<p>I am in French I and I'm not doing great. I have an 81% and the end of the semester is not far away. I started earlier in the South. It's just hard for me to understand and I should have listened to me dad and take Spanish. This is the first foreign language I have ever taken. I am sophomore in high school, btw.</p>
<p>I have always wanted to take Italian. I am actually half Italian too and my grandpa was born there. My school doesn't offer Italian and I was thinking that I should take it at the local community college. I'm terrible at French and I know Italian is easier and I could understand it more. My grandfather said French is much harder and he can speak Spanish because Italian and Spanish are so similar. Would they let a sophomore take one class at a community college? How much is it usually for one class? I know they have dual enrollment, but that's for juniors and seniors. Do you guys think it is a good idea? Also, is it true that one semester of community college= one year of high school? So, I would only have to take three semesters at a community college, for three years of high school Italian. I wanted to take three years of French, but it's my lowest grade and it's an elective class. I would take Spanish next year, but then I would only have two years and the schools I'm looking at won't like that. What will college's see if I only have one semester of French? I do know kids who are doing a lot worse and a lot better in my class.</p>
<p>Hmm…not that I know Italian, but I’ve always heard it’s the closest to French, and vice versa. It really sounds like your problem is with the class, not the language. (French also isn’t so much harder that it should make a difference at an introductory level.)</p>
<p>With 1553 posts as a sophomore, my knee-jerk reaction is to say, “Get off CC and study your French!” (That’s what happens when you post on the parents forum.)</p>
<p>My second reaction is that one of the best experiences you can have early in life is to get in a tough spot and work your way out of it. You could still finish this course with an “A”. If you did stage that kind of comeback, I guarantee your teacher will write you a great recommendation someday. Also in college there are tough courses one just has to power through. Wouldn’t you like to go into that situation with the confidence that you can do it?</p>
<p>On the other hand, if Italian is something you’ve always wanted to do, who are we to stand between you and your dream? Why don’t you take it over the summer at the community college?</p>
<p>I have to say, most of my posts are from the summer and last school year. I haven’t been on much this year. </p>
<p>I am just very bad at French lol. I like the teacher and she is nice, but I think I’ll stick to English. I do study and I just fail!!! I usually do good on the writing and speaking tests, but bad on the quizzes. How bad is a “B” in French? I’d be shocked if I got an A, it’s much harder for me then AP World History. I always have so much homework and I need to spend more time on French. But Italian isn’t a dream, it’s just a language which I rather learn.</p>
<p>I took French, because I was more intrested in it then the other languages my school offered. I know I’ll never use it again too, at least people speak Spanish a lot more in America then French.</p>
<p>Oh! And I’m going to talk to my schools counselor tomorrow and ask her what she things. I’m also never really home in the summer, so it may not be a good idea.</p>
<p>I could talk to my grandfather in Italian, but that’s about it. I want to learn it, because of my background. I’m not French, but I am part Italian. Oh, and I do not see the point of taking a foreign language in high school at all. I bet the majority of people do not use the language after high school or college. It also depends on where you move to and your career choice. I want to be a arts journalist or an actor, I doubt it will help me much.</p>
<p>You want to be an arts journalist and you aren’t dying to go to Italy?</p>
<p>I vote for studying Italian, especially if you will promise me to talk to your grandfather in Italian. You’ll make him so happy, you have no idea.</p>
<p>I just hate to see you giving up, though. It’s a bad precedent.</p>
<p>I want to work for a travel magazine or a magazine for film and theater. </p>
<p>I want to go to Italy, but money is tight these days. Yeah, my grandfather would like that. My mom took Italian in school, but doesn’t remember it now.</p>
<p>I don’t think Italian is much easier than French grammarwise - though the spelling and pronunciation are simpler and more logical. You never know when languages will be useful. My husband ended up doing a postdoctoral fellowship in Germany and I was glad to have studied German in college. My French studies allowed me to enjoy several trips to France. I wish I’d studied Japanese when I accompanied my husband on a business trip there. I wish I spoke Spanish every time my cleaning lady comes over and I’ve had a few recent immigrant clients who would have been happier speaking Spanish to me as well.</p>
<p>The secret to languages is to study every single day whether or not there is assigned homework.</p>
<p>Your counselor will help you figure out what is possible in your school.</p>
<p>I’m skeptical about the midyear dropping of a class in which you have a B or B-. </p>
<p>My suggestion would be to finish the year in French doing your best, and meanwhile to plan for how you’ll take Italian next summer and/or next school year.</p>
