Are foreign languages the hardest classes in MS?

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks all! I guess for us, we kind of assume that MCPS is BSing when they say that something is hard, because... it usually isn't. So this was a bit shocking from that POV. Especially since our kid is doing so well in all his other classes (including advanced math). As for the PP who said that Spanish 1 and 2 were so easy but their tutor helped prepare them for the AP, my point was that you don't know they would have been easy if you hadn't gotten your child a tutor, so it's kind of rich to say "Well duh, what did you expect, how else was my kid gonna get a 5 on the AP?" when that wasn't even the question and they actually provided no evidence that Spanish 1/2 are easy (the teachers not covering the entire material doesn't mean it's easy, also the content may be easy, but the grading rubrics may be kind of ridiculous, as other PPs noted.) Of course different kids have different strengths, so maybe their kid is also naturally good at FLs. (But immersion and one-on-one tutoring always help a ton, obviously.)

I guess my current plan is to see if kid improves by the end of the quarter and if not, consider a tutor. We're talking to him about language study skills but we're not actually in class with him, nor can we micromanage his Spanish - husband took Spanish in school, but doesn't remember most of it. We could get him workbooks or a textbook, but since they don't use them in class, I'm not sure how much it would help? (I mean, it would help more than 0, but there are many ways to teach a foreign language, so it may not be the best investment of our and his time.) I can also ask the counselor if he can still drop to Spanish 1A, I'm not sure we were ever told about that being an option. He does like the teacher though. I was hoping that he could improve a bit after the initial shock, but the rubric for that quiz on which he got a C kind of left me shaken lol.

The only reason why I'm not jumping on getting a tutor ASAP is because I don't want to stress him out excessively and he already told me he feels pressure about his Spanish grades from me. Parenting- it's hard, y'all!

I'm also going to ask him to talk to the teacher. I may also talk to her, haven't decided yet...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all! I guess for us, we kind of assume that MCPS is BSing when they say that something is hard, because... it usually isn't. So this was a bit shocking from that POV. Especially since our kid is doing so well in all his other classes (including advanced math). As for the PP who said that Spanish 1 and 2 were so easy but their tutor helped prepare them for the AP, my point was that you don't know they would have been easy if you hadn't gotten your child a tutor, so it's kind of rich to say "Well duh, what did you expect, how else was my kid gonna get a 5 on the AP?" when that wasn't even the question and they actually provided no evidence that Spanish 1/2 are easy (the teachers not covering the entire material doesn't mean it's easy, also the content may be easy, but the grading rubrics may be kind of ridiculous, as other PPs noted.) Of course different kids have different strengths, so maybe their kid is also naturally good at FLs. (But immersion and one-on-one tutoring always help a ton, obviously.)

I guess my current plan is to see if kid improves by the end of the quarter and if not, consider a tutor. We're talking to him about language study skills but we're not actually in class with him, nor can we micromanage his Spanish - husband took Spanish in school, but doesn't remember most of it. We could get him workbooks or a textbook, but since they don't use them in class, I'm not sure how much it would help? (I mean, it would help more than 0, but there are many ways to teach a foreign language, so it may not be the best investment of our and his time.) I can also ask the counselor if he can still drop to Spanish 1A, I'm not sure we were ever told about that being an option. He does like the teacher though. I was hoping that he could improve a bit after the initial shock, but the rubric for that quiz on which he got a C kind of left me shaken lol.

The only reason why I'm not jumping on getting a tutor ASAP is because I don't want to stress him out excessively and he already told me he feels pressure about his Spanish grades from me. Parenting- it's hard, y'all!

I'm also going to ask him to talk to the teacher. I may also talk to her, haven't decided yet...

