Do You Let Your Children Choose Their Foreign Language Option?

[Jumping In Puddles]

My husband wants the kids to learn Spanish and we know a Spanish boy (about 13 years old) who could come over after school one or two days a week and speak spanish to the kids and teach them some basics.

 

He thinks Spanish will be the most important language for them because of how many Spanish speakers there are in this country.

 

Our local school district teaches Chinese starting in kindergarten. That language will be increasingly important in the future because of the rising status of china.

 

I want them to learn Italian because I'm from an Italian heritage (but don't speak the language) but this might not be as practical.

 

But my final thought is: shouldn't I wait until they learn about the world, then they can pick a language themselves?

 

BTW, they will start Latin in 2nd grade...

 

Your thoughts for your own children?

[8filltheheart]

My oldest was fluent in Portuguese, so we just helped him convert it to Spanish since they are very similar. Our #2 just sort of fell into Spanish b/c dh and I both know fundamental Spanish/Portuguese, so it just made sense.

 

#3 child really wanted to learn French. My family history is extremely French on both sides so I listened to her and we have spent this yr following her lead. (It is killing me b/c I am not learning it any where as easily as the three that are studying it!!!)

 

So, yes, I think that they should have some say. The reality is that as they get older they are going to become a lot more vocal about what they want to study. I personally believe that it should be a goal!! They need to be planning a future for themselves and exploring career options/educational requirements, etc. :)

[In The Great White North]

We picked for them.

 

They are learning German because half our relatives speak nothing else and we like to visit Switzerland and Germany.

 

They started with French because the school taught French and German.

 

When we started homeschooling, we dropped French and started Latin, because I thought it would teach them more and would be easier for me to teach (I don't know either.)

 

If they want to learn another, that's fine with me. I'll even buy the materials. But these two are non-negotiable, like math and English.

 

BTW, I doubt if the 13 year old will be able to teach them much unless he comes almost every day and speaks only Spanish. He's still in the learning stage himself, and will pass on colloquial Spanish, not progressively harder grammar and vocab. You will be more successful using a Spanish program too.

 

Would they take Chinese at the local school?

 

One of the benefits of starting languages early is that younger children have a much better chance of being able to pronounce it correctly than older children or adults. Chinese is notoriously difficult for English speakers to pronounce. If you have access to a native Chinese teacher at this age, they would have a far better chance of being able to pronounce it correctly.

 

Why not do both?

[Laura R (FL)]

I try to give my kids some say, but it's not always that easy.

 

We started with Latin because that's my personal choice for an academic subject. Later, they wanted to learn Spanish, so we bought an audio/video program. They learned a bit, but didn't want to continue with a formal program as they got older. In 8th grade, my dd could take foreign language for hs credit. The choices for us were Latin or Spanish in a classroom. She chose Latin.

 

She'd love to take French and my youngest wants to learn German, but I can't teach them and there are no tutors around. So, we're limited to Spanish, Latin, and Chinese on-line.

 

I think I would be more willing to let my kids have their way if I had someone to teach them a conversational language of their choice.

[sweetbaby]

Peeking in here for a sec. We allow our dc to pick them. They chose Spanish this year because big brother had been taking it but they quickly grew tiresome of it. We were thinking Spanish was a good choice also for the same reasons. But now, they would like to take Latin in the upcoming year and Dh finally agreed so Latin, it is. I try to go with their interests. Why push them to learn a language that they have no interest in? Makes no fun for me while teaching either.:D

[Greta]

Latin is required. But I told her she's free to choose whatever other language(s) she wants to learn. So far she has dabbled in Chinese and German. Dabbling is just fine as far as I'm concerned. My primary goal is that she's a fluent Latin reader by the time she graduates. The rest is icing.

 

But that's just me!

[Jumping In Puddles]

 

 

Would they take Chinese at the local school?

