<p>I haven’t heard the math/foreign language LD connection, but I’ve heard it said that there’s a correlation between having strong math skills and having musical talent (as in playing an instrument). Makes me laugh because I’m very good at math and struggled beyond belief (for years) trying to learn to play piano. </p>
<p>Personally, I think each person is an individual with unique wiring. If there are people who are gifted in picking up foreign languages, why wouldn’t there be people who have a specific issue in this area? I’d say my son is at the border of being LD in foreign language…he’s completely frustrated, but will complete a 3-yr sequence in Spanish this year. It is by far his worst subject.</p>
<p>“Perhaps the OP’s question deals with frustration rather than learning difference/disability.”</p>
<p>no idea but that’s a possibility…</p>
<p>as an update, I received an email from the teacher last night explaining that with all the snow days, the class has been very disjointed since January…(not going to be helped by spring break coming up either)…</p>
<p>My daughter has a meeting with her today to discuss ways to practice/drill/whatever to improve comprehension and performance…I’ll keep everyone posted…</p>
<p>and for toblin: your posts were sooo uncalled for; for everyone who knows me on CC, you couldn’t be farther from the truth…fwiw, I am a frequent visitor to the 3.0-3.3 parents thread so I can hardly be labeled a “typical” CC parent…</p>
<p>I can see why ASL would be a far better language for some students. It has no written form and it is so…kinesthetic, which is perfect for some learners.</p>
<p>Others are better at Latin because it is virtually all written with very little spoken.</p>
<p>I remember learning German in HS–the first semester they did completely aurally, to mimic how babies learn a language. Seems like a good idea, but I was constantly writing down words in my own orthography so I could remember them! Then later I had to unlearn my bad spelling.</p>
<p>It is not surprising, having difficulty with left/right or before/after in a foreign language if you have trouble with that in English.</p>
<p>It is a fact that after the age of 2 it is much more difficult to learn a new language. The baby brain was open to every sound in the universe, then “erased” the phonemes not needed for the native language. </p>
<p>Some people aren’t even very facile at speaking English (their native tongue), while others are nonstop talkers. But not necessarily thinkers. ;)</p>
<p>And MRI studies now show evidence that some people just have larger sections of the brain devoted to language. (Sorry I don’t have a link to a specific study.) All brains are not created equal, as we well know.</p>
<p>OTOH…if you do learn a foreign language, the next one is easier to learn, if you find yourself in that position. Your brain knows what patterns to look for.</p>
<p>I hope the teacher can come up with a good learning plan for your D! I admire her desire to want to improve in the face of frustration/LD. To me, the label isn’t important… wanting/getting the help is!</p>
<p>I took French for TEN years…yes TEN. I was awful as a French student…and struggled in elementary school, high school AND college with it. It never dawned on me that I might have an LD in “foreign languages”. I was just not a particularly strong foreign language student. One of my kids was not a particularly strong math student. Did that mean he was LD in math? We didn’t think so…he just wasn’t as strong in math as in other areas of study.</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s just that an area is not an area that is easy or strong for a student. Everyone can’t be terrific at everything.</p>
<p>Except here on CC. And if so, then you apply for a medical excuse. It’s like getting out of gym because you don’t like it or you’re not good at it. And your 100% perfect rating remains intact.</p>
<p>“The correlation between math and music is the ability to spot patterns.”</p>
<p>You are not necessarily correct. I am excellent at spotting patterns, I am REALLY good with patterns, that has nothing to do with dyscalculia which is the root of my troubles with math and music. There is a LOT of counting in music theory and a lot of spatial perception required to read music, and also some sequential memory and perception in playing music from memory or in playing scales, which while not strongly mathematical is something that people with dyscalculia can’t do. For some people, is isn’t just bad at math and therefore bad at things that require mathematical ideas, it is having an underlying condition that just so happens to affect math but also a few other things, too. My theory is that dyscalculia is only so strongly focused on the math difficulties because getting through math classes in school is the biggest hurdle, when it comes down to it math is only a very small portion of the disability. I am excellent at spotting patterns, patterns has nothing to do with it for me. It’s counting, memorizing sequences-- (not SEEING them, but keeping them straight in my head once I have seen them), and spatial perception.</p>
<p>"Sometimes it’s just that an area is not an area that is easy or strong for a student. Everyone can’t be terrific at everything. "</p>
<p>This is true, but if your student persistently fails at something and you can come up with no other explanation and can come up with no way to help, are you going to ignore the possibility of a disability just because not everybody can be good at everything? Are you going to let your student fail out of school rather than admit that a disability is possible? Really?</p>
<p>Nobody is trying to say that their student has to be good at everything or they are disabled. But for most parents, when their kid is struggling with something, they try to get to the bottom of the issue so they can help. Why leave any stone unturned?</p>
<p>I’m good at patterns, but I am lousy at auditory learning which hampers me in both music and languages. I’ve finally learned not to ask people for directions unless I have paper and can draw a map. My eyes just roll back in my head after the second turn. I’m really, really good at things I can see.</p>
<p>I suspect most people can learn foreign languages if they can get the right approach - the trouble is that the right approach may not be possible in a normal classroom setting. I do really well with immersion (as do most people).</p>
<p>Mathmom…I’m your polar opposite. I learn best with auditory input. When I get directions in writing…I read them alound and through the paper away. When folks give me long written things…I say…“JUST TELL ME”. Then I toss the papers. It’s sort of a joke with my coworkers…“give it to her so she can read it and throw it away…if you don’t tell her, she’ll NEVER remember. If you tell her, she will NOT forget.”</p>
<p>Still…I was lousy at learning a foreign language.</p>
<p>I also think for many people language learning is just a lot of work. It’s time consuming. Babies spend several years doing it all day long and we expect to get it in a few hours a week.</p>
<p>Twistedxkiss–like I said, math is not ONLY about pattern recognition.</p>
<p>mathmom–babies are like sponges…they learn so quickly and easily. I remember my son using words correctly that I KNOW he had only heard for the first time that day. Wow.</p>
<p>This discussion reminds me that people learn differently and teachers need to be adaptable. Often they say, “You’re not listening.” Well, some kids need to SEE.</p>
<p>Until this thread, it never specifically occurred to me in my entire life that I have difficulties with auditory learning. But it’s very obvious to me that I do. I can’t follow oral directions to get someplace; I have to write them down and/or look at a map. I hate having things read out loud to me, and always say “please let me read it myself,” instead. I very rarely am able to understand the words of song lyrics when I hear them; if there’s any music in the background, it all sounds like meaningless sounds to me unless the person is singing in a way that each word is pronounced distinctly. I never learned nearly as much listening to teachers lecture as I did by doing the reading; my mind would always wander at some point no matter how carefully I tried to listen and take notes. And when I studied French in high school, although I didn’t really have any problems with it and got a third place finish when I was a senior in some National Association of Teachers of French contest (I really don’t remember how broad the geographical scope was in which I finished third), I know that my reading, writing, and even speaking skills were far better than my auditory comprehension skills.</p>