teamturner Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Can anyone give me some feedback on students taking foreign language at the community college? I'm considering doing this with my twin ds. (how do you abbreviate dear SONS?) They have taken Latin for 7 years and have decided to switch to Spanish. They are going into 10th grade next year. I wouldn't have them take the cc courses until 11th grade, which is the minimum age/grade required. Does this sound like a good idea? Should I have them take Spanish 1 at home this year in preparation? Or we could just do 3 years Spanish at home and use a co-op class with an experienced Spanish teacher, but would have to jump in 11th grade year w/Spanish 2 as they can't get into the Spanish 1 offered this year. (conflict w/schedules) I thought given their experience with Latin it would give them an edge in taking Spanish, even at the faster pace of a college course. Thanks for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 My kid that did Latin through AP did two semesters of Spanish at the community college in 12th grade. It went very, very well. He did online because of scheduling problems, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you have very motivated, organized kids. He had already done several years of Latin and history/lit online, so he was very comfortable. He's also very tech savy and had just a few issues that he had never encountered before when they had to use Google Hangouts and make a video for upload as part of a group project. Keep in mind that dual enrollment languages do go twice as fast as high school. So the only issue he ran into was that it went pretty quickly, but he didn't find it at all difficult. My next one likely will stop with Latin 4, and we may or may not do dual enrollment Spanish in 11th. If we do, my sense is that she would need a face-to-face class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 G5052, what are you children majoring in? I don't think my boys will major in classics, but I love Latin and would like them to finish at least Henle 2 or equivalent. Then they can choose a modern langauge, most probably Spanish, to study in high school, OP, I think CC foreign language goes at a much softer pace, so if your dc have already taken Latin for 7 years, Spanish should be relatively easy to pick up. My boys did GSWS and Duolingo for the last 3 years while doing Latin. They did get some words mixed, but it was minor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 DD did French at the university. She placed into French 2 after several years of study at home. It was the right move, because we had hit a plateau, despite all kinds of resources we used. She took 5 semesters of French at uni while in high school and it really made a difference. College foreign language classes start from scratch and do not assume prior knowledge, but the work load is heavy and the pace fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamturner Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Our community college classes would not be online, but on campus. They have not done super well with Latin, they know a lot of conjugations, etc. but have struggled with translation. They always made A's and B's on their tests. They are just burned out on it and need to make a change. I like the idea of doing Spanish DE so that we can get it done faster and get some college credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 G5052, what are you children majoring in? I don't think my boys will major in classics, but I love Latin and would like them to finish at least Henle 2 or equivalent. Then they can choose a modern langauge, most probably Spanish, to study in high school, OP, I think CC foreign language goes at a much softer pace, so if your dc have already taken Latin for 7 years, Spanish should be relatively easy to pick up. My boys did GSWS and Duolingo for the last 3 years while doing Latin. They did get some words mixed, but it was minor. My oldest was thinking languages. He has five years of Latin on his transcript, 2 dual enrollment credits in Spanish (so two years of high school), and 2 credits of self-study in Russian language and culture. However, after the Spanish he decided that he doesn't want to do anything language-related in college. He likes Latin better than modern languages, but doesn't want to major in it because he doesn't like Latin poetry. The college did start at the beginning, but it goes fast. He compared the two community college semesters to his two years of high school Latin with VPSA using Wheelock's. Wheelock's is a college-level book that is usually covered in two semesters. There was a lot of vocabulary and they whizzed through the grammar pretty quickly and assumed the students would drill to get it down. They did a good amount of translation including listening to Spanish podcasts where they had to answer questions. He's signed up for accounting or maybe a speciality in business intelligence and analytics. My next one is thinking of a liberal arts major, but is not the