It's nice at least that they're challenging kids for a change right? At our MS the Spanish 2 teacher has high expectations. Spanish 1 was hard, but Spanish 2 is considerably harder. For example, the first test covered 600 words they were supposed to have learned in Spanish 1. The nice thing is the teacher will give a retake. No idea if this will go on forever but at least it allowed DC to get a feel for the class and actually learn the material. After a few retakes, they seemed to get the hang of things and are getting A's now on the first try so at least for them it is no longer needed.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I don't think my kids have ever been allowed retakes, in either ES or MS. In MS, my son is just able to turn in some assignments late (after the due date but prior to the deadline), but at 10% penalty, which of course means that it can't be an A. Not complaining about it, but it's interesting that every school or teacher has their own policy about this.

[Anonymous]

Is the rubric same for all World Languages in MS; specifically, is the rubric same for French as it is for Spanish? My MS kid is taking French and I have yet to see a rubric for their French 3A/B assignments so far. I think they had rubrics in 6th grade, French 1A/B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I don't think my kids have ever been allowed retakes, in either ES or MS. In MS, my son is just able to turn in some assignments late (after the due date but prior to the deadline), but at 10% penalty, which of course means that it can't be an A. Not complaining about it, but it's interesting that every school or teacher has their own policy about this.

She doesn't give the same test twice, and the kids end up learning the material. DC only did one retake early on at least to my knowledge and it allowed them to get a better handle on what was required of them to get A's going forward. Personally, I think it's a fine policy as long as the kids learn what is expected of them in the end.

[Anonymous]

My eighth grader is in Spanish 3 honors and it’s hard! He’s a magnet student and this is the only one he has to work at to get As. Spanish 1ab wasn’t hard though. Depends on the kid.

[Anonymous]

Which is the harder track: Spanish or French? In MS and HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all! I guess for us, we kind of assume that MCPS is BSing when they say that something is hard, because... it usually isn't. So this was a bit shocking from that POV. Especially since our kid is doing so well in all his other classes (including advanced math). As for the PP who said that Spanish 1 and 2 were so easy but their tutor helped prepare them for the AP, my point was that you don't know they would have been easy if you hadn't gotten your child a tutor, so it's kind of rich to say "Well duh, what did you expect, how else was my kid gonna get a 5 on the AP?" when that wasn't even the question and they actually provided no evidence that Spanish 1/2 are easy (the teachers not covering the entire material doesn't mean it's easy, also the content may be easy, but the grading rubrics may be kind of ridiculous, as other PPs noted.) Of course different kids have different strengths, so maybe their kid is also naturally good at FLs. (But immersion and one-on-one tutoring always help a ton, obviously.)

I guess my current plan is to see if kid improves by the end of the quarter and if not, consider a tutor. We're talking to him about language study skills but we're not actually in class with him, nor can we micromanage his Spanish - husband took Spanish in school, but doesn't remember most of it. We could get him workbooks or a textbook, but since they don't use them in class, I'm not sure how much it would help? (I mean, it would help more than 0, but there are many ways to teach a foreign language, so it may not be the best investment of our and his time.) I can also ask the counselor if he can still drop to Spanish 1A, I'm not sure we were ever told about that being an option. He does like the teacher though. I was hoping that he could improve a bit after the initial shock, but the rubric for that quiz on which he got a C kind of left me shaken lol.

The only reason why I'm not jumping on getting a tutor ASAP is because I don't want to stress him out excessively and he already told me he feels pressure about his Spanish grades from me. Parenting- it's hard, y'all!

I'm also going to ask him to talk to the teacher. I may also talk to her, haven't decided yet...

I would definitely reach out to her for advice on how to help your child succeed in her class. She may have good advice.

[Anonymous]

So far, DC has gotten A's in Spanish 1 and 2, and although they're a magnet student, it's hands-down their hardest class. Regardless of their grades, I'd like them to retake Spanish 2 or Spanish 3 just to ensure they have a solid foundation before moving to the higher levels. I was curious if others who had been through this had advice. Thx!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually had a FL tutor for my kid in the summer after 5th grade, before he began 6th grade. I had a friend who is FL teacher in MCPS and she had confided that even in Spanish 1A/B and Spanish 2A/B, they are never able to complete the full syllabus. So the tutor covered a whole quarter worth of syllabus but did a deep dive during summer.

