Sweetpeach Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Happy Holidays to the Hive! I think we've almost decided that our oldest will attend an IB program for his high school years. The IB program has a French language component (grouped in beginner, intermediate and advanced classes). The students that come out of public school (the core-french strand) do beginner high school French, the students that study late French Immersion do intermediate and native speakers/Early Immersion students do advanced work) My goal would be to have him do enough French in the next 18 months that he could manage the beginner class. I'm meeting with the IB Dept Head in the New Year so I'll be able to match up your suggestions with the pace of the beginner course he'll need to manage. I need a beginner French curriculum that covers all the bases (vocab, grammar, speaking/listening, translating) and has an online teacher component. We did two years of Lively Latin so I'm hoping it could be something along those lines, only for an older student. He'll be away for the month of March with his paddling club so this needs to be an independent curriculum that he can work at on his own. He'll have a computer and access to the internet while he's away. What does the hive recommend? Thank you in advance for your suggestions! Warmly, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3andme Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 So You Really Want to Learn French from Galore Park is a good choice for this age group. It takes a traditional grammar mixed with conversational French approach. There is an accompanying audio cd. This can be done independently but is designed for classroom use. There are 3 levels total but the 1st one would probably get you over the beginner hump. Another program with a similar approach but designed more for high school is Breaking the Barrier. From what I've read it starts easy but ramps up quickly. A few more options which are more immersion based and specifically designed for independent use would be Rosetta Stone and Fluenz. These are both computer/online programs. Fluenz includes more explicit grammar than Rosetta Stone. Another option which is highly recommended by many adult language learners in Europe is French with Ease (aka Assimil Method). This method uses a parallel French/English reader and audio cds. It requires only about 30 min a day of listening/reading practice. I also like the Learnables, which is an immersion based program. It's not as snazzy as RS or Fluenz but it's solid. Pimsleur and Michel Thomas are good introductory audio courses to get a feel for the accent and grammar. Pimsleur's expensive but can often be found through the public library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3andme Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 sorry double=post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Also, this: http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 You could look at Francais interactif online and free. I also like the Oli course, here http://oli.cmu.edu/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpeach Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Good Morning -- and thank you for the suggestions. Galore Park is on my radar, but I'll carefully sift through the suggestions and make a decision after I meet with the IB folks. Warmly, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 If you have any other questions about the IB, I'm happy to answer them. Calvin is in his first year of the two-year IB programme. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpeach Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 Howdy -- For Laura Corin, I am so nervous about sending him off to school. What if I failed him? What if I didn't do enough? What if every other kid is smarter than him and he tells me I didn't do a good enough job. I just want to lose my mind, but he's excited about the next thing and it will be what it will be. As for the french, I ordered Galore Park French from *RAY* at horrible books. What a great guy! He's also digging into the Carnegie link that cschnee added above. I'm happy he's motivated . . . We haven't done much by way of proper science, so next year will be a heavier focus there. He'll do AofPS Alg 2 and Geometry before he heads off to real school, so I hope he'll be adequately prepared for math. I can't believe I'm here with 18 months left of having my oldest at home full-time. I'll be the only highschool parent saying good-bye to the kid and boo-hoo'ing all the way back to the van. Cheers, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 I don't know anything about it, but I saw that MP First Start French is 50% off at Emmanuel Books right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Howdy -- For Laura Corin, I am so nervous about sending him off to school. What if I failed him? What if I didn't do enough? What if every other kid is smarter than him and he tells me I didn't do a good enough job. I just want to lose my mind, but he's excited about the next thing and it will be what it will be. I found the process pretty nerve-wracking. I calmed myself by getting as much information as possible. In your place, I'd ask the school if I could borrow the text books that his cohort are using now. Then you can look at levels, buy your own copies to use if necessary, and set your mind at rest. The things Calvin found hardest were actually not academic per se: getting used to the social life and being organised about moving from class to class/writing down homework assignments. He also had to get used to moving at the pace of the class - sometimes having to do extra work in his own time to keep up, sometimes having to stare out the window while others caught up in class. Calvin was also not used to studying in the evenings, so it took a while to really realise that homework was an obligatory part of the school day. Good luck with the process. Is he going in to study the six subjects that he will need for the IB diploma, or is there a more broad-based curriculum initially? FWIW, I still get compliments from his teachers (two years later) about the preparation he had for school. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpeach Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi Laura, we had our meeting this morning. The French "issue" may not factor into the equation b/c they are starting a Spanish strand and it will be a classroom of brand-new speakers. There are other courses that have no pre-requisites, like Economics. He seemed excited about the prospects and I'm thrilled/excited/nervous/sad about having my oldest away everyday. Time for him to launch! Warmly, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Best of luck to you both. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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