language powerhouse my older one is. She'll have four credits of high school Latin though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 I like the idea of doing Spanish DE so that we can get it done faster and get some college credit. I agree! My DD took Spanish DE at a local CC and it worked out great. She actually ended up taking 4 semesters worth. She had only studied Spanish informally using Rosetta Stone (Level 1) and a bit of Duo Lingo prior to starting the DE Spanish. She sailed through the four semesters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 All of my kids have done foreign language through the local cc. I did make sure that my kids had some experience with the language before taking it at the cc. My oldest was a huge anime fan and had done a lot of self-study in Japanese. She took three semesters of Japanese at the cc. My middle spent one year working through Visual Link Spanish level 1 and part of level 2 and then took Spanish I and II at the cc. My youngest has spent the past year trying to work through French on her own with Je French (disaster) and then Fluenz (much better). She will be taking French I and II at the cc in the fall and spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamturner Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 I'm a little less excited about the spanish classes offered at our cc than I was after reading the class description. It mentions a "virtual classroom?" Spanish 1411 Beginning Spanish I Course Description An introduction to the four basic skills of learning Spanish: speaking, reading, writing and listening, with a little or no previous language training. The student will listen to spoken Spanish, which introduces new vocabulary, syntactical exercises and grammatical structures. After processing new material, the students will apply the new information in the classroom by asking and answering questions of both the instructor and fellow students. The students will participate orally in class, in a group and individual manner. The student’s reading skills will be reinforced through the reading of material in the textbook, assigned projects and Language Laboratory programs. The writing skills will be developed through workbook exercises and during the Laboratory time. Using the audio program which accompanies the textbook also, will reinforce and develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The study of lyrics from Spanish songs will help students to build the vocabulary, to develop their listening skills, will help naturally acquired the complex grammatical structures, will improve their pronunciation, memorization and speed of communication. About this class Welcome to Beginning Spanish 1411 (SPAN 1411). We will use Blackboard as our virtual classroom. You will complete assignments and tests entirely online. This is not a self-paced course. Your adherence to the Course Schedule is crucial to your success in this course. The Course Schedule provides specific information and due dates regarding assignments and chapter tests. Textbook information: Textbook: Tu Mundo W/ CONNECT ISBN: 0077894009 Andrade, Egasse, Muñoz, Cabrera Puche 1st ed., McGraw-Hill. This is a customized edition. You can buy it from our bookstore SCC or from McGraw-Hill website. Please wait until the first day of class to Register to follow the instructions bellow: How to Register for Connect through Blackboard Login into your campus Blackboard account using your personal login and password. Click the course you would like to work in. Select the folder that contains your course assignments. Select the McGraw-Hill Connect assignment you would like to work on. You will be prompted to register for your Connect course. You will only need to do this once. Click the "Continue" button. Confirm your course information. Click on the "Register Now" button. Enter your email address. *** If you already have a McGraw-Hill account, you will be asked for your password and will not be required to create a new account. You´ll see three options, select 1: • Enter your access code and click Submit • Click Buy Online to purchase access • Start a Free Trial If you´re purchasing access online, choose: "Buy Connect" or "Buy ConnectPlus" ConnectPlus includes online access to an eBook) Next, you will need to fill out the registration form. Please make sure to click on "Go To Connect Now" to complete your registration and continue to your instructor´s course. You are now at your instructor´s course. This is where you can access your assignments and study resources. Once you are finished with your assignment, you can quickly return to your Blackboard course by clicking on the "return to Blackboard" link. ***Support – If you need help or have any questions about Connect, you can visit our 24-hour Customer Experience support center: www.mcgrawhillconnect.com/support Or give us a call at 800-331-5094 Sunday 12PM to 11PM ( All Central Time) M-TH – 8AM to 11PM Friday – 8AM to 6PM Saturday – 10AM to 4 PM You will notice that there is a lot of homework. You should do homework