What would be a wise choice for foreign language in high school?

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  • Tracy Menard
    Participant

    I have one son working to finish high school in the coming year.  His goal is to finish a year earlier than my original plan (I held him back in his early years, he wants to be done when he turns 18 next summer.)  One aspect of this is getting in a foreign language course to meet the requirements for moving into community college when he finishes high school.

    I have another son beginning his freshman year of high school this year.  His plan is to work hard, possibly finish early or with dual enrollment to graduate with college credits completed. His eyes are set on law school, currently.  I would like to get him started on a foreign language this year so he has 4 years of language to his transcript.

    What do you recommend for either or both boys?  Should I pursue Latin or a spoken language such as Spanish or French?  What curriculum options would be best?  I have an option of them using online charter school classes for spoken languages but that didn’t go well for my older son. He dropped out of that when we tried a year ago.  I have 5 younger students and a toddler, so my time is limited in how much I can personally invest in actually teaching a language. (Translation: I’m looking for something that allows them to be as independent as possible in this subject.)

    Thanks.

    HollyS
    Participant

    We are going with Latin, which would be a great choice for a future lawyer (think of all the legal terms in Latin).

    I found this to be a very helpful resource when looking into Henle Latin:  http://familystyleschooling.com/2015/05/29/henle-latin-resources/

    We are using Visual Latin and Henle with the MP Henle guides.  VL can be completed by using public domain Latin readers instead of Henle.  In fact it’s what the program’s creator recommends.  He also has online classes if you want to give that another try.

     

    nebby
    Participant

    I’d love to hear options too. We’ve tried Rosetta Stone and didn’t like it. My dd’s definitely not going to be into Latin though. She wants something easy 😉

    alphabetika
    Participant

    Well, if you pursue Latin for your younger son and he’s able to do online studies, I highly recommend the classes at Lukeion.org. My oldest daughter took Latin from Mrs. Barr for two years and it was excellent, one of the best academic pursuits she had as a homeschooler.

    My middle daughter started with Greek and then changed to American Sign Language, which she had long been interested in and which became a passion for her. She took it for two years at a home school co-op, then took two years at a community college, one of those years dual enrollment. She plans to earn a certificate in ASL Interpreting. She is interested in working in the Deaf commnunity and is about to go for the 2nd time to a school for the Deaf in Uganda. I say all of this just to share that with her, following her interest and passion was really the key in the foreign language realm. We live in Southern CA in an area that has a large Hispanic population, and this daughter has gone to Mexico numerous times. So she’s now interested in learning Spanish, too. 🙂

    Tracy Menard
    Participant

    Thank you. I am leaning toward directing my younger son into latin as well. Getting some resource recommendations is so helpful. Thank you.

    Melanie32
    Participant

    I let my kids choose which foreign language to study in high school. I have them study greek and latin root words in late elementary and the middle school years. I had my daughter take a year of latin in 8th grade as well.

    She chose Japanese as her highschool foreign language and is very motivated to study as she really wants to learn the language.

     

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