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<p>You can know very little even after a lot longer than that.</p>
<p>One of my kids took Spanish through Spanish 5 – which was a combined AP and IB SL Spanish course. Got a 5 on the AP test and a 7 on the IB SL test. Took one college Spanish course beyond that. Still can’t speak Spanish worth a damn.</p>
<p>I know this belongs on the “Get it Off Your Chest” thread, so forgive me, but: Why does my kid’s French teacher stand in front of the class and speak only in French for the entire period and just pretend she is understood? NO ONE knows what she is saying. Immersion means living in that language 24 hours/day for weeks or months at a time–not 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Who does she think she is fooling? OK, rant over.</p>
<p>Yeah I took 6 Spanish classes (including AP Spanish) and I can’t say I’m a fluent speaker. I can understand most of what people are saying, but I don’t like to speak.</p>
<p>I’m going to double major with one major being Spanish and do a study abroad in Spain so hopefully I’ll be fluent by then!</p>
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<p>What level of French course?</p>
<p>If it is level 4 or 5 and none of the class understands, then perhaps that indicates a problem in levels 1 to 3 at the school.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus-You bet there’s a problem in the lower levels! She’s a junior in Honors, been to France several times, knows next to nothing. But her teacher should realize that’s the case and not just ignore the problem.</p>
<p>My teacher spoke all Spanish in Spanish 2.</p>
<p>Even when I did a Spanish class at UChicago level 1 she tried to speak Spanish as much as she could.</p>
<p>It’s a teaching technique. And it dies help. You might be lost the first few days-or weeks- but eventually you start to understand because the teachers try to repeat the words they use multiple times.</p>
<p>Best wishes, OP. I would say it in French, but I do not know how! I took Spanish and picked up a few phrases living in Germany.</p>
<p>“You might be lost the first few days-or weeks- but eventually you start to understand”
That’s what the teacher said on Parents Night. Unfortunately, it just isn’t so in this case. Wishing it to be so and repeating it over and over as if it were some pedagogical rule of law doesn’t make it true. I really don’t want to hijack this thread. My point was only that if a particular teaching method doesn’t work, try something else! And stop pretending the kids understand!</p>
<p>Vitrac, to be honest, I think I like your French teacher better than my kids’ high school Spanish teacher who NEVER spoke word of Spanish to the class. My DD learned more in ONE term of Spanish in college, and speaking to a co-worker for three hours a week only in Spanish, than she did taking all the high school Spanish courses through Honors Spanish 4.</p>
<p>thumper1-as with all things, grasshopper, perhaps there is a healthy balance in the middle!</p>