Foreign Language

Hi I am a near fluent German speaker and I started my daugters on Rosetta Stone, but they were extremely bored with it and I also did not like the lack of grammar, so we switched to Tell Me More – they love this and work mostly independently with it and do 30 minutes every day.  I have been impressed with the variety of activities and they are never bored.  We bought the 10 level version, lotsd of dollars and you would not necessarily need to get that version – I got that one, so that it would be a benefit to me, as I want to be able to keep my language going even though I don’t have the practise I used to, so I wanted all the advanced levels.  I am sure any of the levels would work for HS.  The customer service people are wonderful, if you have any doubts give them a call and they will go through the program with you.  I know that we have an advantage in that I speak German (German mom) and so I help with pronunciation and on some of the puzzles, but it is perfect in my opinion for those who have no knowledge at all.  It is complete immersion, so lots of trial and error, but the girls are having great fun with it.  I highly recommend Tell Me More and I did borrow both RS and Powerglide before finally choosing TMM.  Learning any foreign language requires work, and a sense of humor as we all make huge pronunciation clangers when we start – I arated learning as a child in Germany, with my relatives in a small village where no-one spoke English – my mother left me there with an aunt as it was a farm and I loved it, however I soon realized that I better learn to speak or else it would be very hard.  So learn I did, but made many hilarious mistakes along the way – which caused much merriment amongst the natives!  Still I got the language and have never forgotten it, over the years I perfected my speech and grammar, though I can still make the odd clanger, like a few years ago when I was buying meat in a German butcher shop.  I asked for what I thought was a half pound of ground beef, and they looked at me very oddly – one of the staff who spoke English asked if I really wanted half a ton of beef!!  We all had a good laugh at that one.  So whichever program you choose will require some patience and perseverence, but Tell Me More is fantastic and not a bit boring, plus it covers all you need, reading, writing and grammar, plus a nifty part that teaches all about Germany and its culture.  We love it, and I use it as a refresher, now that I don’t have as much native practise as I used to get.  Highly recommened from this household.  Blessings, Linda

I just wanted to interject that I just bought Tell Me More through the homeschool buyers coop (Spanish). It is the new version and has five levels in one package. I don’t know what the final cost will be as it goes down the more who purchase it, but it is already a great deal–well under $300, compared to Rosetta Stone.

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1091

Hey Heather I hope you don’t mind me piggyback(ing) on your post but I have a question that relates.

If I just want to play a video or a cd of a familiar book or movie but in Spanish wouldn’t that be a good intro into a foreign language? My dc are 8 and under and I know and believe that immersion in a language works well (I learned portuguese in 3 months while doing missions in Brazil)FIRM believer in immersion…so I was thinking it might be fun instead of spending money on a program right now that I would just get familiar books on CD and videos from the library in Spanish. Has anyone tried this? Did your kids get bored and hate it? What was your experience?

Thanks,

Shelly

Shelly,

I totally agree that immersion is the way to go!!  When I was studying ASL (American Sign Language) in college we were taught be Deaf professors in a ‘no talking allowed’ setting.  It does wonders!!  I think that for 8 and under you are totally right not to start a structured program right now.  As long as they are being exposed to it, in some format, I think you’re doing great!!  Another fun activity for you and your kids would be to put up labels in Spanish on things in the house.  For example, you might put a sign on the door that says “la puerta” (I think that’s right–lol!!) or “el sofa” on the sofa.  I know that CM says that kids under a certain age need to focus on hearing and speaking, rather than writting, but I don’t remember what that age is.

Also, has anyone tried teaching their kids ASL as a foriegn language.  I know in the county that we live in this has recently come to count for foriegn language credits–when I was in high school all the classes I took only counted as electives.  It’s a great language, beautiful, fun to learn, GREAT for very young kids and babies, and there is no real written part of the language, so you don’t have to worry about that   I just thought I would throw that out there for anyone who is looking for a foriegn language to teach their kids and wasn’t really sure which one!!

Not so much a suggestion as a comment about immersion. Ds5 wanted to watch Plaza Sesamo this morning. I expected him to tire of it halfway through, but he didn’t.

I only have the newer version of Tell Me More, so I cannot help on that question, except to say it is working brilliantly for us.

Meagan, I have taken college classes and done some interpreting.  I have taught my children some and do plan to teach them more ASL. 

Sonya, how exciting for her.  It is a neat experience and knowledge she will keep with her for life.