Anonymous wrote:

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.

It won't get easier. Maybe they need a different major?

sure see if you can transfer to engineering because Spanish is too hard

Anonymous wrote:Take it at community college over the summer and transfer the credits

that doesn't work for a required course. also many top 30+ colleges do not accept community college credits

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It won't get easier. Maybe they need a different major?

It's probably a distribution requirement, not a major requirement.

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.

It won't get easier. Maybe they need a different major?

I feel for OP and their kid who’s struggling with the class. None of us like to see our kids struggle and it’s hard to not intervene on some level. Given this situation, maybe OP can tell their kid to come up with 2-3 concrete ways to address the issue and offer support for what the kid decides (summer course, dropping the class, pay for tutor, etc). That way OP can be supportive and their kid can still be in the driver’s seat.

Take it at community college over the summer and transfer the credits

Self inflicted. Many great schools that no longer have an outdated and irrelevant foreign language requirement.

Struggle, pass, no need for an A. No one will care.

Is there another way to fulfill the requirement? A summer immersion class maybe? More intensive, but gets it over with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trolls in this thread probably have kids at JMU, telling OP to step "waaaay back". What a joke.

Not trolls, just reasonable parents trying to produce independent adults.

Sometimes adults who are going through hard things need support from their parents, too. If this kid was calling friends and crying, that would be seen as okay, but they can’t call their mom?

Crying to your friends repeatedly about French class is a good way to lose friends. Get a grip.

I bet it's Spanish because that's supposed to be the "easy" one.
OP you have some really good advice on here. I was a foreign language major and decided my senior year, after junior year abroad and fluency in my second language to take on a new language senior year, for "fun". Guess what. It was daunting to start from scratch, with a 5-day class and things to memorize every single night or you get hopelessly left behind. You don't want to be the one in class not getting it. I dropped the class. I picked up a third language later in a relaxed fun way.

All that to say- it's a requirement. See if they can fulfill it in an easier way. Some people can't pick up languages easily or the format of a language class (you can never slack ever) can be very difficult for some people to manage.

Get a tutor? We pay for an online Wyzant tutor as needed for my college kid in linear algebra. It's been incredibly helpful and kid is getting a high A. Sometimes it really help to hear things explained different ways and multiple times.

These language class requirements are terrible. I also remember hating them in college. No advice. They will get through it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trolls in this thread probably have kids at JMU, telling OP to step "waaaay back". What a joke.

Not trolls, just reasonable parents trying to produce independent adults.

Sometimes adults who are going through hard things need support from their parents, too. If this kid was calling friends and crying, that would be seen as okay, but they can’t call their mom?

Crying to your friends repeatedly about French class is a good way to lose friends. Get a grip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trolls in this thread probably have kids at JMU, telling OP to step "waaaay back". What a joke.

Not trolls, just reasonable parents trying to produce independent adults.

Sometimes adults who are going through hard things need support from their parents, too. If this kid was calling friends and crying, that would be seen as okay, but they can’t call their mom?

If a kid is crying to mom week after week about a hard class, the issue is way more serious than difficult coursework.

Tell your kid that life isn’t always easy and they can handle a difficult class. They’re going to survive the C or whatever grade they get and then move on. This will not impact the rest of their lives.

The best way to help is to not feed the anguish. Help them realize it’s a hurdle, but it’s not life threatening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trolls in this thread probably have kids at JMU, telling OP to step "waaaay back". What a joke.

Not trolls, just reasonable parents trying to produce independent adults.

Sometimes adults who are going through hard things need support from their parents, too. If this kid was calling friends and crying, that would be seen as okay, but they can’t call their mom?