consistently, based on the schedule. This is not a self-paced class. My experience says that waiting until the day of the test is a bad idea....don't do it. I understand that everybody's schedule is different, and there is absolutely no penalty for completing exercises well-before the due date (whenever you have time). The day of the test is treated differently. You have to do it as scheduled on the date printed in the syllabus. You may want to create a personal study schedule and stick to it. Technical support: If you experience any problems with Blackboard, please contact 972-881-5870 or go to http://online.collin.edu/TechnicalSupport.html Note: Windows Media Player needs to be installed on the student computer and a broadband access to the Internet is strongly recommended for trouble free accessing of the video. Download the Window Media Player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamturner Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Ok, sorry for so much detail, but this college class information is new to me. Here is the Course Syllabus: It's lists a different textbook than the course description, but it is an online class. COURSE SYLLABUS Course Number: Spanish 1411 (Online) Course Title: Beginning Spanish 1 Credit Hours: 4 Professor: Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Office: xxxx Cellular Phone: xxxxxxxxxxx Office Hours: You may contact me on my cell Prerequisites: None phone from 9AM-5 PM (M-F) Office: xxxx Textbooks: Destinos, Alternate Edition. Van Patten, Marks and Teschener. McGraw-Hill 1997. Destinos, Alternate Edition. Spanish Workbook/Study Guide I. McGraw-Hill 1997. Destinos, Alternate Edition. CD-ROMS (Listening Comprehension) Part one. Destinos, Alternate Edition. Grammar Workbook for Introductory Spanish, Third Edition. Maceri, Domenico. McGraw Hill 2000. Spanish/English Dictionary Measurable Student Learning Outcome: This is a foreign language course which fully integrates video, audio and computer technologies for optimal proficiency in Spanish language skills. By the end of this semester, students should be able to: 1. Understand most Spanish spoken at slower than normal pace. 2. Ask and answer questions on variety of everyday topics. 3. Describe people and places. 4. Describe and narrate in the present and to some extent in the past. Method of Presentation: Each lesson is based upon viewing a 25 minute video. The textbook, workbook and CD-ROM contain all the materials necessary to supplement and complement each unit. You will be responsible for episodes 1-13. Method of Evaluation and Grade Distribution: Four tests (65%) -- Test 1 Chapters 1-3: Test 2 Chapters 4-6: Test 3 Chapters 7-9: Test 4 Chapters 10-13 Chat Room: (10%) (for the first set of activities in the chat room you’ll get 4 points, 2 points thereafter) Quizzes (15%) (1 point for every set of quizzes that you complete on time, 3 points for the last set) If the set of quizzes is not completed by the deadline you will not get the point). Quizzes are graded as complete or incomplete. Oral Test: (10%) Record your voice (using power point) and send to me via email on [to be announced]) Describe how do you celebrate any holiday—you need to have at least 10 sentences in your recording. Grading Scale: 100-90 A 89-80 B 79-70 C 69-60 D 59 and below F Course Outline: This semester students are responsible for watching 13 episodes of Destinos, completing the textbook and workbooks exercises, completing the quizzes by due date, working with learnspanish.com, working in the chat room every week, and taking the unit tests as scheduled. This means that one lesson (chapter) should be covered in a week. You should dedicate the weekend to review what you have covered from Monday -Thursday. By pacing yourselves in this manner, the material will be absorbed more easily and more effectively. The following is the step-by-step outline of how to use this series. Students go to the Metas y Objetivos icon and read the goals and the objectives for the chapter they are studying. Students go to the textbook and study the vocabulary section located at the end of each chapter, and then go back to the beginning of the chapter and complete PREPARACION. Students watch the video episode for the lesson. Students complete the textbook lesson, along with the listening comprehensions activities in the lesson. Students go to the Chat Room (under the Communication icon) to work with a partner and do the activities related the chapter assigned in the schedule. Students then complete the workbook/study guide for the lesson, along with the listening comprehension activities. Students look for the grammar related to the chapter they’ve studied in Destinos in and work with it. This is optional, I do not give points for it. However, it is an excellent way of practicing. Students look for the grammar related to the chapters they’ve studied in Destinos in Grammar Workbook for Introductory Spanish, Third Edition. Maceri, Domenico. McGraw Hill 2000, and work with it. This is optional, I do not give points for it. However, it