 

 

No, that Chinese program is during classes at the public school (they have a native Chinese speaker teach each class ) but I am *amazed* at the Chinese that some of their friends are learning at school. And a little jealous :o

[Laura Corin]

We have compulsory languages: Mandarin (until they leave home), Latin and French (until at least age 16). Hobbes insisted on learning Greek in addition, so we will do that until he loses interest. They can take up Spanish or another language later if they want.

 

Laura

[swellmomma]

My children have no choice about french or latin, but beyond that they can chose additional languages to learn. My son has chosen to start spanish asap, and they have all asked for chinese (both mandarin and cantonese) though I have requested they wait until we see how fitting 3 foreign languages works with our schedule before we worry about adding 2 more.

[nmoira]

Latin is compulsory, then there's a choice between Spanish and French (DH is American, I'm Canadian). After that it's completely up to them.

[Melanie]

My children had no choice about Latin, but I let them choose the second language, which we will begin this fall. My son chose ancient Greek, and my daughter chose Spanish. I hope they will each take an interest in the other's choice so they can study all three languages together, but I suppose that's just wishful thinking.

[Colleen in NS]

Your thoughts for your own children?

 

My thoughts for my own children are theories being tested....

 

We started with Latin in grade 3, and I want to continue until at least Henle 2. I've read over and over how learning Latin helps train the mind in many ways, which include training on how to learn another language. Sounded good to me!

 

Then, we are adding Spanish in grade 5 - my choice. Why Spanish when I live in eastern Canada where most other people seem to study French? 1. It seems like Spanish would be easier to learn along with Latin 2. I love the Spanish language (studied it for a year, spent time in Mexico, lived among Spanish speakers in NJ for a couple of years) and 3., right after dh and I decided on Spanish for our kids, we met TWO Spanish speakers, who just started coming to our church!!! I'd never met a Spanish speaker in this area before. Since then, I've noticed other Spanish speakers arriving in this province. And saw on the news one night that Mexicans are immigrating to Canada as well as the States.

 

So, I figure if the kids learn Latin, and learn the modern language of Spanish (conversational and grammar/vocab.), they'll learn how to learn a language (this is the theoretical part being tried out now, LOL). Then they can go on and learn other languages for the rest of their lives as they choose. I just wanted the first ancient and modern languages to be positive, structured experiences, to give them a foundation of learning languages.

[Karen in TN]

My ds is interested and enthusiastic about learning languages, so he has a lot of say in what he wants to do. I started him in K with Spanish because I thought it was the most useful where we live. In 4th grade we added Latin. Now that we've had some Latin exposure (completed Latin Road vol. 1), he wants to drop it and start French along with Spanish, which I'm fine with. I would NOT want him to drop a language in the middle of a program, but otherwise I'm inclined to go with his interests.

 

I personally didn't want to wait to start a modern language, because of all the research that says the younger years are the best time to learn a second language.

 

Karen

[Karen in TN]

#3 child really wanted to learn French. My family history is extremely French on both sides so I listened to her and we have spent this yr following her lead. (It is killing me b/c I am not learning it any where as easily as the three that are studying it!!!)

 

 

 

with Latin. I get the grammar concepts faster, but he by far outpaces me in memorizing vocabulary and declension/conjugation endings. I'm not sure if it's the different way our brains are wired, or whether my brain is just slowing down with age!

 

Karen

[mommaduck]

There are certain languages we will insist they learn (sign, Greek, and eventually Hebrew). They get to choose a language also.

[summer]

I do let my children pick.

