<p>DD grew up speaking my native language, picked up English when she started her preschool career 
So honestly her first ātruly foreignā language has been Spanish, but the brain connections were already thereā¦she was at a charter school and some of her teachers were from Spain and they taught history and geography in Spanish. She started private conversations in 7th grade, but only about 30 minutes a week . She then traveled to Spain for about 6 weeks the summer before 9th grade where she was totally immersed and she came back speaking really well. I can honestly say that she is fluent in Spanish at this point, although she is not picking up books to read in that language, prefers magazines 
Started French II in 9th grade (skipped French I but had some private lessons about the basics of the language, about 5-6 of them), this year she is in French III but her teacher told her to take AP French next year, thus skipping French IV. She says that French is really easy for her because she can make connections to the other 3 languages she knows really well. Our HS has a very strong Spanish program and her French teacher does not use any English in classroom ! I donāt know how good DD is, but she was able to carry a conversation in French recently on the slopes And she is able to read Petit Nicholas with easeā¦
Last summer she has been toying with Russian (would like to travel to Russia, has a private tutor but no time to meet with her) and only recently started learning Korean through a Korean weekend schoolā¦
So yes, she is crazy about languages but it seems to come really easy to her at this point ā¦
My suggestions? Concentrate on speaking, not the grammar. Buy easy magazines in that language and placed them in the bathroom Invest in one on one conversations. Look for summer programs at the local college or other public schools (our state has several of them and they are cheap.)
Doing a formal exchange is really expensive, but when we do it privately it cost me the airline ticket plus some spending money :)</p>
<p>I recommend the Concordia Language Villages for summer language immersion camps. The programs arenāt cheap but they arenāt outrageously expensive and they are outstanding! For less common languages look for StarTalk programs (Chinese, Russian, Arabic etc.). They have scholarships. NSLIy has summer scholarship programs to study abroad as well as year programs but the application is due in the fall.</p>
<p>Middlebury also offers an immersion environment thatās top notch and very strict. Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and French are the only languages offered but there are several different campuses available. I was looking at their Beijing Academy and wondering if my daughter would be interested (read: not completely resistant) in attending. The thing about Mandarin for a non-native speaker is that the path to fluency is much longer than it is in most other languages so I think sheād need a lot more immersion to get to the point where she could converse easily. She knows enough Spanish and Hebrew that the equivalent short exposure would probably yield fluency.</p>
<p>Ack, I just saw the price tag! Itās really expensive!</p>
<p>S2 is in French III this year. All our HS 4th year foreign language courses are APs. S2 is not interested in AP French next year. Kelowna-Good idea about buying magazines. Do you have any suggestions for easy French magazines?</p>
<p>Our school allows kids who do well in level 3 languages to skip level 4 and go directly to the AP levelā¦EXCEPT for Mandarin where not only is there no honors level but where level 4 is required. The weird thing is that there are a number of heritage and native speakers who take Mandarin (I donāt know why, maybe there are gaps in knowledge?) and still arenāt allowed to go directly to the AP level! I would think itād be deadly dull for these kids.</p>
<p>Very cool that we have so many kids with a passion for languages on this thread!</p>
<p>EllieMom ā if your D has difficulty with verbal processing, perhaps ASL or Latin (which is usually taught through a text-based method) might work well for her.</p>
<p>Maxwellequations ā my favorite way to practice my foreign languages is to watch films in those languages. If I get DVDs (from our local library or Netflix) I can initially watch w/o subtitles, but can go back and turn subtitles on if thereās some dialogue I donāt understand.</p>
<p>Well ā¦ Sorry to change the subject but I need to vent and also express my relief that we reached a decision. My daughter was all set to do the full IB diploma program with AP Spanish. I researched IB, emailed the coordinator for weeks and weeks, spoke to former IB students, went to the parent meeting, etc. I finally became fine with her doing it. Last night she suddenly threw a fit and said that she wonāt do IB because she does not fit in with the kids. She says they are " theater nerds" and she is an " academic nerd." So tomorrow she is off to guidance to complete her new schedule: honors pre-calc, honors US ( does not want AP), AP Spanish, IB English ( very popular class), and either AP bio or physics. She already took honors bio and currently has honors chem. AP will also free up some time for electives senior year. Thanks for listening- I am sooo relieved.</p>
<p>^^^ Hooray for decisions reached!<br>
twogirls, I think you deserve a nice glass of red wine to celebrate!</p>
<p>^^great idea about watching foreign movies, although you have to be quite proficient with the language before it can really work. There are quite a few on Netflix but on majority of them it is impossible to turn off subtitles.</p>
<p>I forgot to say that DD also listens to music in those languages - a great way to learn new words !</p>
<p>About the magazines - DD is 15, so far we have been buying equivalents of American Girl in Spanish and my native language. From Spain she brought Bravo and whenever we travel we buy something similar to Bravo. In Spanish you can subscribe to People - I know that the subject will not appeal to many of you but this is not the point - the point is to read something short, pleasurable in those few minutes you have nothing to do Magazines with short text and tons of pictures / drawings are the best. You do not want to subscribe to the equivalent of New Yorker :)</p>
<p>@ Twogirls - we grow when we make tough decisions! Good for your daughter.