is an excellent way of practicing. Students take the quiz related to the chapters under the icon that says Quizzes. Students take tests after episodes 3, 6, 9 and 13. SCHEDULE The following schedule is a guideline for easier management of the material. **The activities for the chat room will be considered as your lab time. This is not an optional activity. You must find a partner to work with during the first week of class. I recommend that you work on these activities after you finish with each chapter and on either Wednesday or Thursday, but if for some reason you cannot work on them on these days, you may work any other day of the week as long as you can find a partner. Please make the necessary arrangements in your schedule so you can work with a partner, it is your responsibility to do so. This will count as 10% of your whole grade. You may work on all the activities at once and finish them in one day or you may divide them and work on them a couple of days a week. I will leave that up to you and your partner. Chapters 1-3 Chat Room daily or every Wednesday or Thursday (With your “chatmate†practice the exercises from the textbook on p. 7 actividad B: p. 14 actividad B: p. 16 actividad B: p. 18 Parentescos famosos: p. 27 actividad B.) (4 puntos) Quizzes chapters 1-3 Due date (to be announced) Test 1: after lesson 3 Due date (to be announced) Chapters 4-6 Chat Room daily or every Wednesday or Thursday (With your “chatmate†practice the exercises from the textbook on p. 37 actividad B: p. 49 actividad B.) (2 puntos) Quizzes chapters 4-6 Due date (to be announced) Test 2 after lesson 6 Due date (to be announced) Chapters 7-9 Chat Room daily or every Wednesday or Thursday (With your “chatmate†practice the exercises from the textbook on p. 72 actividad D: p. 81 actividad B: p. 91 actividad B.) (2 puntos) Quizzes chapters 7-9 Due date (to be announced) Test 3 after lesson 9 Due date (to be announced) Chapters 10-13 Chat Room daily or every Wednesday or Thursday (With your “chatmate†practice the exercises from the textbook on p. 101 actividad B: p. 103 actividad C: p. 110 actividad B: p.126 actividad B.) (2 puntos) Quizzes for chapters 10-13 Due date (to be announced) Test 4 after lesson 13 Due date (to be announced) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 My daughter took her first CC French class as a dual credit student online. She ended with a very high grade, but the class was a miserable experience. The class consisted of working through a software program on her own. It was also not self-paced. The instructor was available to answer questions via email, but really didn't do anything to help. If she had been new to French, she would have had a very difficult time. The live classes are much much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I'm going to add that my DD has been taking online French classes through the Potter's School and loves them. She and I both thought the CC class would be equally as good. We were shocked at the low quality of the online class compared to the live classes on campus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I'm a little less excited about the spanish classes offered at our cc than I was after reading the class description. It mentions a "virtual classroom?" Yes, this is a 100% online course. The quality of classes like this can really vary. One college I work for is very, very picky about both their online courses and other online aspects of both their face-to-face and hybrid courses. I have no problems recommending anything they offer in terms of how the course is handled online. Professors can be another matter :confused1: . You can have a solid online classroom and a professor who doesn't respond to emails and is late with grading. The other school is quite a bit looser, but has some courses and professors who handle this well. When my oldest took Spanish online, I had the advantage of knowing the professor because she was in several of my graduate-level classes when I was getting my online teaching credential. She does a very organized, efficient course and was very "present" in every way. That said, when we registered him for the fall, he requested no online courses. He felt like it was too time-consuming, and he feels like he learns better with at least some classroom time. As it ended up he has some face-to-face and two that are hybrids (shorter class time, more online). The two hybrids are the college orientation course and English, so he should be fine. He did not want to do math and the classes in his major as hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 DS#1 took Spanish as dual enrollment (live, on-campus class) at the community college (CC) in 12th grade with no prior Spanish or Latin exposure. He earned good grades, had great teachers, and actually learned some Spanish. DS#2 took ASL as his dual enrollment (live, on-campus class) in 12th grade with no prior exposure to ASL, and also did very well, and also had great teachers; he ended up heading towards an AAS degree in Interpretation for the Deaf as a