High School Spanish or French
 

My DD must start her foreign language credits this year.
She really wants to learn French, but I am thinking Spanish.
We can't afford to take her to a class, time or money-wise, so she has to do it at home.

I took Spanish and while I can't really speak, I still remember quite a bit when I see it on paper, so I can help her. Where can I find a good homeschool Spanish curriculum for high school credit?

High School Spanish or French
 

Just curious- why do you want her to take Spanish if she wants to take French?
Can she take it at a local community college?
ETA: sorry just saw that you need her to take it at home. I don't know if a good accredited homeschool curriculum but hope others can help!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I was forced to take Spanish, and I must admit to loathing it to this day.

Also, if someone is planning to attend college, it has the least economic benefit - generally the more common the language, the less $ worth (IOW it has great benefit if the objective is to manage the local McDonald's...far less if the objective is to get a job involving a second language in the corporate world..there Spanish has less value than Chinese or Urdu, for example) .

If you are going to do Rosetta Stone, for example, all languages are the same price, so why not explore the many choices available?


Muzzy is often available through libraries for free.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

There are many foreign language threads around here. My children didn't like Rosetta Stone and didn't learn very much from the curriculum :shrug

I personally go with what holds interest for my children vs what is best language to pursue. Mine have done Italian, Spanish and sign language so far.

As far as economic value, I wish all my kids would do Spanish because here being bilingual in Spanish greatly improves your salary in many industries.

But I still go with what they are interested in.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

We don't have time to "explore" at this time. She has two more years left of High School, and she needs two years of language. We tried another language, and she couldn't finish it.
I can help her with Spanish. I can't help her with other languages. She is not going to pick up a language easily, so I really need something I know. I don't really have time to learn a new language. I have five kids I am homeschooling, a preschool age child at home, and a MIL that is staying with us that I need to help care for.

I am not really worried about her needing to have a second language to be marketable in any of the fields she is looking into. And honestly, knowing her, she is not going to pick it up enough in two high school years to really be able to use it in real life later anyway. She might be able to do French. She is a ballet dancer, and so she knows a little, but I don't.

I gave her the opportunity to learn French from some apps and a schoolhouse teachers.com class, but she didn't really do it, so now I need to just make sure she does it and gets her credits so she can graduate, KWIM?



Is Muzzy a high school class?? I remember seeing it when she was little.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

:hugheart you sound frustrated and I apologize if my reply wasn't what u were hoping for.

Most homeschoolers I know who don't do outside classes for foreign languages use Rosetta Stone, mango languages, or apps. We have used mostly apps after hating Rosetta Stone but we have IRL support for our app usage.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

Jodi, I did not even see your reply until I had finished replying to FlyingBlueKiwi. Also, I was responding to the question of why Spanish if she wanted to take something else.

How do you get high school credit for an app? Are they classes?

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

To clarify, we use apps only w IRL support. No classes, no curriculum

For Italian, my dd has her voice teacher to correct any mispronunciationS. And she also doing online community chats. For Spanish, we have fluent neighbors willing to chat In Spanish. And I speak enough that I correct my Dd2. I do encourage listening to Videos in their language of choice. Halfway through this summer my dd1 determined she's not quitting Italian till she's fluent so she's immersed herself in language studies this summer and made considerable progress.

My state doesn't require reporting or approval of my curriculum. My state requires a certain number of hours for each credit. Because I live in a low regulation state I'm more focused on mastery than a specific approved curriculum.

They put in those hours w the app or with a neighbor or online chats . But our state doesn't require a foreign language. It is required for most colleges. . . Therefore, I am requiring it for high school.

Ohh I just remembered vhsg has a Spanish class I think :think
Check out
Virtualhomeschoolgroup.org

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I think since you mentioned it in the OP, people assumed it was part of the equastion.

Mine used Rosetta Stone - Spanish for one, French for the other. You might need to ask whomever is your accountability system for you/in your state what they accept for credit. That will at least give you some ideas.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

This might not be helpful, so please ignore if not, but having taken four years of Spanish and four years of German, I found German INFINITELY easier because English is a Germanic language. It sounds like you're set on Spanish, but in case you are leaving options open... ;)

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

:tu This is helpful for me as my son wants to switch (he's the one who did ASL this year). I finally found him an IRL class for ASL and now he wants to switch :doh so we are going to tool around w lesson one of several languages on Duolingo. :tu I will encourage him to check out German

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I think this is helpful too! Thanks!

OP, I didn't want to learn Spanish either. French is a beautiful language...I understand the appeal. The most helpful thing I did for language learning was go for a one hour walk a few times a week with a friend where we spoke only in French.

I imagine there is *someone* in your community who is already fluent in another language who has some need your dd could fulfill in exchange for a weekly chat. If you really don't care what language it is (just that you can only help with Spanish), you might find someone who married an American and is lonely and would love to share her language/culture with your dd.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

Muzzy sucks. We tried it for Chinese and it is truly a waste of time. My son uses pimsleur for Spanish. It doesn't involve writing and the lessons are about half an hour long. I'm
Guessing they have French too.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

When I taught in a Christian school, I liked how logically organized BJU Spanish was. They offer DVDs. The students said they hadn't learned as much doing Year 1 with the DVD versus Year 2 with me, but since you remember some, they'd still have someone to ask questions even if you were using the DVD as a time-saver.

I have heard that Easy Peasy has French that some people use and like, but I would be reluctant to trust her if she blew off the Schoolhouse Teachers class. I generally agree with letting a student choose (hence my dd1 taking Japanese after demonstrating her commitment despite the fact that I've been a professional Spanish teacher for crying out loud), but at this point I would be explaining to yours that she blew her chance for French, and that Spanish is easier to pick up as a first foreign language, and is good preparation for learning French if she wants to switch languages in college...third languages are easier than second.