Spanish 1 and 2 are super easy, so it was very easy to go indepth with a tutor and really build a superb vocabulary for my kid. Anyhow, my kid went all the way to Spanish AP in 10th grade, and was always working on advance stuff because of the support outside the school. He is quite fluent in Spanish due to the 5 years in school and the 3 years of tutoring support in MS. He does not get too much chance to practice the language now and unfortunately he did not take FL in college. However, he listens to a lot of Spanish music and watches programs in Spanish, so who knows?

OP here. This is pretty funny - so it was very easy for your kid because you hired a tutor before they even started 6th grade and they always had support outside of school?

Yes. Do you want me to lie and say that my non-Spanish kid learned Spanish well enough to take Spanish AP and score a 5 in 10th grade, after 5 years of MCPS instruction because we relied on MCPS and the teachers? LOL. Now that is pretty funny. Who would drink the MCPS Kool-aid so blindly? Only someone who got their K-12 education in US.

I put remediation measures in place before the school started because I was made aware that for Spanish 1 and 2, the teachers never cover the full syllabus or everything that is in the textbook. 1 and 2 are the foundation on which the rest of the FL education depends. Every parent was boo-hooing about how Spanish 3 is so hard. Well, duh! There were two wasted years where they did not teach Spanish 1 and 2 correctly. Of course, Spanish 3 will kick the butt of the kids.

Giving credit where it is due - the textbooks that they use is pretty solid (Realidades 1, 2, 3 etc), but if they don't cover the material, then I am not going to let my kid's education be impacted because of inefficiency of people who are not invested in their future.

Hope it helped. Good luck!

Just wanted to add - I did not just hire a tutor. I hired an experienced and fantastic MCPS HS Spanish teacher to tutor my kid.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this poo-pooing of the American education system which included, "the textbooks...is pretty solid." Never change, pp. 😆

Who cares? Your kid is struggling in FL in MCPS and has you as a parent! Your grammar Nazism does not help your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which is the harder track: Spanish or French? In MS and HS?

Spanish is easier.

[Anonymous]

For Spanish - just get textbooks for levels 1-4 for your children. Buy them used from online stores. You can get them for less than $10 each. I prefer the Teacher's Edition textbooks but even the Student edition will do.. Then google for tutorials, tests, quizzes and lessons online and map them to chapters in the books. Prenctice Hall used to have wonderful online resources and vocabulary sheets on their website for Realidades but they took it down a few years ago.

Here is the MCPS guideline
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/languages/spanish/Spanish%201-3%20Overview.pdf

There are some teachers in other parts of the country who do a good job of making textbooks available online. For example - https://www.rcboe.org/Page/67233

Take a look at the PDF. You will realize that it is not hard to learn from the textbook in Spanish 1 and 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My eighth grader is in Spanish 3 honors and it’s hard! He’s a magnet student and this is the only one he has to work at to get As. Spanish 1ab wasn’t hard though. Depends on the kid.

Remember that the Spanish 3 Honors grades will be included in his transcript for college admissions and in the GPA, even if he takes it in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My eighth grader is in Spanish 3 honors and it’s hard! He’s a magnet student and this is the only one he has to work at to get As. Spanish 1ab wasn’t hard though. Depends on the kid.

Remember that the Spanish 3 Honors grades will be included in his transcript for college admissions and in the GPA, even if he takes it in 8th grade.

This is no longer automatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...

The only reason why I'm not jumping on getting a tutor ASAP is because I don't want to stress him out excessively and he already told me he feels pressure about his Spanish grades from me. Parenting- it's hard, y'all!
...

Won't having a tutor actually relieve the pressure and get your kid in a good place academically? BTW, even if you want to get a tutor ASAP, do you think good tutors are easily available? It is October and most of the tutors are already booked.