result of those ASL classes (but after 2 years in the 3-year program, he stopped, when he decided interpreting was not what he wanted afterall). Both DSs also say having dual enrollment was an excellent stepping stone for them to get used to college level work, and learning how to navigate on campus AND with their college "my page" (all your administrative, financial, and individual class info channels through a specialized college computer interface). For your DSs and switching from Latin to Spanish: All that Latin will be a *huge* help as far as vocabulary similarities, and esp. with understanding the idea of verb conjugations, so your DSs should have no troubles jumping straight into dual enrollment Spanish. Typically, one semester of college Spanish = one full credit (one year) of high school Spanish, so if your students take 4 semesters of Spanish, that would usually be counted as 4 credits of Spanish on your homeschool transcript, AND those 4 semesters should transfer to many 4-year universities, so that should take care of any future foreign language gen. ed. requirements for a degree. :) So, even if your students don't start Spanish until 11th grade, they'll be able to complete all the high school AND college foreign language requirements they'll need, simultaneously. When you go to sign up for the dual enrollment, make sure you're signing up for the specific course that transfers to 4-year universities. For example: our CC has FOUR 4-unit beginning Spanish courses: SPA085 (Introductory Spanish), SPA101 (Elementary Spanish), SPA101HC (Elementary Spanish: Healthcare), and SPA101LE (Elementary Spanish: Law Enforcement) -- ONLY the SPA101 is transferrable to the 4-year universities and counts towards general ed. and degree programs. (The 085 class is for personal interest/conversation, and the 101HC and 101LE are specialized language for those in the health and emergency fields to be able to ask specific types of questions in responding to Spanish-speakers). You might check and see if, as a homeschooler, you can your students start dual enrollment in 10th, even if public high schoolers have to wait until 11th. (In our area, any student can start at age 16, and homeschoolers can start as young as 14, by the parent jumping a few extra paperwork hoops). If you DSs end up doing a year of Spanish at home/co-op for 10th grade, they will have to take the CC's placement test to see if they are ready for Spanish 102 (or whatever the second semester of Spanish at your CC is called). From your posts further into the thread, it sounds like the CC course is a virtual / online course. While many types of classes are great as a virtual or distance learning experience, Foreign Language is NOT a subject that works well in that format for most students. :( Online classes across the board require a high level of self-discipline (no accountability or reminders that come when you have to show up in a classroom several days a week), and also requires a high degree of ability to self-teach. You also miss out on the benefits of a live instructor: - can't ask the teacher in class to repeat or rephrase - can't stay after class / go to teacher office hours and ask for clarification - can't build a good student-teacher relationship, which can help if you're right on the edge of a grade, or if you need a teacher recommendation later on for applying for a special opportunity/program Both of our DSs had *major* "oopsies" with an online class -- and that was after they had each been going full-time to college for awhile, and were very comfortable with how to handle college classes. :eek: If at all possible, I'd recommend a live, on-campus course for the dual enrollment. I would be extremely hesitant for my students' first dual enrollment to be Foreign Language as an online/distance course. To be honest, I think online for first exposure to dual enrollment for MOST students is NOT the best choice for success, regardless of what type of class. Having live, on-campus interactions, access to office hours with live teachers on campus, and being able to access the free live-person tutors on campus, are HUGE helps for students new to college classes. If that is not possible, then I'd recommend seeing if your students can attend a local public/private/charter high school for one class, OR, take an online class with live meetings/class interactions (for example, Landry and Potter's School have good reputations). And if you need college credit simultaneously, at the end of the first year of Spanish, consider doing a quick study and take the CLEP test for the first semester, possible first two semesters, of Spanish. While not all 4-year universities transfer/accept CLEP credits, many do, and so your student can earn college credit that way for about $125/test. BEST of luck in your research! Warmest regards, Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamturner Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Thanks, Lori! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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