remember what they're singing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 The quality annoys me, but after playing it only one time in the car, the kids were singing the songs and remembering the lessons on them, and asking for more information...so it works for them. They also enjoy the silly casualness of the singers. I think they like that it is not "perfect". Also, some of the tunes showed up in our violin lesson books and DS1 got a real kick out of that....started singing the SSL songs during his violin lesson...and told the violin teacher, "those are LATIN words !" which totally flipped her out :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Most (I want to say all except for the ABC song and a few chants) are piggy back songs, so it's fairly easy to figure out what the melody is and just sing them. It's not the highest quality music, but my DD enjoyed the songs and picked up on them quickly, at which point we could just SING them ourselves. And it's not nearly as bad as many other children's music recordings, sad to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I'll be the lone dissenting voice and state that we loved it! You're not the lone voice at all, Meghan, we -- I -- love Song School Latin. We use the pronunciation on the first 30 tracks. Not the second. I listened to the second 30 tracks yesterday and thought they sounded bad. But maybe that's only because I'm used to hearing the first 30. I thought for my second graders just being introduced to Latin that this curriculum was gentle and sweet. And we'll come out of it knowing. . . what? . . . 50 to 80 Latin words? I think that's pretty neat. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 The music sucks and sounds annoying but my dds LOVE it and sing along. We made up little dances to go with the songs and now my 5 year old likes to switch out words with their Latin names. The other day I heard her playing with her dolls and calling them mater, pater, soror, frater. The other day I called for her that dinner was ready and she asked if she should sit at the mensa or the counter. I love seeing her take what she's learned and incorporating it in how she plays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamachanse Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 My kids love it and it doesn't bother me. Of course I have no rhythm and can't keep a beat. I guess you could say I can barely listen to music correctly, let alone make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 My kids love Gaudeamus Igitur and sing it frequently. When DS9 was 6 we were at Latin Mass and DS started singing Gaudeamus Igitur during one of the readings. Several people in the church, including the priest, knew the song and joined in. :lol: Aww, cute. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 Sigh. I do not understand why would anyone "fabricate" songs like that when there are some traditional Latin songs which are a part of Western university heritage (think Gaudeamus igitur, an informal academic 'hymn'), when there are musically adapted Carmina Burana (okay, some of that may thematically not be very suited for kids - but hey, on the other hand, there is :tongue_smilie:). Then you have some nice Latin chants from the Catholic tradition, some of that adapted into broader musical tradition; you have Mozart's and Verdi's Requiem... In other words, maybe not much, but there is definitely SOMETHING relatively authentic out there and there is no need to "fabricate" songs. You can expose your children to Latin AND great music that way - and go with them over the Latin text translating it to English to give them an idea of what they are singing, while at the same time they are formally learning Latin. From my experience, kids take it well - EVEN Dies irae and Fortunae plango vulnera. You may wish to try that method instead of SSL. We do have Lingua Angelica and I like to sing Gaudeamus igitur while washing the breakfast dishes, as the family stares on. :001_huh: The song is so lively, no one can be depressed while singing that song. We also enjoy singing other real Latin music, so I think you have nailed part of the reason why I don't care for SSL. It's not just the (poor) quality of the singing, it is the whole concept of the product. Thanks, EM. What other Latin hymns, prayers, and songs do you recommend for beginning students? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappyhappymama Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I love it for what it is... a catchy way to teach very young children a little Latin. I must say, my kids love it. And they throw a little Latin into their conversation, which I appreciate. A few nights ago, crashing on a couch after a day at Six Flags, my six year old sighed, "Sum optime." My kids get lots of exposure to "good" music and lyricism. I don't mind something silly and a little campy to introduce them to Latin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 What other Latin hymns, prayers, and songs do you recommend for beginning students? :bigear: I'm not Ester Maria, but I thought I'd share a few ideas. Here are some Catholic prayers in Latin. There are a number of hymns and other songs in Latin on YouTube. I've tried to link ones that include the words. Click on "show more" to see the lyrics There's lots of Gregorian chant on this channel. J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor is :001_wub:, and as Ester Maria mentioned, there's also Carmina Burana and Verdi's Requim. Christmas carols such as Adeste Fideles and Veni, Emmanuel are great, although not for this time of year. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenmama2 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 And it's not nearly as bad as many other children's music recordings, sad to say. Sadly very true. I don't mind it at all for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I love it for what it is... a catchy way to teach very young children a little Latin. I must say, my kids love it. And they throw a little Latin into their conversation, which I appreciate. A few nights ago, crashing on a couch after a day at Six Flags, my six year old sighed, "Sum optime." My kids get lots of exposure to "good" music and lyricism. I don't mind something silly and a little campy to introduce them to Latin. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I don't know. I thought it was okay. I agree some were lame, and there were some my girls really enjoyed. I'll admit the songs made some of the Latin stick in my head. LOL My girls really enjoyed listening to it. So much so we lost the CD. So if anyone here has the CD we would love to take it off your hands. :>) Honestly I have to look at it, its not for my entertainment. Its meant for young children and I've heard much worse quality than what it used in the program. If my children enjoy it then that's all that matters :>) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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