................... Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Now that I have figured out my dd can do ASL for foreign language... My daughter has always struggled with grammar. We did two years of FLL, informal CM style grammar, and one year of workbook style grammar and one year of pretty intense grammar with Calvert school. I sort of gave up after 5th grade because I realized each time we made a go of it that it was not sticking AT ALL, in a way that made it feel like a waste of time. I was going to make one more strong Grammar push for the end of this year, and next year, for the sole purpose of making learning Spanish easier. But, now I realize, if she's taking ASL that probably won't be necessary. (Her writing is beautiful and rarely contains grammatical errors. We try to use correct spoken grammar around the house, so that helps, and she also reads voraciously.) Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 If her written and spoken grammar is fine, then I don't see much point of studying more grammar. I "learned" formal grammar through a foreign language. I'd target any grammar that she is making mistakes on as it comes up as well as any specific grammar for SAT/ACT that she needs to work on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 ah, yes I wasn't thinking about the SAT...I'll check that out! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I would also see if ASL is accepted as foreign language at the colleges she might be interested in attending. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Let her try the English section of the ACT practice test. That section is the heaviest on grammar. You might be pleasantly surprised. https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf My kids learn grammar through German even though they did it at a relaxed outside class since kindergarten. Somehow it helped in their English grammar. We gave up on formal grammar after 3rd grade. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) We never studied formal grammar in English at all. My goal was for my students to use grammar correctly in writing and speaking, which they do. On the ACT/SAT, the student is not tested on grammatical terms and rules, but only has to apply them to discern which of possible options is grammatically correct. Edited March 31, 2017 by regentrude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 ^^ did your kids struggle when learning foreign language? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 ^^ did your kids struggle when learning foreign language?I don't know what ^^ means so I don't know who you were asking. My DS11 started German when he was 5yr 9months and in public school kindergarten. He missed the birthday cutoff. It was at a leisurely pace but he took at least twice the amount of time to absorb the grammar and vocabulary compared to DS12. Now he takes WTMA German 1 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday as well as continue with his Saturday German brick and mortar class. This combination works very well for him. He doesn't do well on his own and once a week class is not enough for him. He doesn't read as much as my oldest but he reads quite a lot too. My DS12 went for baby sign language at the adult learning center when he was 15 months old because my mom was here to babysit so I could have a mommy & me class with him. Then he went for Chinese Saturday class when he was two so that he has time away from his brother. He likes quiet and sedentary while DS11 likes loud and lots of movement. He didn't have the patience to memorize the vocabulary words but he has no problem with sentence construction. He started German at 6yrs 9months and has to put in the effort for verb conjugations as well as remembering the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) of the nouns. He is literally lazy on memory work but no issues with learning the language. He enjoys languages but does not aim to excel in them so his struggle is more with having the motivation to put more effort in learning and mastering. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) ^^ did your kids struggle when learning foreign language? Do you mean me? No. Both are fluent in German (which has a lot more grammar than English, since there are three genders and four cases), and DD is very good in French. The reason DS did not learn Italian was because I was not working hard enough on it, not because grammar was difficult for him. I don't think formal English grammar helps all that much with foreign languages since it is a weakly inflected language without cases or genders; everything is done through the rigid word order. We studied some grammar in German, and a lot in French. Edited March 31, 2017 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I seem to remember that ASL has some intersting grammar ideas. I would tend to leave it at this point, and adress it during language study if you need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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