A broad exposure to other languages...

[MaryE]

Hi all!

 

A little background first. This will be my 2nd year HSing DS9. He has not had any foreign language up to this point (other than his big sister annoying him by speaking her middle school Spanish to him;)), and he won't give me an opinion on what he'd like to learn. So here's my idea, and you folks tell me if you think it's viable...

 

I'd like him to have some background in Latin, just so he can understand English better. The Minimus books/CD look like a low key, fun introduction. We'd probably only do these for a year, maybe two. Then for deciding on a language, what if we took 4-6 weeks on several different ones using Mango (which is free from the library)? My thinking is, with a broad exposure, he could make a better choice of which one to pursue.

 

Do you think this would work, or would it be confusing?

[MaryE]

Bump!:)

[SorrelZG]

I would want more context for the language than some information on culture and etiquette. An overview of related history and where this language fits in to the world at large would be more helpful. For example, I had far more interest in French after learning that it is spoken in many countries that were once home to French colonies. It could get you through parts of Africa where it is a common second language. This kind of knowledge may or may not be inspiring but, for another example, I (not growing up in the Americas or Europe) thought Spanish would only be useful if I had plans to visit Spain or Mexico - so little did I know. :D Anyway, my main thought is that I think it would be profitable to pick up some related history and geography books, perhaps even related literature, while you're at the library borrowing Mango.

 

Were you thinking of doing this while doing Minimus or after? I'm also not sure Minimus would meet your goal for Latin or were you intending it to lead into something else? Someone who is more familiar with Minimus would have a better idea, obviously.

[MaryE]

I think this is a great idea. It would make things more like a unit study. For example, we're going to learn some basic Italian, therefore we also study geography, our family history there, culture, make food, etc. from that region.

 

Can anyone else speak to the wisdom or not of such a plan? Also, I'd love opinions on Minimus as an introduction to Latin, knowing that we would likely not continue on? (Is that blasphemy on this board? Sorry!)

[slackermom]

We have been doing something like this with DD, combining history and languages. We've studied Chinese history and some basic Mandarin, and the history of Europe, focusing on Gaelic when studying the Celts and Ireland, Latin (with Minimus) when studying the Roman Empire, and started French when studying the Middle Ages.

 

One of the books we have used is "French in 10 minutes a day," and very early on in the book there is a page of flags from all of the French-speaking countries. We looked for them on the globe. I intend to continue with the French history and language link as we go deeper into our study of the emergence of France as a power, their age of exploration, and up through the French and American Revolutions.

 

Given that approach, I imagine we will be getting to Spanish sooner or later, especially as we move our history focus to the Americas. DH speaks German too, so I will find a spot for that as well. Shifting around has not been confusing for DD. She loves seeing the links between Latin, French, and English. It has worked out well for us so far.

 

We did not finish Minimus, as I borrowed it from the library and had to return it, but DD asked if we could buy it. So, as soon as I can get it, Latin will recommence. Maybe in time for the Renaissance Period. :001_smile:

 

It is likely that DD will eventually attend a school where she will be required to take several years of Latin, so for now it is sufficient for her to have the exposure, and to have fun with it.

[Embassy]

I think it sounds like a good plan. Maybe he will discover a language he enjoys and be self-motivated to go on from there.

[Penguin]

You could also explore linguistics and move through language families (Romance, Germanic, Slavic, etc.) Right now, Kids Discover has Language for $1.99 and Ellen McHenry's Excavating English looks interesting.

 

 

 

Language tree links to check out:

http://www.danshort.com/ie/

 

http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/Indo_EuroLangHANDOUT.htm

[dbmamaz]

Oh, i did that at a private Quaker school in 7th grade, and then we had to pick a language to study in 8th grade! I loved it and chose German. but the high school German teacher was CRAZY so i switched to Italian.

[laf919]

My middle school offered a one semester course called "Exploratory Foreign Languages" that covered a bit of culture and languages together - I think we did French, Spanish, German, Latin, and Mandarin. More on French and Spanish as those were our 2 options to continue in second semester - but it was a good preview. So I think you would be fine.....

I am also using Minimus, and my dd loves it. It is slow going for us, and I would recommend that you start from the beginning with constructing some sort of dictionary/glossary of words learned to look back at - we didn't do this from the start, and by half way through the book were really wishing we had. DD is now going back and doing this as review before we move forward and finish, but if I had it to do over, we'd do it from the start. We just got a composition notebook and labeled the pages alphabetically two times through - once for English to Latin and once for Latin to English - and she writes down the vocab. words as we come to them. She really enjoys the story and is getting a good, fun introduction to the language.

[TriciaS]

I love the idea of exploring different languages and learning about their countries at the same time! I may have to work on something like that for next year! Thanks for bringing this idea up!!!