My4arrows Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Where to begin? I need something for elementary students (will be 9 and 7). I'm not certain for the language yet, but most likely either German or Spanish, possibly Chinese. The only source I know of is Rosetta Stone. Also I am not fluent in any of these languages, although we do have access to a relative that is for German and a friend for spanish and possibly someone for Chinese for extra help, but not for teaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 ladybugs Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I posted this on the other thread about German today but here is a list of German schools in the US. http://www.germanschools.org/Schools/List.htm Chinese is a VERY tough language. My sisters are in an immersion program with it in Oregon and when they graduate, they will only be proficient in it. I am not saying this to disway you, just that you really need to be open to LOTS of practice to get it. I looked at it for my older child and decided against it for this very reason. Spanish shouldn't be too hard to find. There is Song School Spanish and a few others out there. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My4arrows Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 I posted this on the other thread about German today but here is a list of German schools in the US. http://www.germanschools.org/Schools/List.htm Chinese is a VERY tough language. My sisters are in an immersion program with it in Oregon and when they graduate, they will only be proficient in it. I am not saying this to disway you, just that you really need to be open to LOTS of practice to get it. I looked at it for my older child and decided against it for this very reason. Spanish shouldn't be too hard to find. There is Song School Spanish and a few others out there. Good luck! Thanks, I will check out those things for German. Yes Chinese is NOT my choice! My YDS keeps mentioning it so I told him I'd look into it. I understand it is very difficult, but he is also really good at teaching himself and pushing through the tough, so I may let him give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avbprincess Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 (edited) I apologize from the start, because this is really long. My 8 years old son and I are using Fluenz German together (they also have Spanish and Chinese). The program is expensive and geared toward older learners, but with only occasional further explanations from me, my son doesn't have any problem following along. I think the program is superior to just about every program I researched, (I researched a lot!) because it explains slowly, step by step, how the language works and why (which Rosetta does not in any way do). You don't learn pre-determined phrases and vocab lists with occasional notes on grammar: you learn individual, useful words and in-depth grammar concepts and are then taught how to build your own phrases. Don't worry, though: the grammar is not jargon heavy at all; grammar concepts are taught in a very basic, general way. My son has not had trouble following what's going on, even before he had done any English grammar lessons. Each lesson teaches a grammar concept or two and/or some vocab through a dialogue between two parties, which gets broken down almost word by word by a tutor in the 10-15 minute lesson video. In the case of German, the tutor is Nora, a lovely native German speaker. In the videos, she looks right at the camera and speaks to the viewer, and it feels like she's teaching you personally. It's kind of silly, but we really like "visiting" with Nora, and almost miss her whenever we take a break from Fluenz! Everything she discusses is shown in easy to read words next to her, with color coding to highlight what she's talking about. With the slow (but not boring) pace and clarity of speaking and visuals, it's very easy to follow the lesson videos. Each lesson video is then followed by 13 "workouts" (homework!), which have you practicing the new content as well as reviewing older content via speaking, listening, reading, and writing. You will both translate from your studied language and translate into the language. Each lesson takes an hour or more to get through, so we split each up into sections and take a few days to get through one lesson. I also am the one who operates the program and does the typing. I would not use Fluenz for your age group without doing it along with them. Fluenz also provides Audio CDs for additional review. The German CDs feature Fluenz's founder and a native German speaker presenting content that has you repeating words and phrases, and translating into and from German. The content is review, but is often presented in new ways. Later levels have the native speaker reading "emails" from a friend in German before she breaks them down into pieces to translate them, which really improves your listening comprehension. Fluenz feels interactive, organic, and immersive. There are no paragraphs of dry text to read through and memorize, like in textbooks. You can go through a sample German lesson here, though it is missing two workouts that have you speaking the lesson dialogue. Just click on lesson 3. Fluenz German and Spanish each have 5 levels available. You could start with just Level 1 and see how you like it. I bought all five because buying in bulk is cheaper in the end. I think Fluenz is amazing, and would be happy to answer any questions you may have about it. Edited February 3, 2016 by avbprincess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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