Are foreign languages the hardest classes in MS?

[Anonymous]

Your kid needs to memorize a lot of vocabulary from Realidades 1 and 2 to actually do well in Spanish 3. Buy the books and go over the chapter review like this one -

http://pedromurga.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/5/2/24529422/l1_capitulo_3a.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs to memorize a lot of vocabulary from Realidades 1 and 2 to actually do well in Spanish 3. Buy the books and go over the chapter review like this one -

http://pedromurga.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/5/2/24529422/l1_capitulo_3a.pdf

Thanks! So do they use this as an informal textbook or something? Like I said, they don't have any official textbook.

[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.

That’s not actually true. Also he has all As so why would it matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid needs to memorize a lot of vocabulary from Realidades 1 and 2 to actually do well in Spanish 3. Buy the books and go over the chapter review like this one -

http://pedromurga.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/5/2/24529422/l1_capitulo_3a.pdf

Thanks! So do they use this as an informal textbook or something? Like I said, they don't have any official textbook.

The teachers are teaching from Realidades like they have been doing for the past 20 years in MCPS and other school systems. They may or may not share this information with the students but that is besides the point. Teachers are not going to develop new content to teach or test when they have the Teacher Edition textbooks. Besides, these are really comprehensive textbooks and laid out in a systematic manner that tracks with the progression of the MCPS curriculum. MCPS central office used to use the questions found in the textbooks to create the final exams - once upon a time, in the good ol days - when there used to be final exams.

The easiest thing to do is map the MCPS curriculum and syllabus for each course to the chapters in the book(s). Also, make sure that the kids are doing the practice questions in the text-book and the chapter review. There are tons of Realidades study guides and quizzes in Quizlet online so use them. This alone will get you straight A's in FL and it will actually teach them the language skills to become bilingual and tackle FL in HS and AP exams.

[Anonymous]

OP here with update. We got Realidades and son just started with a tutor this week. He ended up with 84% first quarter and is now at 83% for MP2 after getting 70% on today's test. He still seems to "not get it" in terms of what he needs to do to succeed (and again, he's doing great in all his other classes, on MAP tests etc.) The rubrics continue to confuse us (basically a small number of mistakes drop you to a B- or C) and the teacher shares the word list for the test the day before. Is this normal? Is the idea that they're not supposed to memorize word lists? Because they get points off if they mess up the spelling on the assessments so I'm not sure how else they're supposed to learn?

Here's to hoping that the tutor will help, but to be honest, I'm getting increasingly pissed at the teacher. I get that the class should be hard but it doesn't seem like she's helping the kids succeed.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Sorry for the double post, but also - you get 50% on a missed assignment and yet you can technically get less than that (according to the rubric) on a Spanish assessment on which you made a bunch of mistakes but still were able to get some stuff across. Son never got less than 50% but has had a number of grades between 60% and 75%.

[Anonymous]

As an adult studying Spanish on my own, here’s what I’ve found especially helpful:

YouTube - the Super Simple Español channel - These are actually animated preschool songs in Spanish. It may be a hard sale for a middle schooler because they have 0 cool factor. They’re themed to teach kids basic concepts which would cover a lot of 1st year vocabulary (numbers, colors, animals, body parts, action verbs, etc.), with rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and animation. There are also cartoons, but those would probably be better later when his Spanidh is stronger.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCyY3Wd5x85o8AKXjYSoxFAQ

Spanish verb book - 501 Spanish verbs

Duolingo - What I like best about Duolingo is the ability to repeat something as many times as I want, sometimes slowing it down. Personally, my ear for distinguishing sounds in general (musical, linguistic, etc.) is terrible. I like to close my eyes while the question is given, so if it’s an audio prompt, I can try to process it initially by the sound. Most questions have the Spanish audio available in the discussion, regardless. I’ll listen to the clip over and over until it starts to stick, then I try saying it, and when I think it’s sounding close and I’m getting up to speed, I say it while plating the audio do I can see where my pronunciation differs.

I also like the instant feedback. Instead of doing a set of homework and getting it corrected the next day (at best), you get immediate response for every question, hopefully before errors become engrained.

While Duolingo was always weak on grammar, and they’ve taken away the ability to post questions which is a tremendous loss, past discussions remain available and are invaluable. They contain explanations of common problems for novices, as well as more nuanced explanations by native speakers about regional language differences.



