<p>My HS school sophomore had a scheduling conflict with his classes this year and decided to skip German 2 this year. He thought he could handle it a community college after school but between that and his high school classes it was too much of a load, and he dropped it after a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>He has this idea in his head that he would like to complete German 4 before he graduates. He would like to take German 2 over the summer but the local community colleges don't offer it (just German 1). Some of the 4-year schools in the state offer this but they are a good hour drive (at least) from here and may not necessarily let someone that young enroll. He took Algebra 2 a couple of summers ago, so I know he can handle some summer studies.</p>
<p>I suppose other alternatives include a private language school or some kind of tutoring. His school has said that they will let him enroll in German 3 next fall if he can show some mastery of the German 2 material; how he does it is not as important to them.</p>
<p>Does anybody have any experience with any type of language instruction such that they'd hazard a recommendation.</p>
<p>I would look for some kind of online program he could take over the summer, or start now if his workload allowed it. If his h.s. is allowing him to essentially skip German 2 and test into German 3, he should be able to get enough through an online program and tapes. You could also seek out a senior student in German at the high school who would be willing to tutor him, following the school's German 2 text and workbook. I think there's a program called Rosetta Stone which is an independent language study program.</p>
<p>I am not sure where you live but I was, actually ,a German Language major at University. If you live in Minnesota or Pennsylvania, St. Louis, or New York, you might be able to find a program run by the community.<br>
German is an incredible language-much like Latin. It is pure brain food, exercises the mind.
If he can't continue with German -then perhaps he can chose another foreign language at his high school. I would suggest Latin, one cannot go wrong with the study of Latin.
Good luck to him.</p>
<p>Depending where you live, sometimes you can find Saturday morning "German School," (similar to Chinese School that a lot of students with Chinese heritage attend). I'm not sure how to go about finding one - maybe a local paper with camp listings? Or, you could try contacting your local chapter of the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) for advice.</p>
<p>My S used Pimsleur German (CDs from the library) to learn beginning German, and has enrolled (successfully) in German 2 in college. (It helps that his brother and sister are fluent, though.) But we all love the Pimsleur tapes, so if you're self-motivated, they work well.</p>
<p>We just got same S some Pimsleur Korean, since he's going there this summer.</p>
<p>Responding to above post: Yes, here in Atlanta they have a Saturday school program (associated with the Goethe Institute, I think.) It is for all ages, including adults, and they have classes for beginners, through those for native speakers who want to keep using it. I found it by looking at the German Embassy's website. Was going to enroll my D in it, but she got too busy.</p>
<p>Concordia Language Villages has a well respected summer language program and has a German camp in Minnesota. (<a href="http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org%5B/url%5D">www.concordialanguagevillages.org</a>) They say you can cover a year's worth of high school German in one month and some students arrange to receive credit from their high schools (sounds like your son needs the content more than the credit). My d. went to a 2 week camp last summer and we would recommend it - she had a great experience and the camp handled the potential Northwest airlines strike (which never did happen) with good communication and planning.</p>
<p>Best way would be to contact a nearby Goethe Institute if such exists in your area. If you happen to be near Claremont McKenna college, I can recommend an excellent tutor--PM me. </p>
<p>You could also contact any local college that might have international students who are native speakers of German and willing to do some tutoring using your school's German 2 materials. Call the office for international students or German department.</p>
<p>My daughter had taken German 1 when we moved to a district that didn't offer any German. She took German 2 through the U of Missouri Online High School program. I will say it went better when she had a tutor keeping her on track and able to help with prounouciation, etc. than when she tried to do it on her own (the tutor moved and this area is not exactly a German-speaking mecca).</p>
<p>my attempted to continue Mandarin after we moved and it was no longer available in our new area -- he tried working with a textbook and a private tutor, but it didn't work well at all. He met twice a week for an hour + each week -- but it wasn't enough direction. That was just our experience.</p>
<p>My first suggestion would be to send him to a summer program (a college program or cocordia language village). Second suggestion would be to have him do an online course -- supplemented by meeting with someone locally for pronounciation work (could just be a german major at the local college). </p>
<p>Rosetta stone is a great program for a supplement -- and many libraries have the program available for check out. It would not be good to replace German 2, since the emphasis is on speaking and listening -- and it really lacks the grammar that is so essential. It is used frequently in colleges as a separate lab, so it might be a good option along with whatever else you are doing.</p>
<p>Look under the high school course, foreign language, and then look at German 51 and 52...</p>
<p>They divide German II into two easy to manage classes which are just a bit over $100.00 a piece.</p>
<p>BYU has a nice honors system and everything is proctored and they also make you do little recordings to send to the professor so that way you can get feedback about your pronunciation.</p>
<p>Also, you do not have to be LDS to take any class at all and they do not teach you about the LDS faith at all unless you sign up for a course pertaining to the Book of Mormon or something. So, it is all nice learning to be had which is non religious.</p>
<p>Remember all those missionaries have to study a couple of languages and BYU makes one learn two languages as an informal addy requirement. So, all of this makes me think you could get some bang for your buck through BYU online. </p>
<p>I have a super bad cold, so I hope my post makes sense (^_^)</p>
<p>Was that by Mark Twain, by any chance? "The Awful German Language" is one of the funniest books I've ever read, but you have to know at least a little of the language to understand it.</p>
<p>I second the suggestion about Concordia Language Villages. I went to the 4-week hs credit Russian camp and it was one of the best experiences of my life. If your son is serious about German, then he will be in for a wonderful community at camp. At my camp I found a large group of smart, dedicated kids who were very internationally conscious and had a true interest in the Russian language and culture. This atmosphere was very enriching and I left with some friends who I felt that I knew better after only 4 weeks than friends I had known for years. I don't know about the other camps, but my camp also had a very intelligent and international staff (among my teachers I had a Navy linguist, a Ukrainian who taught college in Ohio, a Kirghiz Fulbright scholar, and an ex-peace corps volunteer). I really felt like a community during my time there and learned a TON. Definitely go for the HS credit program if you can swing it with your son's HS.</p>
<p>Concordia has been around a while and does logistics pretty well. Plus, I don't know how they do it, but they really manage to simulate culture very well in a Minnesota environment. During my month there I watched movies, sang, learned to dance, read literature, listened to rock music, did art and had a relaxing sauna in my target language.</p>