My DD is in an IB program but this is something she truly enjoysā¦</p>
<p>DS15 emailed me from China this morning that he is registering to take the May AP Chinese exam! Iām pleased because even though I think the HSK exams that heās taking are more legitimate (the Chinese version of the TOEFL), I doubt that many colleges would know what they were.</p>
<p>Congrats on a decision,twogirls. My son will either be in all IB or all AP. We are waiting to find out if he will attend an IB boarding school with a scholarship or attend our stateās residential school for gifted juniors and seniors on a college campus about an hourās drive away. I would prefer the former because of his interests. Itās going to be a long two months before we know.</p>
<p>Mihcal1 and everyone- thanks for your support!! Yes a glass of wine is in my near future!</p>
<p>Twogirls, thank goodness sheās reached a decision but I can imagine how much of a roller coaster this must have been for you. Iām sure youāre glad she has to make that final decision and that it works out in a way that you think is right. It sounds like a good plan. </p>
<p>TV shows and movies are excellent for getting more exposure to the languageāwe both do it with subtitles and still get a lot out of it. In fact, we started laughing at some of the translations that didnāt quite work in English. I have enough trouble understanding music lyrics in English so I donāt think songs would work for me but maybe for D. </p>
<p>Apollo, how cool! That is so awesome that your son can take the AP AND the HSK exams! Iām really impressed.</p>
<p>Great idea re. magazines in foreign language. I just looked and discovered that InStyle Magazine has a Spanish language version. I think D would have fun with that! And since I usually make her buy InStyle with her own money, sheās sure to be doubly happy. :)</p>
<p>Thank you mihcal and everyone for suggestions on FL. Watching movies is a wonderful idea. In the summer we watched Le Rouge et le Noir, French version of mater piece theater. It was REALLY good! what made it even better is I could still understand a lot of it in French. D. mostly looked at the subtitle I think. But still, it was great to watch a movie in original language. We should definitely do more. </p>
<p>@Apollo, You mentioned that language camp before. How did your kids like it? The reason Iām asking is I always think total immersion camps are hard on people, unless theyāre absolutely motivated. I think my D. is motivated, but she is still young. Iām a little nervous about sending her to a camp where she might feel too much pressure. My fear was confirmed by a friend of hers. This girl is a wonderful student in her school. She did two years of CTY and totally loved it. She is 1.5 years older than my daughter. Last summer she went to a French total immersion camp. The camp was 4 weeks long. The last 2 weeks her family had to be there with her because she was so miserable. She felt so stressed because she was not allowed to speak any English for weeks. She did not make good friends. The second week she basically didnāt speak. Instead, she cried. 
That stories really scared all of us. :eek: I want so much to send D. to a total immersion program for the sake of her language, but I donāt want her to be unhappy. So thatās why Iām asking here - were your kids happy in that camp? Would they recommend that camp to their friends? This summer weāre booked. But if we hear good things about that camp, maybe next year we will consider. </p>
<p>D. is strongly interested in international relations or business. so FL is crucially important to her.</p>
<p>Anybody knows some good, easy, French magazine or book?</p>
<p>Wow maxwell. Thatās a sobering story. My D did a pretty low key chamber music camp one summer and cried through the entire first week. Sheās exactly the kind of kid who would just stop speaking and would feel too much pressure.</p>
<p>I am sooo relieved. I do not care which track she takes as long as she is happy. On a side note, you can also buy kids games in Spanish and possibly other languages. We will be playing all summer!</p>