A "normal" French curriculum -- BJU or ...?

[Gwen in VA]

I am looking for a conventional French curriculum. We have done Rosetta Stone, French in Action, and the Learnables with my older children, and this time I want a French curriculum that more closely resembles what I had in high school -- a textbook, a workbook, tests, and some CD's to help with pronunciation. In other words -- traditional and not fancy.

 

I have had umpteen years of French in high school and college, so I can use a curriculum that depends on the teacher knowing French.

 

BJU French 1 looks like it might fulfill the requirements.

 

1) Has anyone used BJU's French? Were you happy with it? Any feedback would be appreciated.

2) Has anyone used other more "public school" French programs? I would appreciate any recommendations.

[amtmcm]

We started with BJU French and made it half-way through the book then switched to Breaking the Barrier.

 

BJU is fine, but here were my complaints:

 

1) There is very little instruction in the student text. It is meant to be taught on a daily basis by a teacher. My DD would have been better off just reading the Teacher's Edition and skipping the student text.

 

2) There is no vocabulary list. You have to write your own list (or download one available on the internet) from the words scattered throughout each chapter.

 

3) The CD's do not pronounce every new word. About 80% of the words are pronounced on the CD's and the others are left up to the student to figure out how to pronounce. I saw this as the biggest failing and my DD's pronunciation was suffering.

 

Breaking the Barrier has other issues, but it addressed all of my complaints with BJU. Each chapter starts with a vocabulary list and every word on the list is pronounced on the CD. And the instruction is written directly to the student - you don't even need a TE, just the answer key. The main issues I see with this text is there are no pictures, minimal application and a few errors in the book. We are using a weekly tutor found on VerbalPlanet who fills in all of these gaps.

 

I don't disklike the BJU text, in fact I'm keeping it for possible use with my younger DD. But If I used it again I would pay for the BJU DVD's to provide daily instruction and pronunciation.

 

Hope this helps....

[JanetC]

Francais Interactif, from University of Texas.

 

Textbook (read online PDF or order printed copy), grammar book (online, but can print pages as needed), online or download-via-itunes audio for both books, and video.

 

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/

 

It's college level, so completing the whole course is 2 years of high school French.

 

--Janet

[Musicmom]

We started with BJU French and made it half-way through the book then switched to Breaking the Barrier.

 

BJU is fine, but here were my complaints:

 

1) There is very little instruction in the student text. It is meant to be taught on a daily basis by a teacher. My DD would have been better off just reading the Teacher's Edition and skipping the student text.

 

2) There is no vocabulary list. You have to write your own list (or download one available on the internet) from the words scattered throughout each chapter.

 

3) The CD's do not pronounce every new word. About 80% of the words are pronounced on the CD's and the others are left up to the student to figure out how to pronounce. I saw this as the biggest failing and my DD's pronunciation was suffering.

 

Breaking the Barrier has other issues, but it addressed all of my complaints with BJU. Each chapter starts with a vocabulary list and every word on the list is pronounced on the CD. And the instruction is written directly to the student - you don't even need a TE, just the answer key. The main issues I see with this text is there are no pictures, minimal application and a few errors in the book. We are using a weekly tutor found on VerbalPlanet who fills in all of these gaps.

 

I don't disklike the BJU text, in fact I'm keeping it for possible use with my younger DD. But If I used it again I would pay for the BJU DVD's to provide daily instruction and pronunciation.

 

Hope this helps....

We used BJU for a year (ds doing French 2, and dd doing French 1), and it IS very good, but I agree with the assessment above (except I think there is a vocabulary list at the beginning of each chapter.) You really have to be up for doing your own lesson planning and teaching it daily to get the most out of it.

 

We switched to Breaking the Barrier the following year, as that was easier on me and more straightforward for my dc. But... if traditional textbook materials designed for classroom use are what you're looking for, BJU is good.

[Laura Corin]

Galore Park French might fit your needs. I found it traditional and efficient.

 

Laura

[Mom22ns]

Breaking the Barrier French is pretty traditional. It is a workbook and CDs with tests available.

[Gwen in VA]

Both Breaking the Barrier and Galore Park look interesting -- I will keep on researching them.

 

I also found Discovering French Nouveau, which looks possible.

 

So many choices. And since foreign language teaching can start at any age, just trying to figure out what level is "real" high school (as opposed to a year of middle school or earlier) is quite a trick!

 

Thank you -- I'm open to any other suggestions!

[Nan in Mass]

French the Easy Way? Cheap. Written to the student. High school level. Definately not fancy. I'm not necessarily recommending it but just giving you more choices.

 

Nan

[Laura Corin]

 

So many choices. And since foreign language teaching can start at any age, just trying to figure out what level is "real" high school (as opposed to a year of middle school or earlier) is quite a trick!

 

 

The UK foreign language learning system is different. Most pupils will start with a course like GP at about age eleven or twelve. The three GP books would normally be done over ages 11-12, 12-13 and 13-14. At that point, in England, a university-bound pupil would continue with French for at least another two years using what would be described as a GCSE course.

 

At sixteen, after passing the GCSE exam, the pupil would choose whether to continue with French. If s/he wanted to, then the next course would be called A-level, divided into AS level (age 16-17) and A2 level (age 17-18). At that point, the pupil would have studied some French literature (I remember studying Candide) and be ready to enter University to study French, if s/he wants. It is very roughly AP standard.

 

So, the three years of GP French are used in England for age 11-14, but how they relate to US high school learning is going to be hard to work out. I think that looking at the sample chapters on the GP website and the tables of contents may be your only way of trying to align them with what you are used to.

