Kate in Arabia Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 My rising 9th grader has shown some interest in learning German. We already study Arabic formally, I think he will have a full schedule next year academically, so I wanted to find something he could do as a fun thing (no credit, or perhaps partial credit). Also preferably something that was inexpensive ;) . If he really takes a shine to it then maybe we can reconsider it as a possible elective in subsequent years.. Any ideas? Also, are there students here studying two foreign languages at once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hi Kate, Our children study two languages and sometimes 3 at once...It's very common in Europe - probably many parts of the world considering all the dialects. What do they do in Arabia? It's also much more important outside of the US - economically and socially. German - I don't know what you consider expensive, and I know some people find the grammar wanting, but I think OSU German is very good - esp the first two levels which use as many of the senses and as much of the brain as possible to get you thinking in German. It's 250 for homeschool students for level 1 - 4 (each)...I find it the most engaging way of learning the language and I've tried Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, and other off the shelf type products. (Though those aren't bad as precursors - it's hard to measure real progress and there are no 'checks' while OSU has all these little uncounted quizzes built into the program.) Both my entirely home educated children would recommend it as well. And their attitude towards German has been positive MUCH sooner than their sibs who learned it in public school - who weren't positive about the language til they left school and needed it for work or applications. Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) My dc' s both are doing latin and Biblical Greek. They do German with dh because he is fluent. Dd is doing French on her own. She will also go back and finish her Gaelic( Scots) course for a credit at some point. She should end up at igcse level at least for the above. Latin she will complete or Henle or Cambridge series-- currently doing both. If my son completes his Latin -- I will be thrilled. Greek to any skill level -- great. As for German survival on a holiday is the aim for him. He does not enjoy his language studies at all. The odd thing is he is reasonably good at it. We have not found a good German curriculum and this is our weak spot. We are using a combination of the vocabilary lists, the German made simple book -- which we like, and gcse review materials. The main part of are curriculum is conversation with dh. I would also love to find a good inexpensive German course. Just a recommendation for a good grammer workbook would be lovely. I hope this helps some. Edited April 30, 2012 by sawuk correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks to both of you. Most schools here are English-medium, they require Arabic but from what I've heard in most cases the instruction is quite poor. I don't know about high school, I assume some is offered. Most of the expats I know who are native speakers of languages other than English work to find tutors or co-ops for their languages. There are a number of language-learning institutes. I'm talking about private schools here, the public schools are Arabic medium, and I think they have the converse issue with teaching English. Ds has expressed his interest several times. I'm not really sure where it's coming from; I am of German descent (partially), and I have a minor in German language, but I have not used it at all in many years (unfortunately). We have German neighbors and German-speaking acquaintances here, so there would be some avenue for practice. I don't want to squash his interest, I want to give him the opportunity to explore it, but I don't want to commit him to it either by making it a formal class, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 DD11 is finishing 8th now so technically we shouldn't be on this forum yet. But she's been studying Chinese and Spanish for several years. We plan to continue through high school if time permits. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I don't want to squash his interest, I want to give him the opportunity to explore it, but I don't want to commit him to it either by making it a formal class, kwim? OSU gives a trial period. You don't pay right away. You might have to stop before they actually charge you - as sometimes it takes til the end of the level if you work fast - so check how long the trial actually is. I would give a go -just to see if he takes to it. IMHO :001_smile:, Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 DD11 is finishing 8th now so technically we shouldn't be on this forum yet. But she's been studying Chinese and Spanish for several years. We plan to continue through high school if time permits. :) That's funny, :D my own DD is also 11, also studying Chinese and Spanish (but that's on top of English and French!) Nice to see there's another one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Thanks Joan, that sounds like a good idea.. Cleo, how do you schedule that, lol? I can see already that my hyperness is going to cause me some trouble here.. I keep thinking, "one credit, one hour per day of schoolwork", but I know I'm thinking too constrained here. The umbrella school we use recommends abt 6 credits per year, and sets a limit of 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I keep thinking, "one credit, one hour per day of schoolwork", but I know I'm thinking too constrained here. The umbrella school we use recommends abt 6 credits per year, and sets a limit of 9. Generally in the US, 'one' hour is actually 45 or 50 minutes. Credits in the US are a tricky thing as there are different definitions for how many 'hours' per year are needed for a 'credit'. You could research old threads as this has been discussed several times. About OSU, since the levels are each considered worth a US high school credit, it is enough to finish the work for a credit. My daughter has managed to do German II in about 5 months, working 4 x 60 min/week plus a 15-20 phone session. She really likes it and is quite focused. You should check with the umbrella school if they will accept the German credit as is vs an hour approach. But if you might later want to cancel OSU and go to something else for German, you should still keep track of the hours until you are decided... You could also do 1/2 a credit a year for 4 years... The credit system is fairly messy in the US as for a 'school' there is frequently homework etc. so the number of hours is not always the same...Eg, my son was doing many hours of math homework for precalc and calculus....but still only got 1 credit each... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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