Treewriter Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Hello everyone! I have been reading your threads long before my family decided to homeschool, and figured now might be a great time to ask for advice. Background: I am a tenth grade (and 2E) student who has been in brick and mortar schools until now. I am interested in majoring in Linguistics or becoming a EFL teacher, but I also really enjoy the process of learning in and of itself. Currently, I am taking a dual enrollment Spanish class I'm not worried about, two one-hour lessons each week on italki in Spanish, two or three half-hour lessons a week in ASL (plus homework, and I consider ASL my relaxation language more than anything else) and approximately three one-hour lessons a week in Bahasa Indonesia (also known as Indonesian, plus homework). This is only a slight increase beyond what I had been doing on top of public school. I do have duolingo and a grammar book available for Bahasa Indonesia but have not been using them, largely because of lack of motivation. My levels are intermediate in Spanish, late beginner in ASL, and completely new to Indonesian as of this summer. My family is very supportive in every way, but not interested in teaching, grading, etc. I know I can count on a grade and credits for the dual enrollment course, but what of these other activities could be considered for high school credit, and how would you have them graded? What would you consider sufficient progress for an Indonesian credit? Alternatively, since I also regularly listen to linguistics podcasts and attend linguistics events, would you consider it fair to merge these activities into a course called something like "Exploration of World Languages 1"? Additionally, my family will be going on a week long trip to Germany this summer, and I would be interested in studying some German both for the trip and because it is an important world language with an interesting relationship to both English and Indonesian. The only synchronous course I have come across for high school German (besides WTMA, which conflicts with Spanish class) is Potter's School, which is not something my family would like me to do if there are other options due to the religious nature of the organization. Does anyone know of any other synchronous (preferably secular) classes for German in the 2021-2022 school year, or have any recomendations for an italki/preply/similar tutor? Also, do any of you have experience with kids studying many languages at this age, or a similar student I could talk to? Sorry for the long post, all advice is welcome. Thank you all so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 (edited) @Matryoshka I think you might be able to help here? The Classical Learning Resource Center (CLRC) offers German. The last thread I saw was that they had changed teachers and there didn't seem to be anyone here who had experience with the new one. Well Trained Mind Academy also offers German. You could see if the boardie that commented on it is still around and PM her. See thread below. I noticed someone mentioned "German Online" in a thread as well. I *think* it's this? https://germanonline.okstate.edu/ Edited August 13, 2021 by cintinative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treewriter Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 Thank you so much @cintinative! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 This thread is a bit out of date but it might provide some other options. I know people on here have used a textbook + Italki combo for a course. You might want to change your title to include German, Indonesian, etc. If it won't let you change the title, maybe add some tags? It would help people know what specifics you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 I just found this post: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 (edited) Where I live, we have free access to Transparent Languages through the state. You could check if you have this, or even Mango Languages. https://www.transparent.com/libraries/find-transparent-language-online.html https://mangolanguages.com/find-mango/ Edited August 13, 2021 by cintinative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 15 hours ago, Treewriter said: Also, do any of you have experience with kids studying many languages at this age, or a similar student I could talk to? @8filltheheart@crazyforlatin DS16 likes learning languages for fun but not for credit. He did German at Saturday school since elementary, chinese with a tutor, self study Korean, and did Japanese dual enrollment for high school credit. Only Japanese is on his high school transcript. When I was taking german as a non credit subject in college, my teacher was from Netherlands and she said Bahasa Indonesia is similar to Deutsch. These might be useful for your Germany trip https://www.livinglanguage.com/content/downloads/German.pdf https://www.livinglanguage.com/content/downloads/Germ_9781400009534_3p_PDF_r3.pdf They have other languages here https://www.livinglanguage.com/additional 4 minutes ago, cintinative said: I just found this post: That’s ancient but the webpage is still alive 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 (edited) @Treewriter am I understanding that you've pulled out of school to homeschool (so, not just distance or online learning through the school plus some extras, but independently putting together your classes and your parent will be issuing your transcript to college?) If so, then what you do for a credit can be very flexible! So, in that case integrating a bunch of your activities in podcasts in linguistics along with languages you're sampling could absolutely be "Exploration of World Languages (or Linguistics)". I have a friend whose ds went through a bunch of Linguistics lectures from The Great Courses, those might also be of interest to you since you're interested in Linguistics as well as languges. And if you are an eager learner, as it seems you are, the options that will work are even more varied. I usually do not recommend Duolingo for any kind of real language learning to kids, as most just go through the motions and don't retain anything. But I've found that for an interested and eager student who actually uses it as a toil (rather than to make mom happy and check a 'foreign language' box), it's a decent intro (though you have to use the "Tips", which is where they teach the grammar). Not at all comprehensive, but a good entry point. Italki tutors are varied, but a good way to get some conversation practice in. For German specifically, you might want to look at courses from the Goethe Institute. They've actually become much easier to access now with the pandemic they've gone online. These are the ones that my local GI has coming up, but actually now it doesn't really matter where you're located! https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/sta/bos/kur/tup.cfm There are Goethe Institutes in most big cities, you could shop around. They should have native teachers and a logical progression. These are again not classes I'd suggest to a teen who was just trying to check of the 'foreign language' box on a transcript, but for someone who has a passion for languages, I think they could work for you. I'd pick the option that has live classes. I'm also on a Discord server for language lovers that has free Bahasa Indonesian lessons and conversation; it sounds like you're already spending a lot of time on it, but maybe it could be fun for extra motivation. If you're interested I could link it here. There are also many other languages, and a linguistics class, all free. I may waste too much time there, lol. I've finished homeschooling my kids, and I also love languages and linguistics. I'm fluent in German and Spanish, and am now learning Chinese, Portuguese, and some Dutch. Edited August 13, 2021 by Matryoshka 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treewriter Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 1 hour ago, cintinative said: If it won't let you change the title, maybe add some tags? Thank you, just did so! 1 hour ago, Arcadia said: she said Bahasa Indonesia is similar to Deutsch. That's true! In particular it shares a ton of vocabulary with Dutch, and with German through that connection: it also has a lot of Arabic vocabulary. 47 minutes ago, Matryoshka said: am I understanding that you've pulled out of school to homeschool (so, not just distance or online learning through the school plus some extras, but independently putting together your classes and your parent will be issuing your transcript to college?) Yes. 48 minutes ago, Matryoshka said: 'm also on a Discord server for language lovers that has free Bahasa Indonesian lessons and conversation; it sounds like you're already spending a lot of time on it, but maybe it could be fun for extra motivation. If you're interested I could link it here. There are also many other languages, and a linguistics class, all free. I may waste too much time there, lol. @Matryoshka I would love that link, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Treewriter said: @Matryoshka I would love that link, thank you! This is an invite to the Discord server. https://discord.gg/sgxQrdMv Once you get there, you have to click a box that says you agree to terms (actually, I think it says 18+, but I've seen a few other older teens who fit in just fine, so don't worry about that part). Then you have to assign 'roles', so English for native and then click Spanish/Indonesian/German and anything else that piques your interest. Then you can see content related to those languages. I somehow overlooked that you're also doing Spanish - there is a TON of Spanish content there, including a Spanglish language exchange twice daily which is super-fun. There are people from all over the world. Here's the blurb for the Indonesian class. All classes are live (video/voice). Edited August 13, 2021 by Matryoshka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treewriter Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 Thank you so much @Matryoshka, I just joined that discord and it looks really promising. 😀 Thanks @Arcadiatoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 @Treewriter, if you’re looking for kindred spirits, feel free to private message me. My 10th grader belongs to an online group of homeschooled teens who all love languages. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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