high school Spanish — any recommendations

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  • July 17, 2013 at 11:30 am
    jeaninpa
    Participant

    From my informal surveys it seems as if the homeschool curriculum market could really use a great high school Spanish product.  I’ve asked friends, I’ve asked at WTM.  No product is standing out so far.  Anyone here have a suggestion?

    I’m looking for something that isn’t teacher intensive.  Cathy Duffy had a review of School of Tomorrow Spanish, and she recommended that, but I’m not hearing that from any actual, real, live people yet.  

    July 17, 2013 at 2:13 pm
    Bookworm
    Participant

    I think it very possible that there is no easy, out of the box, self-taught, high school level Spanish program–because such a thing is really not possible.  Actually, most high school language classes produce little in the way of actual fluency–but a self-taught program is even worse.  Imagine if you were left alone on a desert island your entire life, never heard anyone speak a language, and they dropped you Rosetta Stone.  Or a book.  What would you gain?  I really think the best bet, one we decided on, is a live class plus interaction with other speakers of the language on a regular basis.  I really don’t see any other good option.  A distant second would be a home product plus LOTS of practice speaking with a native speaker of the language.  Tutoring with a language speaker would also work.  Just buying some product from a store that you will use at home in isolation, with no speakers of the language in the home?  I really think–save your money.  You’d get as much good out of just watching your movies with the Spanish subtitles on.

    July 17, 2013 at 2:35 pm
    art
    Participant

    I think Bookworm is absolutely right. However, my 20 year old did 2 years of Spanish by himself without speaking to anyone using Lifepac. Then, we met a family from Mexico and the mom came over once a week for a bit, and we helped her with English and she helped my son with Spanish. I would never recommend not having anyone to speak to while learning a language, but somehow he did it. (Also, that was our only option at the time.) After just a few months with our friend, he was fluent (she said) and tested out of over 24 Spanish credits at college. After that, he took a couple advanced Spanish writing and grammar courses at college. Now, he’s on a Spanish speaking 2 year mission for our church in California. He didn’t require any additional language training, and has been speaking basically only Spanish every day since he’s been gone.

    Like I said, though, I wouldn’t aim to do it that way. It’s just how it worked for my son. I’m not sure Lifepac would be a stand out program, but they do cover structure and grammar. Rosetta stone and things like that don’t. The grammar has made a big difference in his understanding and having people understand him. I’m having my 9th grader start it this year; we’ll see how it comes out for her.

    But I think the native speaker was the most effective learning he did even though it was so much more brief than his time with Lifepac. You definitely have to speak and listen A LOT!!

    July 18, 2013 at 10:05 pm
    TX-Melissa
    Participant

    I’ve been looking at this one, also reviewed on Cathy Duffy:

    http://cathyduffyreviews.com/foreign-language/breaking-the-spanish-barrier.htm

    But like the other one, I don’t know anyone who has used it.

    Melissa

    August 13, 2013 at 1:55 pm
    schoolcanbefun
    Member

    Jeanipa,

    As someone who tried really hard to find a home-based Spanish curriculum, I can say I just don’t think it’s possible to do well at home. Our goal for our homeschool is, as close to fluency as one can get without going abroad and being immersed in it.

    We tried Tell Me More (like Rosetta Stone) and found it lacking in actual teaching of the grammar. Destinos; a video based curriculum. We also tried a local class, but the teacher just wasn’t a fit. My background of both high school and college Spanish were definitely buffed when we did Destinos, but it was very mom intensive for me to stay ahead of the curriculum. I was not up for that. 

    I looked into quite a few home-based curriculums (really wanting to keep Spanish on our schedule!) including Breaking the Barrier, which seems to be decent, and just didn’t feel that this was something that can be done well at home, alone (as in, no instructor or classmates to converse with). I was in discussions with a friend about a Spanish curriculum and she tried Breaking the Barrier and wasn’t thrilled. That may be one of the best option if you don’t want to do a live or online class. 

    After all our attempts at various curriculums we went back to La Clase Divertida live online (for high school). We used La Clase Divertida for elementary Spanish and just loved it. We have been very please with the online classes.

    So I guess the bottom line is to know what your goal is for foreign language in your homeschool. Is it fluency or to meet a requirement for college? Lots of people have used home-based curriculum to fulfill college requirements.

    HTH

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