Does your state offer free or deeply discounted dual enrollment? There is no way we could afford to pay for a private class, but our state charges about $54/credit, which is more than buying a used textbook, but not much more than buying a DVD-based curriculum or software. That might be a way to get French in an accelerated amount of time (2 semesters instead of 2 years), with outside accountability and someone else's fluency. Again, I'd be leery of allowing that after she blew off the Schoolhouse Teachers, but I'd consider it if logistics were reasonable, if her heart is set on French in more than just a wishy-washy way, and if and she responded well to a stern lecture about the seriousness of how the grade will follow her, and how she'd be responsible for seeking office hours, study groups, study techniques, whatever means necessary to succeed.

But I would personally feel better about providing study support and accountability doing Spanish at home if I could get her to accept that path. I'm guessing part of the failure with the Schoolhouse class might have been the disconnect between the habits needed to acquire enough vocabulary to master a language versus the conceptual understanding in most other classes. Unless you've done a lot of memorywork as classical homeschoolers, the idea of studying to memorize is an unfamiliar activity for most students. So, I'd want to drill with flashcards and check up on how it's coming, and that's more difficult in an unknown language.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

My dd started with French and then switched over to Italian. I would let her study her language of interest. We used Duolingo for my dd and my son likes Memrise.He took German in high school and then started learning 2 kinds of japanese and is still using the course as a young adult and has become quite fluent.he can understand it when spoken,speak it well and read it. What God might have him use it for not sure!

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

Yes, I assumed it was part of the question. My apologies. It does sound like you are a bit overwhelmed. :hug

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I've studied French, Spanish, and Portuguese. They are all "Romance Languages" and similar in structure. After studying years of French, Spanish and Portuguese were easy for me to learn. Your knowledge of conjugating verbs in Spanish will be helpful if your dd studies French. If she takes ballet, she will have an understanding of the pronunciation. Between French and Spanish, I think Spanish is easier to learn because the phonetics are more straight forward.

If she is willing, you could have her practice both languages on Duolingo (free) and then decide after she has a bit of experience with both languages. I know you said you don't have time for her to explore languages, but a week spent learning French should be enough time for her to convince you that she is willing to put the effort in for two years. If she doesn't like French after a free trial, then Spanish can be your back-up. If she isn't self-motivated with French, then she will likely need your help with Spanish.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

Letting her study the language she wants may be the motivating factor and using something like duolingo may help her to enjoy it.My dd was very motivated and did it pretty independently but you may have to set a time each day to help her to stay on task and agree to letting her study the French and use the app if she follows through

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I am overwhelmed trying to get all her required courses in. :yes
I am not against French if she'd do it.
Thanks for the ideas and input.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

Junior year was really really tough for dd1. We were :crazy planning and we survived :phew ok so dd just finished her advanced biology last week and has a few more lessons of US history but she will be done before September and we lived through it :O. Sooooo hard that senior year feels like easy street :hug

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

We recently decided to give dd an extra year or two. I know that's not likely an option for you, so not saying that as a suggestion, but just commiserating that the stress of cramming it all into four years has hit here, too. It's tough, and I don't know how they expect kids to fit it all in with quality work. :hugheart

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

What helped for us was to use things as elective credit that were not so load heavy.It may be something she already is doing like music groups or other activities.Then you can keep the basic courses meatier if you like

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

You know, that reminds me. I graduated from high school a year early. I was *done* and ready for college. I had to take American History by correspondence. Easy. Easy. Easy. I also took it in college where I actually learned something. However, if there is anything you can do like that to make it easier on your whole family, I second it!

I do like Duolingo. I re-do the lessons over and over again until I'm sure I know the words.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

:tu dd1 has a very very light load for senior year. She will be working more and enjoying her last year of high school extracurriculars ;)

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I thought maybe we could try Monarch.
Has anyone had experience with their classes? It is very affordable.

I am leaning toward the French now, although I really would love the opportunity to dive into Spanish again.

She has been asking me what certain words Spanish words mean, though, because she has been listening to that song "Despacito" this summer. :lol

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

That song has been driving me nuts! Lol, I can catch words that I know, but not fast enough to string together whole phrases. :doh I need to Google the lyrics so I see the ones I'm not hearing clearly enough.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

:giggle I have to do it with English songs too :shifty my kids laugh with me sometimes when I'm singing the wrong words :giggle

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

Quoting myself, because it just dawned on me that the Monarch is going to pretty much be the same as SOS, right? Just that with SOS, I would own it and could use it for another kid, and the Monarch would just be a license, right?
I think they are the same price.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

:yes All their products are the same, just formatted as paper, CD-ROM, or online license.

(I haven't tried them, though. Just looked into it since a friend uses SOS.)

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I recently watched a google translate video that was hilarious. Google translate was voiced over the original video. It can probably be found on youTube.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I know a lot of homeschoolers that have used the Rosetta Stone. I am thinking it is up to the college, as my state is pretty low regulation. Did you kids have any trouble getting whatever college they were interested in to accept it?

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

No problem, but they also started at community college first (dd 1 was accepted into the University as a freshman but deferred to do her associate first). Our accountability group is pretty firm on what they accept and they accept Rosetta Stone with an additional grammar source

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

What would an additional grammar source be?.

Re: High School Spanish or French
 

I bought a simple French grammar work book at the bookstore and it met the requirement. RS just doesn't ever touch on the grammar rules or conjugations, etc.