I think what’s helped me most in my Spanish studies in comparison to other languages I studied in high school and college classes was some advice I heard about how to approach language learning. They suggested that rather than approach it as an academic subject with content to be understood and memorized (although those are important), approach it like a physical activity that you practice until it becomes automatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Sorry for the double post, but also - you get 50% on a missed assignment and yet you can technically get less than that (according to the rubric) on a Spanish assessment on which you made a bunch of mistakes but still were able to get some stuff across. Son never got less than 50% but has had a number of grades between 60% and 75%.

I think it's the teacher. I have 3 children who took Spanish starting in 6th in MCPS and the early classes 1 and 2 were not difficult. I've never heard their friends complain about FL in MS either.

[Anonymous]

Only above Level 2. Level 1 and 2 are very easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only above Level 2. Level 1 and 2 are very easy.

My DC with a little Spanish coming in who took Level 1 over two years in 6th and 7th found it pretty easy and didn’t study. My DC who took it in one year in 6th found it more challenging and had to study. Both parents speak Spanish as a second language so could help at home if needed and both kids are very high scoring kids. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment that these classes are easy. They are not for many. And they require some study skills, which many sixth graders don’t yet have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only above Level 2. Level 1 and 2 are very easy.

My DC with a little Spanish coming in who took Level 1 over two years in 6th and 7th found it pretty easy and didn’t study. My DC who took it in one year in 6th found it more challenging and had to study. Both parents speak Spanish as a second language so could help at home if needed and both kids are very high scoring kids. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment that these classes are easy. They are not for many. And they require some study skills, which many sixth graders don’t yet have.

Plus fine attention to detail. You can get marked down for very small things that would not impair verbal communication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only above Level 2. Level 1 and 2 are very easy.

OP here. I guess the question is easy for whom? Does your kid get exposed to Spanish at home or has taken Spanish or another foreign language before? I think I may have mentioned before, but my son has some exposure to another Romance language at home (my native language) but has had little formal education in it. It may also depend on the school and teacher, of course, as PPs have said that not everyone uses the rubric in the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only above Level 2. Level 1 and 2 are very easy.

My DC with a little Spanish coming in who took Level 1 over two years in 6th and 7th found it pretty easy and didn’t study. My DC who took it in one year in 6th found it more challenging and had to study. Both parents speak Spanish as a second language so could help at home if needed and both kids are very high scoring kids. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment that these classes are easy. They are not for many. And they require some study skills, which many sixth graders don’t yet have.

Plus fine attention to detail. You can get marked down for very small things that would not impair verbal communication.

OP here again. Yes, exactly! It's kind of funny how we teach foreign languages, in a way that doesn't at all mirror how kids pick naturally pick up their native or other languages (for example, many kids still make grammar mistakes at age 7-8). I think MCPS is trying to teach languages in a more holistic manner, but maybe the issue is that the rubrics are still very focused on nitty gritty stuff and not on overall ease of use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So far my DS's FL 1AB class is the only one he's getting a B in (6th grade, but he's in AMP7+ for math, is >97th percentile on both MAPs etc - in summary, a very good student). Maybe it's him, but I actually find the rubric to be kind of harsh. Like he got a C on a quiz where he got "Exceeds expectations" for 1 rubric, and "Meets expectations" for 2 rubrics ("Strong" for 1 and "Minimal" for 1). How is that a C and not a B?

Anyway, I don't want to whine and it's not like I've discussed this with the teacher, I just told him to talk to her to make sure he understands what he's getting wrong. Is the idea that they're harsh in 1AB so the kids get used to working hard, or is this simply his weakest subject? (Which is OK, but I still want him to try to improve.) He's finding all his other classes super easy for now.

It is one of the hardest classes. When DC was in MS their lowest score was FL which was more like 95%. It required them to develop study skills so served them well in the long run. I'd suggest just retaking Spanish 1 next year for them to get used to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only above Level 2. Level 1 and 2 are very easy.

My DC with a little Spanish coming in who took Level 1 over two years in 6th and 7th found it pretty easy and didn’t study. My DC who took it in one year in 6th found it more challenging and had to study. Both parents speak Spanish as a second language so could help at home if needed and both kids are very high scoring kids. I don’t think it’s a fair assessment that these classes are easy. They are not for many. And they require some study skills, which many sixth graders don’t yet have.

+1. Kids have different strengths. Personally, foreign language (French) was my biggest weakness in high school. I just didn't get it.

Also, it has been well documented that kids pick up a second language best when they are young. We start too late with foreign language instruction in this country. We considered trying to move when the dual-immersion programs were established but it would have been too late for my oldest.