<p>Is a B- in French suppose to be good? What is considered a good grade in an foreign language. I think I could do better in Italian, since I’m intrested in it more. I was thinking about take Sociology next semester instead of French. I haven’t talked to the counselor today, she wasn’t there. Thanks everyone for the replies. It will depend on what happens when I talk to her. I do know you have to be a junior or senior to do dual enrollment in my school. But it’s only one class, so idk.</p>
<p>Italian is not an easy language. Both of my kids were highly interested in learning Italian in college. They both aced 3 years of high school Spanish. </p>
<p>To make a long story short, one son made it through 2 semesters of college Italian. The other son stopped Italian after one semester. They both found it to be very difficult. </p>
<p>IMO, French and Spanish are easier to learn.</p>
<p>It’s also important for you to understand that foreign language classes at the college level move very quickly. My kids had to give oral presentations (in Italian) after only 5 weeks of classes in their College Elementary Italian I course.</p>
<p>I doubt Italian will be much easier for you than French. It’s a romance language like French and Spanish, and they all have the same root and similar grammatical structure and vocabulary at the basic level where you would start. </p>
<p>You’re only a sophomore. Having a B is not that bad as long as you improve your grades over time. I would stick out the year with French, try to do better next semester, and maybe try out Italian over the summer. If you still like it at the end of the summer, you can keep it up next fall.</p>
<p>French teachers are notoriously hard graders. Particularly if they studied in Paris. At our local high school a “B” in French is the equivalent of an “A” in Spanish. The top students are delighted if they achieve a final grade in the low 90s.</p>
<p>I don’t know if Italian is easy or hard, I have never taken the language. I do know that my grandfather can speak both Italian and Spanish, because they both are so similar. He never learned Spanish in school. He worked for a French company and said French was much harder. I have heard both language’s and Italian sounds easier. I have seen it written too and it looks easier. I was telling him about how in French, there is a lot of silent words. My mom took Italian and did very well. I have heard Italian growing up, so I seem to understand it a little bit. I never understand the listening tests in French, but I do understand the speaking and writing tests. My grandfather’s first language is Italian and he learned English when he came to America. Btw, I do know a girl in my French class who is from Italy (speaks fluent Italian) and speaks Spanish to all of the Spanish kids. </p>
<p>I think it depends on the person. If you learn Italian, it would be easier to learn Spanish and vice versa. I do know in Europe lots of people speak many language’s. I meant someone from Vienna and she spoke about 5 or 6. There is a kid in my French class and he is fluent in Spanish and he is doing great in French. I think some people do better then other’s in French, who are usually not as smart in other subjects. I think it may just be hard to learn a language besides English for the first time.</p>
<p>Smith: Nothing is sent in stone. I haven’t talked to the counselor about my options. BUT, I do agree with Hudson. I know the majority of kids have B’s in French and all of my friends have high A’s in Spanish. The top students in my class have low A’s.</p>
<p>I also know it would move faster, but the classes are only two times a week. It would give me more time to study then usual. As I said, nothing is final yet. I haven’t made up a decision. I do like my French teacher though, so that’s not the problem. I was talking to a friend in Florida in French 2 and was telling her what I was learning. She said she hasn’t even learned that yet! She thought I was in French 2. She is also not in a bad county by any means.</p>
<p>I recommend you stick with the high school level right now. If you’re having difficulty keeping up with the high school level of french, you will probably find the college level of Italian to be a bit too demanding. Stick with french because you really should complete the 3-year high school sequence and you’re all ready a sophomore. </p>
<p>Take advantage of extra help sessions with your French teacher. Form a study group with some other kids in your class. Get a tutor.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don’t think you have very sound reasoning with this. Italian looks and sounds easier? You met a kid from Vienna so you know how all Europeans learn languages? Your mom took Italian and did well? Those aren’t very sound arguments for taking a class that is not offered at your school and will require a lot of outside committment on your part. </p>
<p>Remember too that when you’re taking a college level class, even a community college level class, meeting only twice a week does not equate to less work or more time to study. You actually get a lot more work because you have the other three weekdays plus the weekend to do it. And since you don’t see your teacher every day, it’s a lot more independent study. You won’t be able to go in and ask your teacher for help after class. Tests matter a lot more in college courses and that seems to be your downfall in French, so I would be cautious. And this class would be on top of your regular high school courseload/extracurrics. It just sounds like a lot to handle Like fixing a leaky pipe by breaking all the rest of your plumbing. </p>
<p>Have you spoken with your French teacehr about your problems or tried to get a tutor? If those don’t work, then maybe think about taking spanish next year, but I would still stick with French now.</p>