camikins2010 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Need advice on this one. Tried using Rosetta Stone and other CD type curriculum, my girls just get bored with it just after a few lessons. Thinking about trying an online course. But a friend of mine said she plans on having her son go through a community college when they are in 11th grade and get a 2yr credit for HS plus college credit/s. Anyone done this? Pros/Cons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 We have used a variety of materials, CD courses with books and workbooks. It is very hard to self-study a foreign language, and some boredom is inevitable for a beginning learner; memorizing vocabulary and doing grammar drills are fun for very few students (it gets more fun once one is actually able to read real literature in the language). So, I would not accept being bored as an argument to ditch a course. We found that having a live tutor come once a week helped us stay on track and made a big difference. DD now currently enrolled in a French course at the university. It is much easier to learn a language when you have regular classes with a teacher who is proficient. If you have an opportunity to take a live class, that may be the easiest way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 We didn't find Rosetta Stone to be all that exciting. We also didn't learn that much from it, even though we got fairly far in it. You might try Pimsleur. My kids had the stamina to get all the way through 3 levels of Pimsleur. They learned a lot and never complained about boredom. We got it from the library so as to avoid the priceyness. There is no writing or reading in Pimsleur, but it does give you enough background that picking up a curriculum with reading and grammar later is a whole lot easier. Things just make sense. And while Pimsleur requires concentration, it doesn't really feel like work as much as other programs do. But if a live class is available and affordable that might be better. We've done both. For the first semester material, I don't know that the learning will be appreciably different between Pimsleur and a class, but students might be more motivated in a class. What language are you trying to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camikins2010 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 I would prefer they learn Spanish but they are interested in Latin. Will see what's available here locally, if not, maybe I will try an online class. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 You definitely do not need RS nor anything like it to learn Latin. Get one of those standard textbooks (Wheelock, Henle, etc.) and work through them on your own. For a stronger student, I recommend Wheelock, and there is a lot of support for it too. For a weaker or a younger student, I recommend Latin for the New Millennium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 But a friend of mine said she plans on having her son go through a community college when they are in 11th grade and get a 2yr credit for HS plus college credit/s. Anyone done this? Pros/Cons? This is our plan too. Since four semesters of foreign language at the CC will provide DD with the equivalent of 4 years of high school foreign language, it seems like the best use of her time. She'll have the intermediate level of language covered which is all the foreign language that will be needed for the majors she is likely to go into. Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Three dc have taken foreign language at a cc while they were in high school. They had no background in the languages before taking the courses. It was a lot of memorization, which took time, but they were glad they completed their foreign language requirement that way. My dd took four semesters of foreign language at the cc, which more than covered the requirements for her major. Plus, she was able to complete two year's of high school foreign language credit in one year, which appealed to her. My other dc met their high school and university foreign language reqs this way, too. It is a good use of time (high school and college credit at the same time), if your dc are prepared for the cc environment and the work required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Foreign language was one of the few classes we really struggled with at home. Yet, I really felt it was important for my kids. We ended up doing a mixture of online course, ps courses, and television courses for foreign language. This worked well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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