freeindeed Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 My dd13 is using Galore Park Spanish, and my ds10 is using Latina Christiana. Neither of them is having much success...at all. :( We've been at it all school year, and they are still struggling. Both say they 'hate" foreign language. What can I do to make it more enjoyable? And I don't think switching to a different curriculum would help with either kid. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HejKatt Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 How long have they been working in their respective languages? Also, how do you/they measure the degree of success? Foreign languages do take time (years) and that can be frustrating if there is no feedback on their progress, even if they are learning. At their ages, I would expect that grammar concepts are easier to grasp but remembering the new vocabulary is harder. If so, I would look for their interests in their language, e.g. apps, online videos. That may be easier for Spanish than Latin. The Bilingual board has a couple of sticky posts, as well as discussions, which may help: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/forum/8-bilingual-education-board/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Well foreign language is not optional here. I don't insist on seeing progress, because as the previous poster said that takes years. I do insist on daily, consistent work. Do you have apps, videos, etc to reinforce the lessons? We use duolingo everyday and love it. Also, we are using Galore Park for French. It takes us ages to get through a lesson, but that's not how I measure success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 For Latin, changing would probably make a huge difference. We are not LC fans. Latin Prep was a great way for my kids to study Latin at age 10. Conversely, French Prep was a bust bc I don't know any French. My dd has had great success teaching herself French using French in Action (Destinos is the Spanish version and the videos are available here http://www.learner.org/resources/browse.html?discipline=3 ) and Breaking the Barrier French. (They have Spansih as well.). FiA helps her with her conversational skills and BtB is her grammar foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Consider adding in story books, simple children's videos, and most importantly, conversation practice. We love-love-love the tutors at 121Spanish. It's the cheapest one-on-one tutoring I have found ($15). The tutors are all native speakers from Central or South America or Spain. Their bios and qualifications are all posted on the website. You can purchase as many or as few classes as you like, and you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance. It's a simple system and the tutors are wonderful. We have been with them for years. I have managed this one of two ways: (1) Let the tutor be in charge of the class and the progression. It's fairly free-form. Just the act of speaking Spanish with a live human being regularly will bring the student forward by leaps and bounds. (2) Sometimes I email the tutor a list of vocab and concepts I want them to focus on. For example, my kids have been taking a once-a-week Spanish class that focuses on grammar and vocab but has no conversation practice. I just send the tutors whatever vocab and concepts are in the chapters the kids are currently working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Thanks, everyone. I will look into the suggestions. It is the first year for my son to do any foreign language. My dd13 had two years of Latin prior to starting her first year of Spanish this year. They both struggle with the vocabulary, as well as the grammar...it's everything. They do really well in all of their other subjects, but they both strongly dislike learning foreign languages. I am sure their strong dislike is placing a barrier to their learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 My kids are much younger. For all of us it helps to have variety. One day we watch a video, two days I read to them or they read to me - picture books or Frog and Toad, two days we use a Spanish curriculum. Next year we will use Spanish Now! which is similar to BtB, but with short cartoons, more pictures, fewer pop culture references, in other words more suited for my 9yos. I will also have them watch episodes of Mi Vida Loca from the BBC. I have fewer suggestions for Latin. Is your ds far enough along to spend 20 minutes a week translating Cat in the Hat or The Giving Tree? Mango languages has Latin, could he do that once a week? In both cases, when translating, have them write down any words they have to look up, asking with the translations. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.