 

Laura

Edited May 10, 2012 by Laura Corin

[Julie in MN]

French the Easy Way? Cheap. Written to the student. High school level. Definately not fancy. I'm not necessarily recommending it but just giving you more choices.

 

Nan

 

Not sure it's the full program you're looking for, but this is a workbook I've used with 2 students now, and it can be paired with anything else you're doing for French. It's now called E-Z French. I've used it for French 2 and only gotten through half the book or so each time, so I imagine it would cover French 3 (along with other components).

[Gretchen in NO. CA]

I don't know any French. I took Spanish in high school and college and my older 3 have taken Spanish and I was able to help them some. My soon-to-be 9th grader wants to do French. Could she do Rosetta Stone and Breaking the Barrier with very little/no help from me?

Thanks,

Gretchen in No. CA

[Nan in Mass]

The first book is French 1. I have a second one (French the Easy Way 2) that is the older version of Julie's (I think). It is meant as SAT2 prep so it moves fast. It has some vocab and lots of grammar and phrases. I agree with Julie that if you made it through both books you could give credit for French 1-3. Book 2 (at least mine) is definately more of a review/suppliment, less of a full program. Book 1, however, I think would be fine as high school French 1, especially if you watched those pbs free French class movies to suppliment as listening practice and did the occasional drill orally. It has conversations, vocab, and grammar in each chapter. I would look at a modern version of book 2, though, to make sure that it continued in the same fashion if I wanted more than one year. Gwen, if you need a review, I recommend The Ulitmate French Review and Practice. It isn't meant for building vocabulary (like foods and animals and weather) but it is good for reminding one of one's grammar.

 

Nan

[Gwen in VA]

Wow -- great suggestions all. Now I need to do some serious research!

 

Hopefully I will just need French 1. In an ideal world, dd2 would take French 101 & 102 at our local 4-year college during her senior year. But homeschooling involves enough bashing of one's head against a brick wall that I should probably keep an eye out for what is out there for French 2 as well.

 

Now to see about selling all of our (many) Latin books/resources! (This is my youngest, so I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our family will not be doing Latin again!)

[Julie in MN]

The first book is French 1. I have a second one (French the Easy Way 2) that is the older version of Julie's (I think). It is meant as SAT2 prep so it moves fast. It has some vocab and lots of grammar and phrases. I agree with Julie that if you made it through both books you could give credit for French 1-3. Book 2 (at least mine) is definately more of a review/suppliment, less of a full program. Book 1, however, I think would be fine as high school French 1, especially if you watched those pbs free French class movies to suppliment as listening practice and did the occasional drill orally. It has conversations, vocab, and grammar in each chapter. I would look at a modern version of book 2, though, to make sure that it continued in the same fashion if I wanted more than one year.

 

Sorry to digress from the OP, but I do mention this workbook a lot so I want to check out this info from Nan.

 

My dd did "French the Easy Way" (blue cover with yellow circle) and my ds is doing "E-Z French" http://www.amazon.com/E-Z-French-Barrons-Series/dp/0764144553/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1336680774&sr=8-4, both by Barrons. They are pretty much identical, one chapter name is different, a few more pages in one. Both have well over 450 pages. Both cost around $15 each (with answer key inside).

 

The first half of these books (maybe 200 pages) has tons on verbs plus a few other basics (e.g. numbers), and that is my understanding of what French 2 takes you through. The second half of these books covers the rest - topics on pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and other misc.

 

(And yes, each chapter has vocab and conversations to read, etc. And my kids also did audio programs, dd used Pimsleur and others, and ds is using Rosetta.)

 

I have had French teachers check my children's progress after French 2, but I just want to make sure I'm not recommending a different book than others might get. Nan, is this the book you are mentioning as "French 1" or something different?

 

Julie

Edited May 10, 2012 by Julie in MN

[SuperDad]

I like Breaking the Barrier.

[mdhomeschool]

We used Discovering French (rouge) for French 3 this year. Traditional school textbook/workbook combo. It worked fine for us.

[Janice in NJ]

Hi Gwen,

 

My kids used BJU French with the DVD's; I don't speak the language. It worked well here. They have moved on to Potter's School classes for the upper levels; Madame S. runs a great program.

 

I wouldn't recommend it for your situation though unless you are planning to do two levels in one year; I would stick with the local uni class. The course is designed for younger kids so the pace is probably too gentle for your goals. It's a GREAT course for a high school Freshman; the course is truly a very full credit. But probably not what you're looking for - especially if your dd needs (wants?) to test out at a higher level in order to progress through a uni program. It's unlikely she would test out of French I at university after one year of BJU. It might cause a hick-up later on if she has too many levels of foreign language to squeeze in. (Especially if she is looking at a double major or an aggressive minor.)

 

I would go with at least one semester of the university class her senior year. Your kids are sharp; I'm sure she can handle the pace - even if her schedule won't allow two semesters of study her senior year. If you decide to go with BJU, you might try to accelerate through book one and jump into book two during the spring semester. (There is plenty of review at the beginning of book two.) That might get you there as well.

 

Peace,

Janice

[yvonne]

I just went through a search for a regular, textbook French program, too. I looked at a number of private school websites to see what they were using.

 

I purchased the BJU French I, and it looks ok.

 

The highest rated public school here in Silicon Valley uses Bien Dit. (The middle school uses Bien Dit Level 1 over two years. The high school uses Level 1 for 9th and Level 2 for 10th.)

 

My old private, college prep high school currently uses Deux Mondes.

 

My oldest are rising 7th graders, the Deux Mondes text is $$$, and I'll probably be able to find a local tutor who has experience with Bien Dit, so, at this point, I'm planning to use Bien Dit in the fall.