Helping DC through tough required class

[Anonymous]

Can they drop it and switch to an easier language? Perhaps ASL? Can they take it as a summer course? If none of these are possible, I highly recommend tutoring or going back to whatever language they took in high school but stepping down a level.

[Anonymous]

I ended up switching to classical Greek bc I couldn’t do the speaking part. Plus, so many of my classmates had done French 3-4 in high school and were taking French 1 in college for the easy A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC at LAC and the language requirement is making life miserable. DC is doing a great job seeking help- going to office hours, using on campus tutoring, etc. but the class is hard for DC and meets daily, making every day a slog. The requirement means there will be multiple semesters of this and DC chose the language thought to be easiest.

DC has a negative attitude toward it and calls crying almost every week. Besides empathizing and offering words of support, any suggestions how to support DC through this? I've tried emphasizing the other great social and athletic activities DC is involved in, but this class is overshadowing the good things.

People are saying things like move to pass fail or drop the class, but at this point in the semester, I doubt that's possible. All you can do is be supportive and empathetic and encourage your kid to take advantage of the support options available, or perhaps help them access more support ie you could pay to get a tutor for them if you can afford that.

Beyond that, why is language so hard? Is there a disability that impacts language acquisition? If so, you could explore a language waiver. But if it's part of the selected major, I doubt that will fly.

If the requirement is part of the major, the kid may need to reevaluate chioce of major. If it's part of the general requirements, I have to wonder why the kid picked a school with onerous language requirements knowing they are not good in a lang? My kid knows languages are hard for him so he picked a school without a requirement. If it's really that miserable, your kid could transfer to a college that does not require a foreign lang. There are many that do not.