keylimejet
Full Member
"When good Americans die, they go to Paris." Oscar Wilde
Posts: 140
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Post by keylimejet on Mar 29, 2010 19:19:40 GMT -5
My daughter and I have waited patiently for YEARS for her to go to high school so she could take French. In our county, there are no foreign languages available until 8th grade, and then only Spanish. So... here we are, just a few months away, and we get the word that the high school has discontinued French! Sure, I could use my own time and money (if I could afford it) to have her learn privately, but then she'd still have to take another language in school for the credits and she'd be trying to learn 2 new languages at the same time. Not a good plan. I plan to fight it, but the odds are not in my favor. Send me prayers, karma, whatever! I'm desperate.
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Post by Shoesy on Mar 30, 2010 1:25:23 GMT -5
In Yiddish there's a word to describe that: Chutzpah ! Hoping that those who are responsible for such a travesty will come to their senses.
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Post by Anne on Mar 30, 2010 2:57:18 GMT -5
Sure, I could use my own time and money (if I could afford it) to have her learn privately, but then she'd still have to take another language in school for the credits and she'd be trying to learn 2 new languages at the same time. Not a good plan. I can assure you that learning two languages at the same time is not a problem at all. All high school French kids learn 2 and sometimes 3 foreign languages at the same time. Not that the outcome is particularly good for most of the kids mind you, but as it was discussed in another thread some time ago, it is mostly the French method of teaching foreign languages which is at fault. Anyway, I used to learn German, English and Latin at the same time, and now my kids are learning German, English and Spanish at the same time. As far as I can see, they never mix up the different languages, and neither did I in my own time. Although I have some doubts about my son's Monday afternoon timetable, where his lessons are English, then German, then Spanish, all in a row ... So, apart for the money problem of course, you shouldn't let this stop you.
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Post by GitteK on Mar 30, 2010 5:21:50 GMT -5
>>>Anyway, I used to learn German, English and Latin at the same time<<<
Yup, me too. In highschool we had Latin, German, English and French - although I wouldn't really call Latin a "language" - or ?
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keylimejet
Full Member
"When good Americans die, they go to Paris." Oscar Wilde
Posts: 140
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Post by keylimejet on Mar 30, 2010 5:42:26 GMT -5
Annette - both high schools already have the teachers. Up until this year, both women have taught French and Spanish classes. Now, apparently they are giving both teachers all Spanish classes and no French.
As for learning two languages at the same time, I feel better about that, with the comments from Gitte and Anne. It's still a pain, when she should be able to do it at school for free! Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that this decision is reversed.
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Post by Anne on Mar 30, 2010 6:10:21 GMT -5
although I wouldn't really call Latin a "language" - or ? Well, I guess that this can be a subject of endless discussions. No, it isn't a language in the sense that it isn't spoken, but it is a language in the sense that there is vocabulary to be learned and grammar to be mastered. Of course I understand your frustration Keylimejet, good luck to you !
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Post by GitteK on Mar 30, 2010 8:13:12 GMT -5
Italia terra est Sardinia insula est Those were the first sentences in the book for 9th grade schoolkids ! ;D And then followed an endless row of chapters from Cesar's Gallic Wars (made easy, I suspect...... ) - and something with: "Sine dubio clarissimi hostes Romanorum Phoenicii fuerunt....." (Undoubtedly the Phoenicians were the greatest enemies of the Romans)Pure excitement !!
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Post by Jody on Mar 30, 2010 8:41:12 GMT -5
Key lime, I also had 2 languages at the same time, French and Latin. Our school in PA offered French starting in 7th grade and 4 years in HS.
Some of the charter schools in Orlando offer French and Spanish starting in Kindergarden. One of my " Adorables" has been taking Spanish since K
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Post by PariS on Mar 30, 2010 10:50:31 GMT -5
Annette - both high schools already have the teachers. Up until this year, both women have taught French and Spanish classes. Now, apparently they are giving both teachers all Spanish classes and no French. If the staff is already in place, all it should take is a handful of parents requesting at least one class of French to be offered! Does your daughter have friends who have also been looking forward to taking French? The school district should be fairly responsive if you can show that there is enough interest among the students to fill at least one class.
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Post by phread on Mar 30, 2010 11:06:22 GMT -5
My 12 year old is doing french, english, hebrew and mandarin. Next year she starts spanish.
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Post by GitteK on Mar 30, 2010 11:12:22 GMT -5
Oh I love mandarins, they are so easy to peel....... LOL !
