Joan in GE Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Hello to all other families using OSU German online....In the Teacher's Outline, it talks about partner and class activities...When both of mine were doing German, they would do those together (even though they were on different levels it was possible to use a text).Now that we only have one at home, she is not getting that extra speaking practice....So I started wondering about WTM folks whose students would be interested in doing that by online video chat.....It's probably easiest to work out with just one partner, but I thought that with this thread, people could meet each other whose students are at approx the same level, working at approx the same speed...My dd (13 yo) is on German II lesson 14, Info sheet 14.41, doing about 4 1/2 hrs/wk....so we would want a female who is at about that level, though the age doesn't have to be the same...The thread though is for people at any level. For German III, there are not specific activities listed in the outline (that I have seen), but people could quiz each other on vocab, practice conversations etc...Hopefully,Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VBCaroline Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Great idea, Joan! I'm pretty sure my 15 yo dd would like to have a German partner. She is also a German II student, and she loves learning the language. She spends a lot of time reading in German(she recently worked through a couple of Harry Potter books), she memorizes poetry and songs, she sends emails in German to a family friend, and she practices speaking whenever she gets the chance. Not sure exactly where she is in the lessons, but she is trying to finish German II by the end of January. She'd probably be willing to work on any activities with another student. Joan, if your daughter is interested, or if there are any other students looking for a practice partner, please send me a p.m. Dd is already on Skype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Yes, what a great idea! My dd is 12 (almost 13) and is in German II lesson 11. She'd like to have a speaking partner. She is not as advanced as VBCaroline's dd sounds (wow, Harry Potter in German! Impressive!) but she does well in all aspects of the course. She is doing about 4 hours of German per week but perhaps only 3 hours are OSU, as she is recently working through a German text book as well. We are on Skype too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Oh good!! But Caroline, my daughter is not reading long books yet. So it sounds like yours is the most advanced of the three and is also working at a faster pace and getting more practice. Maybe she'd want to practice with our daughters until someone more advanced comes along... Since there are three, they could take turns or even do it two times a week... Looks like the trick will also be the time zones...:) I think we're 9 hours ahead of BC.... What would work best for you all? Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Yes, those tricky time zones! :glare: If we went on at 9:00, that means 18:00 for you. We could backup an hour or forward one or two if it works better. My dd would be interested in Skyping once per week. Caroline, perhaps you can tell us where you're from. As for different levels, I remember in my last thread about OSU, there was a mom with a son in level three. I think it was Laura in CA ...??? In any case, it's a thought if Caroline's dd was looking for a higher level of conversation. If she's fine with our dd's being behind, that's great for us, but I wouldn't want my dd to hold her up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) My dd does her OSU German tutor time on Wed 8pm our time...So normally she would be done by 8:30 pm (11:30 your time Cleopatra/Dyan) and could talk with someone...Other days are possible, that's just the first that comes to mind and the easiest not to forget since they would all be out of our typical "school" hours.:) Caroline, since your daughter is farther ahead, if she is very interested in speaking practice and doesn't care if ours have less vocab, etc, she could do introductory type discussions with one or both, telling them about her interests and studies, etc, etc, while she is waiting for a more advanced speaking partner... We'll have to see how this goes, and what the girls want...it might take a little fine tuning. Joan ETA - Cleopatra (Dyan), I just reread your thread about OSU and saw that you had talked to Sabine but then they were still talking to your daughter in English, which I hadn't taken note of when recommending talking with Sabine. Have you since gotten it sorted out? Edited November 14, 2011 by Joan in Geneva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VBCaroline Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I think that puts us at 2:30 (EST in Virginia), and we are on the way to violin lessons. No worries, though. If anyone wants to chat on Skype, pm me, and we'll get in touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Joan, Yes, that Wednesday time should work for us. We'll just have to put up a reminder poster or something similar! ;) Yes, I have at least ironed out the conversational problems with OSU. In spite of not having consistently good Skype sessions with them, my dd's understanding is quite good. The only aspect I think she might struggle with at first is the initiation of conversation, not because she is unable to do it, but from lack of practice. Maybe we should have a basic plan for beginning, ie. reading the stories from the chapter they are on to each other, and perhaps having a set conversation initially so they can be somewhat comfortable to begin with (not set verbatim but have at least a topic in mind). What about having them write out something for translation in English or German.....??? Just throwing out some ideas! What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Hi Dyan, Ok, so we'll plan on tomorrow. Right now I'm getting ready for a big meeting with the local school authorities tomorrow afternoon, so I can't plan much for them just yet. But I should have time afterwards about two or three hours before the Skype session. Your suggestions seem fine to me. They could also email each other in German ahead of time to say what they are going to talk about generally. (We can give input of course). I'll pm you.:001_smile: Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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