TJ Spanish-why considered hard?
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Anonymous
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DC selecting classes and seen many posts on here that Spanish at TJ is hard, but why? Is it accelerated such that do 3 years of what would do at base in 1 year? In which case, TJ kids if took 1 year on MS, are effectively done with HS Spanish by middle of 10th and then taking college level? So is it the speed? Or is there just massive amount of homework and projects or teachers write hard tests? Brutal graders such that if miss one accent on entire test get a B? What is it that makes Spanish hard?
Asking as DC took Spanish in 8th but not because loves it- was just what was available and is not a kid thrilled to take a language- so DC trying to decide whether to continue what started or change course. |
Anonymous
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Four or five years of Spanish plus year of AP level at base school is condensed into three years plus AP level at TJ.
Unlike base school Spanish 1 and 2 where student gets easy As even without being required to speak a complete sentence, TJ Spanish 2 is heavily focused on oral and listening part, beyond just the vocabulary words, phrases, and grammar constructs. As other posts here have noted, Spanish is a widely spoken second language in the U.S., and high school Spanish teachers generally have higher expectations for Spanish compared to languages like German, Russian, or Latin. This increased expectation is also reflected in TJ Spanish, layered on top of the already elevated rigor common across all TJ courses. Majority of TJ freshmen students find TJ Spanish 2 demanding and enroll in the terminating Spanish 3 in summer virtually, and be done with the minimum three credit world language requirement. Few abandon the middle school Spanish credit, and start a different language from level 1 and take it through AP level . But there are significant number of students that take on the challenge and complete the TJ AP Spanish as well. |
Anonymous
| If kid has already completed Spanish 2 are they required to take Spanish 3 in freshman or can they do it in summer? |
Anonymous
they have to enroll in TJ Spanish 3 (or step down to TJ Spanish 2, which is what most eventually do) in freshman full year. The 3 World Language credits must be sequential. |
Anonymous
| One other way to be done with the three credit requirement is completing Spanish 3 before entering TJ, and it must be on the middle school transcript to get transferred to TJ transcript. |
Anonymous
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Understand the implications of stopping after three credits of Spanish or any language and not pursuing a fourth. Research online and read articles about how important a fourth year of language study is or isn’t, when it comes to college admissions
https://www.google.com/search?q=four+years+of+same+foreign+language+college+admissions |
Anonymous
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It has absolutely nothing to do with fluency. It has everything to do with understanding very obscure Spanish grammar rules that even native speakers don't understand.
My kid failed this test twice: https://www.lawlessspanish.com/grammar/verbs/preterito-vs-imperfecto/ He git super easy As in Spanish at base school. |
Anonymous
It's really impractical to fit 4 in with the TJ schedule. Unfortunately. My kid might do Spanish 4 in the summer but definitely not at TJ again. |
Anonymous
Know ivys and schools like UvA say take 4 years- if TJ gets in that or more in 3 years, is the guidance different for TJ kids? Are kids getting into UVa and ivys with just 3 years? |
Anonymous
Re: hard to fit in - depends what else you want to do. DD will do 4 years of language at TJ (abandoned Spanish and started a new one there). She does the summer classes including prior to 9th and it has worked out fine. |
Anonymous
My kid does summer classes too but with band can't fit it in. TJ is really impractical when you basically require kids to do summer classes to have even 1 enjoyable class on the schedule. |
Anonymous
| TJ is best suited for students who find stem academic classes also enjoyable, not just one, like band. Apart from that, with so many extracurriculars, sports, clubs, events, etc., that offer enjoyable experience, why insist on band, and then complain about it? |
Anonymous
Mine also does band. Again it depends on what you are aiming to do with your electives. |
Anonymous
But TJ students cannot do math classes or coding in summer right? Only non-math classes like PE or world language, right? |
Anonymous
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Is there a good Spanish 2 test my dc can take to see if their middle school Spanish has set them up well for Spanish 3?
If not our option is to switch to German or redo Spanish 2 |