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Post by Shoesy on Mar 30, 2010 15:02:15 GMT -5
I started learning French in 9th grade and continued throughout high school. In my last 2 years of high school I also learned Spanish, and as far as I can remember, I didn't get the 2 languages confused. It's a pity that I've forgotten so much of what I learned , and I can certainly say the same for math, though come to think of it, the only math I really remember is what I learned in elementary school.
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keylimejet
Full Member
"When good Americans die, they go to Paris." Oscar Wilde
Posts: 140
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Post by keylimejet on Mar 30, 2010 15:49:13 GMT -5
Thanks everyone, for your sympathy and advice. Just being able to vent helps too! It appears the cause is lost. I spoke to the principals at both schools today and apparently I'm the only parent they've heard from. I tried to rally some others to call (daughter's friends, my own students, etc.), but to no avail. French is just not that popular down here - everyone wants to take Spanish. Daughter registered today and will be taking Latin. I hear the teacher is great, and it's a very popular class. So... I'm more resigned to it now, I guess. We'll just have to go to France and take lessons there together! In the meantime, I will probably buy Rosetta Stone.
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Post by sunshine817 on Mar 30, 2010 16:08:06 GMT -5
Wow. That stinks.
It's not okay, and I definitely feel your pain...but in a state where the budget is so miserly that the teachers buy paper towels out of their own pockets, I can see how they'd pass up one language in favor of a language spoken by 30% or more of the population, depending on where you are.
Lousy, though.
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Post by Jody on Mar 31, 2010 3:31:19 GMT -5
Do you have a Costco? I saw some language CD's there that were compared to Rosetta Stona only condiderably cheaper. I'll look again when I go to buy a chicken this week-end.
Do you have an Alliance Francaise near you. It's fun to belong even if you don't take lessons .
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keylimejet
Full Member
"When good Americans die, they go to Paris." Oscar Wilde
Posts: 140
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Post by keylimejet on Mar 31, 2010 5:07:00 GMT -5
I love my little town, but sadly we're nowhere near a Costco or an Alliance Francaise. I did see some Rosetta Stones on ebay for much cheaper than elsewhere though. This is my last day of school before a lovely extra-long Spring Break, so I should have time to research and find something over the holiday. And Latin's good to learn, right? I'm trying to think positive here.
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Post by mossie on Mar 31, 2010 9:01:25 GMT -5
I would say Latin is very good to learn because it has good regular grammar and teaches the basics of grammar. As an English speaker I had no idea what grammar was until forced to learn Latin at age 11 It is also the base for the Romance languages, French, Italian and Spanish, and can even help with such a mangled language as English. Here endeth the first lesson.
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Post by sdtraveller on Mar 31, 2010 10:34:59 GMT -5
With regard to whether it is "a language," Latin has a rich literature (although most of the good stuff is available in translation) and even a political/social/economic culture, from "Roman times" and before, if you wish to study it. I think it is even a spoken language, at least in the Vatican and its "territories."
Its value to a high school student transcends that issue, as others have noted. In the late 50s (that's the 19--50s) this academically very strong student learned practically all the grammar concepts I ever acquired from my three years of high school Latin. (My mother regarded that as just an introduction, as she had 4 years in HS and several literature courses in Latin in college.)
I would have struggled with German in HS and college if not for Latin, and it certainly helped with French--both the grammatical terms/usages and the cognates (unfortunately, few in German).
The loss of Latin in public schools and the decline of language studies in the US over the past decades is a tragedy. To think, most Gen Xers and Millenials don't know what a gerund is: Learning Latin can be useful.
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gertie
Full Member
Paris je t'adore!
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Post by gertie on Apr 11, 2010 3:49:32 GMT -5
I would suggest you call Alliance Francais as I was helped to find someone locally to help me by them, although they are nowhere near me. Granted, it was only happenstance, but you might get lucky. My daughter is taking French and Japanese this year and does fine, she does not mix them up. She does derive a lot of amusement from greeting and saying good-bye to each teacher in the opposite language daily.
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rachel
Junior Member
The best kind of friends are the ones you can travel with.
Posts: 99
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Post by rachel on Apr 11, 2010 5:45:10 GMT -5
How sad! I'm sorry that it didn't work. Do you have a community college nearby? In some states, students are allowed to take community college courses for dual high school and college credit during school hours. A local university may even have a summer program that allows postsecondary students. Also accredited online high schools in the US now have great programs that involve video chatting that allow students to interact, learn and earn high school credits. An excellent teacher who I got to know through a teacher's online professional development Ning has worked for Virtual High School for over ten years; however, when I looked they only offer AP French. Here's the website just in case you were still interested: www.govhs.org/Hope that helps and good luck!
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