High School Spanish: SOS, BJU or Rosetta Stone?

[sue]

Has anyone used SOS, BJU, or Rosetta Stone? How would you rate them?

[Michelle in GA]

We tried Rosetta Stone, and it was wonderful, but due to the lack of grammar instruction, I consider RS to be a great supplement--and that is how we are using it now. Our main program is BJU Spanish with the DVDs. It is thorough, and it covers all the typical topics found in a first year high school Spanish course. Having a teacher "teach" the course was an absolute must for me as well.

 

I have also heard great things about SOS. The only negative I have heard, is that SOS can take a lot time to complete.

[periwinkle]

is the only one I can address.

 

It is a terrific program for a quick student who is able to learn from computer-based programs. My oldest ds used it with superior results.

 

That said, it may not be for everyone. For example, I had difficulty with SOS Spanish, probably because I struggle learning almost anything with video instruction-I need a book in my hands to process information. This may be because I am extremely left-brained; I'm not sure (maybe I am just old!:D) Also, I chose not to use SOS Spanish with my middle ds, who learns at a slow pace.

 

hth!

[sue]

What do you need to purchase for BJ Spanish 1? They have the essential supplies and then recommended. This is what they have.

 

Spanish 1 Subject Kit (grades 9-12) $240.50

Spanish 1 Essential Materials - HS

Spanish 1 CD Set (grades 9-12) $113.50

Spanish 1 Activity Manual (2nd ed.) (grades 9-12) $18.00

Spanish 1 Activity Manual Teacher's Edition (2nd ed.) (Gr. 9-12) $20.50

Spanish 1 Student Text (2nd ed.) (grades 9–12) $35.00

Spanish 1 Teacher's Edition (2nd ed.) (grades 9-12) $45.00

 

Spanish 1 Recommended Materials - HS

Spanish 1 Video Supplement $29.97

Spanish 1 DVD Supplement $49.95

Larousse Spanish/English Dictionary (grades 9-12) $12.95

Santa Biblia (Reina Valera version, 1960) (grades 9-12) $9.95

Spanish 1 Resource Materials - HS

[LynnG in Arizona]

We tried Rosetta Stone, and it was wonderful, but due to the lack of grammar instruction, I consider RS to be a great supplement--and that is how we are using it now. Our main program is BJU Spanish with the DVDs. It is thorough, and it covers all the typical topics found in a first year high school Spanish course. Having a teacher "teach" the course was an absolute must for me as well.

 

 

I am rushing right now, but will pretty much ditto everything that Michelle has written.

 

We've done 2 years of BJU Spanish with the DVDs and been quite pleased. We use RS as a great supplement. But honestly, BJU provides at least 90% of their Spanish instruction.

 

HTH!

[MyThreeSons]

FWIW: We have a retired high school Spanish teacher who teaches Spanish at our co-op. She just did a review of the curricula available and has decided to stick with BJU. She had mentioned a couple of times that she'd prefer they taught a couple of things in a different order, but she hasn't found anything better out there now. Maybe some day she'll follow thru on her "threat" to write her own material ....

[Lorna in the boonies]

We used SOS Spanish for one semester (after reading wonderful reviews on the old boards), but it wasn't a good fit with my daughter. She didn't like it at all, and we found that the program was finicky about typing things 'just so' or they would be counted wrong (even if they were perfectly acceptable answers). (We were having keyboard issues at the time, too, and I'm certain that made it a little more frustrating for my daughter than it would have been under normal circumstances.)

 

We switched to BJU last year (using the live satellite classes) and have been very pleased. We'll be sticking with it next year for Spanish II, and I plan on putting my two younger kids in it when the time comes, as well.

 

(I don't know what you would need, material-wise, if you were doing the course on your own. With the satellite class, we had the student book, the teacher's manual, the activities manual, the TM for the activities manual, and the Spanish/English dictionary, and that was plenty. I would think you might need some of the other things if you plan on going it alone, though.)

 

We only tried a few units of RS (several years ago, when you could still access it for free from a library's website) and, while my kids enjoyed playing with it for a short while, they didn't seem to retain a whole lot and got bored with the format before very long. I know a lot of other families who love it, though.