hi helpful CC parents
i have an eighth grader that doesn’t want to study Spanish for four more years.
student is sorta interested in Chinese (school offers Chinese 1 only)
the trouble is that we have few other in person language options at our HS.
even French and German conclude after year 3-- if you want more there is an online or hybrid year 4
as long as my student would probably be headed to online study anyway, i thought i would explore some
online language options.
other information:
my older child took Latin 1,2,3 at Florida Virtual and had a good experience, but our HS opposed this, would not support it financially, would not place the grades in the transcript, and discouraged student all the way along.
so…if younger child is going to propose online language study it would be best if we were prepared to discuss some less expensive options that had all four years before we go in for freshman scheduling.
complicated, yes? thanks in advance for your help and advice, of any kind.
thanks Periwinkle…anyone else out there have a comment? looking for good experiences in an online program…deciding to fight the battle for such a program we have agreed not worry about until we find a program worth battling for…
What program WILL your school accept. I think it is strange that they won’t accept Latin from Florida virtual. Can you appeal this?
Virtual High School and Aventa Learning have some online classes in language (including Latin), but so do a lot of colleges and universities. Is there a community college option? (Probably not!)
Also I don’t know if there are any language institutes near you or if you are near a city. In our area the Goethe Insitute is wonderful for German, and there are others around.
Also Adult Education Centers sometimes have languages (see Cambridge Center for Adult Education for an example.)
I’d pick a language and go as far as she can with it in the high school. Then maybe a summer language institute or community college (or university in your town?) There is also the possibility of independent study with the language teachers in your high school. Might the French or German teacher be willing to supervise an online class or canned home study course?
I’d ask about options after Chinese I. It seems odd the school only offers one year. Maybe they have something in place for studying subsequent years? Otherwise, I would have my child pick among the available language options.
i highly recommend against taking a foreign language for only one year in h.s., especially chinese! even if you were to continue virtually, it’s just not the same as in-class instruction. what is the reasoning for child wanting to take chinese? because it really is a use-it-or-lose-it kind of language (for westerners). definitely stick with french or german. if there is any possibility of your child pursuing finance or banking, the best internships in europe are in london, zurich and frankfurt. germany has the most native speakers in europe and they have the strongest economy in europe. sure, chinese, would be a fun change from spanish, but think practically: how useful is it, really?
You should check on admissions requirements for foreign languages for your state flagship U and any other likely universities and colleges your child may want to attend. Some schools require at least two of the same language, and for some competitive applicants will have had four. Also, some schools will allow HS (including middle school) foreign language classes to count in meeting college graduation requirements. For example, UW-Madison requires four years of the same language or three of one plus two of another for a BA (BS needs three of one) regardless of major for most- it can free up college class time to get it done in HS.
Taking a number of years of the same foreign language in HS is good for understanding how our English language works. Taking the number of years required by colleges can make a difference later.
Your child must already have started Spanish and will do level two as a HS freshman. Three more years in HS would mean four total years. I do not recommend the 5th year of any foreign language in HS unless the student intends to continue with it in college. Basics are finished with four years and the next year is more culture and literature. Your state must only want 3 years of a foreign language for its top public U’s. As above, check on this and explain to your child why s/he should continue with Spanish or take another language.
btw- offering three European languages is not limited but rather the common standard for many schools in the US. My HS only offered French and Spanish eons ago (back then French was more practical- literature and being closer to French Canada than Mexico in WI). German was also available in son’s school district.
thank you so much everyone. I truly appreciate your weighing in.
to answer some questions…
The school district had stated they will not pay for, or include online coursework in the transcript UNLESS it is an AP course. Then they will pay for it and pay for the AP exam. We did appeal the Latin case several times, to no avail. I believe the competition from state level online charter schools is the reason…when a student goes to one of those, our district must pay the full 12K/year or whatever the cyber charter is charging. Still, if we found an online option I would try it again…some of the administrators have changed since then.
Our family rule is 4 years of a language…so that is what we are expecting. The older kid bailed out of Spanish after 3 years, but only with an agreement to do three years of something else…which was Latin. This kid is already fed up with Spanish…instruction is very uneven. Not feeling good about Spanish.
Chinese, only one year? why? It’s a small high school. I think they are piloting Chinese, but yes, with only one year that wouldn’t meet our needs. I need to inquire if they will pay for online after that one year, or if they are planning on expanding the program. We actually know multiple native speakers and there are some cultural opportunities here, not a lot.
German is currently dying out at the high school. A teacher that left is not being replaced. German goes only to level 3. A language teacher from the middle school advised against starting German at this school district. I think we do have a Goethe Institute though! good idea.Oh how I wish this child wanted to be a banker in Switzerland, but no…definitely not…
The university is a great option. I will look at some of our local colleges. thanks everybody…this helps us think more clearly about it, whatever your view.
Interesting how things go in different states. German wasn’t offered eons ago in my WI HS but seems very common. Many from that state have some German ancestry so it is a logical language there. Spanish is likely more popular with so many Mexican Hispanics moving there in recent times while I’ve noticed Florida seems to have relatively few Mexicans and many Puerto Ricans and Cubans for the Spanish speakers. French heritage in many place names in WI.
My daughter does German and Latin through Laurel Springs who will send a separate transcript versus it being part of her regular HS transcript (we didn’t ask about that she just takes languages for fun), they are university accredited and approved. But she is doing these languages as supplemental to the 5 years of French she will finish. I understand you need it for your HS requirements if I read correctly. FWIW, she has been happy with Laurel Springs, I think any online language takes a lot of self discipline to be worth it. LS has 4 years of French and Spanish, 2 years of German, Mandarin, and Latin.
My oldest boy made great strides in Mandarin using italki. https://www.italki.com/home Because wages are so much lower in China he was able to have a trained teacher work with him at just $5 and hour. She was located in south western China. Highly recommended!
@livinginNOLA He advanced one year of college level Mandarin between a quarter of community college and a summer of iTalki video chats. He continues to get A’s in second year Mandarin at university where he’s a freshman.
My middle school kid is doing Spanish via an italki tutor and self paced online Middlebury lessons. He loves it . Can be hit or miss, but you pay by the session, so it’s not a long term commitment. We are not looking for course credit, just a more challenging curriculum than the one at school, for a kid who loves languages.
hi everyone. it turns out that we couldn’t find options for four years of a language that our high school would recognize or that are offered beyond the typical Spanish and French. In fact, they are now saying German is on the way out (only 1 and 2 available) and Chinese is on the way in, BUT only Mandarin 1 and 2 available. I hate to see child take two years of a challenging language only to be left high and dry…so we have basically settled on Spanish. Still haven’t ruled out doing at least one of those years through an online program. This might be a necessity as the gossip from the kids in HS is that there are no Spanish teachers in place for 3 and 4 next year.
@thingamajig Perhaps another option would be to self study for an AP exam? Many colleges give full credit for a 4 or 5 score on an AP exam - including placing out of language requirement. S1 self-studied and Computer Science and got a 5 on that. Our HS had four year programs for Spanish and Japanese which he went through.
My DD did German online through Oklahoma State University. They teach German 1-AP levels. It’s a complete program with reading, writing and speaking components. A local teacher at your child’s school does not have to speak German but only has to supervise testing and get the grade onto the transcript. The price is very reasonable.