 

I believe it is a fallacy that it is important to learn Spanish. The most common language in the world is Mandarin Chinese. Spanish may be common to some areas of the US, but I live in Texas and know more people struggling to learn English who have Chinese, Russian, or Finnish as their first language. This is amazing as my own brother married someone who is Hispanic and her own mother did not speak English but she speaks it fine. They did not allow their children to take Spanish because they felt their children were often discriminated against and repressed in school based by the fact that they looked hispanic. They were placed in ESL classes even though they did not have a hispanic last name (our surname is German, but ends in -es so some stupid people decided to assign my brother's children to a life of lawn mowing). My brother and SIL was constantly having to fight with the schools and my brother, who took Spanish in high school in Iowa, decided it was best for him to get a blank look on his face when they tried to speak to him in Spanish. They would send home books from school written all in Spanish!! I agree with my brother. I believe in equality and I do not like how they were treated based on the color of their skin. If my children really wanted to learn Spanish, I would let them. But they do not and we certainly will never require it. Honestly, we have never needed anyway as much as we could have used Chinese, Russian, or Finnish here.

[EKS]

They must learn Latin, Spanish, and how to read Hebrew. If they want to learn something else on top of those, that's up to them.

[Mamagistra]

Here, Latin and Greek are non-negotiable. ;) We've just added French, which I chose because I can speak it.

 

I do hope they'll desire to learn Spanish at some point since it is so useful, however, I'll gladly teach them whatever they want to learn. :001_smile:

[Laura Corin]

I do let my children pick.

 

I believe it is a fallacy that it is important to learn Spanish. The most common language in the world is Mandarin Chinese.

 

This table is useful. Mandarin is the largest by population, but has very few countries, and in most of those it is an immigrant language (spoken by the minority Chinese community). The only countries where Mandarin is the lingua franca are Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore (and English is just as important as Mandarin in Singapore).

 

The second language on the list is English, then Spanish, which has both population and numbers of countries - the main language in most countries in Central and South America, as well as Spain.

 

My boys will be learning French just because I have a degree in it, and we learn Mandarin because of where we are. Given the difficulty of becoming fluent in speaking and writing Mandarin, I think Spanish is a better choice for most people who do not have an immersion opportunity.

 

Laura

[dalynnrmc]

I haven't read the other responses, but with my kids, we are doing Latin, Spanish, and American Sign Language in the elementary and junior high years.

 

Latin because it's the basis of many languages, Spanish because we're in south Texas and need it, and ASL because of some speech delay issues as well as it being useful in their future lives.

 

When they get to high school, I plan to let them pick whatever language they want. (I will probably guide them gently into Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic for Biblical studies. For French - an interest of my oldest ds, German - dh's heritage, or any of the pictoral oriental languages - for interest and world usefulness sake, they can persue on their own or in college! LOL)

[Peela]

I picked for mine.

I learned French and Latin at school, so those are the two languages we do.

If my kids showed a strong inclination to learn a particular language, and the motivation to learn it, I would be happy to drop French and let them do the language they preferred. But they don't, so they learn the one I am most familiar with, so I don't have to learn another language from scratch, which I don't have the inclination to do.

[covenant.christian]

What the universities will accept. Some of the ones my teens have looked into will only take the basics of German, French, or Spanish.

[probablytracy]

and is they want to learn something else on their own, fine!

[Beth in Central TX]

We started Latin & Greek with our boys in 3rd grade for our oldest and 2nd grade for our middle son. They will continue both languages together until they graduate. If they want to add another foreign language as an elective in junior high or high school, I'm all for letting them pick what to study. However, Latin & Greek are mandatory. My oldest son has expressed a desire to learn Hebrew.

[elegantlion]

My ds took a Spanish enrichment class in 1st grade. So this year he asked to continue Spanish, which I know a little, so we started Spanish. Then he asked for French and we switched. Then he decided he didn't want to do French :confused:. So, now he doesn't get a choice.

 

We are doing Latin and introducing the Greek alphabet next year, so we will take a break from modern languages.

 

We will probably continue with gentle exposure into Spanish and French. We also have the Klingon dictionary, so we know a little Klingon as well.:D

[Plaid Dad]

Latin and Greek are givens for us, but I would be happy to let dd choose another language she's interested in. If all things were equal, I'd prefer that to be a language I've already studied myself, but if not, then not. :)