Foreign Language Suggestions

[AFthfulJrney]

I am looking for some help in choosing which Foreign Language to begin with my 10 and 8 year old. They have had no prior foreign language and neither myself nor my husband speak any language other than English. I wasn't sure if one was better to start with over the other, or if it was all just basically personal preference. I'm also looking for program/curriculum recommendations as well. 

 

Thanks so much! 

[Lori D.]

Latin can be a good stepping stone language to start with at this age, as French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian all build off of it. That can really help your students have a "leg up" later on in high school or college if they need foreign language credits and don't want to continue with Latin -- French, Spanish or Italian would be a snap for them. Also, there are a lot of good Latin programs for late elementary/early middle school ages, and you don't necessarily have to learn to speak/pronounce it. Also, a lot of literature has Latin or French phrases in it, which will be easy to translate as you read.

 

Spanish is considered to be the simplest/easiest foreign language for English-speakers to learn (everything is spelled exactly how it sounds -- there are no spelling exceptions!), and there are a number of overlap or similar words in English, which helps with learning the vocabulary.  And depending where you live in the US, there may be a large Spanish-speaking community near you for practice and support.

 

ASL (American Sign Language) is very popular choice, esp. for students who struggle with writing or spelling or pronunciation.

 

Is there a strong local teaching resource near you? Or language support -- as in a community that speaks a language that you would be able to volunteer with or meet with or exchange language lessons in English? That could be a good way to choose a language -- you have great local options and support for learning that particular language. :)

 

Other than that, I'd say go with what your family is interested in or fits a future goal:

- if you will be living/visiting in a foreign country

- if your students might do a future foreign student exchange, mission trip, or volunteering overseas

- if your student might be interested in future international science or history research/seminars, German is useful

- if your student might be interested in future international business: Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, or German are helpful

- if the student is interested in the language/culture of the heritage of the ancestors of you or your spouse

 

 

As far as what to use... Depends on what language you choose as to what is available to you. Since neither you or DH have a second language, it's going to be very tough to reach fluency, if that is the goal of learning a new language. You would probably want to outsource, hire a tutor, and make weekly conversation times a priority if fluency is the goal, and it would help if you work to learn the language alongside your DC, so you can help with the grammar aspects.

 

Probably best to narrow down to a choice of 2-3 languages, and *then* request ideas for materials, so you don't get inundated with ideas. :) BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Lori D.

[sarahrb]

Lori D had some great advice!  I second outsourcing this to a tutor or co-op class and/or seeking out opportunities in the community for practice (the area where I live is quite white, but there are Spanish and French conversation practice groups in a nearby town -- they are for adults, but aren't formal, so it's always worth asking!).

 

One other fun way to get into a foreign language might be having an exchange student in your home.  PM me if you want more details about exchange students, some of whom also tutor in their first language (I work with an exchange organization and could let you know about programs that might be fun).

[Ariston]

If you don't have a strong preference, I would ask the kids what they want to learn and why.  Do they want to learn something that they can speak with people in?  (Spanish and Chinese are widely spoken. Latin is not ;) )

 

I would also consider what kind of commitment you want to make and what your goals are.  Do you just want to dip your toes in?  Or do you want them to achieve a high level of proficiency?   Spanish and French would be easier to find resources for, for a wide range of abilities and commitment levels.   Chinese and Latin are much more of a commitment if you ask me, and don't lend themselves much to toe-dipping.  (Although if you just want to speak Chinese and not read or write, then you can learn it a bit more casually.)

 

Regarding the earlier comment about ease of learning,  Spanish is easy to learn as far as consistent pronunciation.  But there are a lot of verb forms as the students advance.  Its kind of the opposite of Chinese which is harder for most Westerners to pronounce, but there are no verb conjugations to memorize.

 

Duolingo is a good place to start.  Its free, and they could try out different languages and see if there is one they like.

 

 

[Roadrunner]

When you learn a language, you also acquire the cultural orientation. I would think about that as well when choosing.

[Lori D.]

... Regarding the earlier comment about ease of learning,  Spanish is easy to learn as far as consistent pronunciation.  But there are a lot of verb forms as the students advance.  Its kind of the opposite of Chinese which is harder for most Westerners to pronounce, but there are no verb conjugations to memorize...

 

Interesting thoughts... to expand on these differences in language:

 

Most Western languages have verb conjugations and verb forms that are different from English, so ANY language is going to become more difficult for English speakers. ;) Some languages, such as Russian and Latin can be even more difficult, as they also involve "declensions" (endings altered to show grammatical case and gender), that Spanish and French do not (these languages only have the noun/adjective concept of gender).

 

ASL has a grammar concept of inflecting/indicating verbs that is part of the sentence syntax in ASL, which is not used in other languages.

 

And while Chinese, Japanese and other Asian languages may not have verb conjugations, they are based on logograms, rather than a phonetic alphabet, which can be much more difficult to learn to write the language, as it requires memorizing thousands of characters, compared to learning an alphabet of 2-6 dozen letters which make up the spelling of all written words in Western languages.

 

Also, spoken Chinese is tonal-based, meaning that the same syllable is pronounced the same BUT, the pitch and inflection that you give that pronunciation completely changes the *meaning* of the word. The closest English comes to this concept is the raise in tone at the end of a sentence to indicate that the sentence is a question; imagine making a variety types of pitch-inflection changes with multiple syllables within a single sentence. ;) Those radically different approaches to language can be much more daunting to Westerners to master, compared to verb conjugations.

 

Fortunately, you don't have to understand these linguistic concepts if just "trying out" a new language and learning some basic vocabulary and common-use phrases. :)

Edited August 26, 2017 by Lori D.

[Ariston]

 

Most Western languages have verb conjugations and verb forms that are different from English, so ANY language is going to become more difficult for English speakers. ;)

 

 Good clarification.  Spanish would be 'as hard' as most romance languages as far as conjugations go, and easier than most as far as pronunciation go.  (As well as the wealth of resources available!)

[AFthfulJrney]

If you don't have a strong preference, I would ask the kids what they want to learn and why. Do they want to learn something that they can speak with people in? (Spanish and Chinese are widely spoken. Latin is not ;) )

 

I would also consider what kind of commitment you want to make and what your goals are. Do you just want to dip your toes in? Or do you want them to achieve a high level of proficiency? Spanish and French would be easier to find resources for, for a wide range of abilities and commitment levels. Chinese and Latin are much more of a commitment if you ask me, and don't lend themselves much to toe-dipping. (Although if you just want to speak Chinese and not read or write, then you can learn it a bit more casually.)

 

Regarding the earlier comment about ease of learning, Spanish is easy to learn as far as consistent pronunciation. But there are a lot of verb forms as the students advance. Its kind of the opposite of Chinese which is harder for most Westerners to pronounce, but there are no verb conjugations to memorize.

 

Duolingo is a good place to start. Its free, and they could try out different languages and see if there is one they like.

Thank you for this explanation! I'm thinking I'd like to start them with Spanish. Other than Duolingo, can you recommend any other books/curriculum/resources to use?

 

Thank you so much!

[happypamama]

Getting Started With Latin and Getting Started With Spanish would get my vote. Both provide solid teaching of the grammar, with lots of repetition built in.

 

If you know any foreign languages, you might also start with what you know. We start Latin around 9 or 10 and other languages when they're interested. I have studied French and Italian, so I found it easy to teach the basic Spanish grammar, but Latin I learned alongside the kids.