<p>I was lucky enough never to have to take Anything “3”. My daughter was stuck in French 3 for years (two different high schools, plus college), and it just killed her interest in French.</p>
<p>As far as I’m concerned, quitting a language after the third (high school) year is just an enormous mistake. You are finally getting to the good part, the part where you know enough of the language to be able to read/listen/watch/talk real things, not fake-o things, to begin real involvement with another culture. Giving up short of that pretty much assures that you are never going to achieve mastery, and never going to achieve engagement, either.</p>
<p>I understand one size doesn’t fit all, and I might change my recommendation if the Spanish 4 teacher is really bad, or if it’s nothing but more rehash of Spanish 2 and 3. But starting Latin – much as I’ve been praising Latin the last couple of days – isn’t a substitute for finishing Spanish.</p>
<p>(“Spanish doesn’t come easily to her”? Spanish is a pretty easy language: fairly regular, many fewer sounds than in English, French, Chinese, etc. Latin may be taught systematically, and with less/no emphasis on conversation, but it is not “easier” than Spanish. There may be other issues here, and going back to square 1 with Latin could exacerbate them.)</p>
<p>JHS, I studied Spanish, and DS#1 got a 5 on the AP Spanish exam and scored 730 on the Spanish SAT II, so I know it’s not terribly difficult as far as languages go. But I don’t think languages in general come naturally to DD, the way it seemed to with DS. Way back in 6th grade, she had a 1/2 year course where they spent a few weeks on Latin, then French, then Spanish, before they chose the language they would study in 7th & 8th grades (as I mentioned earlier, the language program in middle school has been cut in half, it now takes 2 years to learn Spanish 1). Back then, DD liked Latin much more than Spanish and picked it up fairly easily, but she chose Spanish because her friends were taking it and she didn’t like the Latin teacher, and we went along with her choice because we thought Spanish was more practical.</p>
<p>DH is in complete agreement with you that now is not the time to stop Spanish, she’s just getting to the “good stuff” that leads to fluency. But DD says she feels unprepared for Spanish 4. Last year her grade gradually sank from an A- to a C+ due to a personality conflict with her Spanish teacher (I give DD at least 50% of the blame for that), and this year’s first quarter was a total bust with a long-term sub that could not speak Spanish, followed by a new teacher who knows Spanish but “doesn’t believe in homework.” DD barely knows any more Spanish now than she did last June. Part of me thinks a new start with a new language would be good, but I agree that it’s only a valid choice if she promises to take Latin II as a Sr. </p>
<p>I think I will try to convince her to take Spanish 4, then drop language altogether as a Sr since at this point her attitude toward languages isn’t terribly positive. The hs also offers many other interesting electives in the business dept (including honors classes), I think she might be better off with a year of Honors Accounting than starting a new language as a Jr.</p>
<p>If she’s getting Cs in Spanish, seems like a bad idea to keep taking the class, especially because it sounds like she might be behind and not be able to hang in Sp4. Is that the case? At son’s school, a lot of people try SP4 and drop because it’s a big step up in difficulty.</p>
<p>I agree that if she takes Latin as a jr she should stay with it as a sr., so that it looks like a newfound interest and not that she’s flighty.</p>
<p>Sorry, I wasn’t clear. She ended 9th grade with a C+ (B- average for the year), but so far this year she has an A-. She says she hasn’t learned anything this year though, and judging from the total lack of Spanish hw that I’ve seen, I believe her. Her current teacher says he is putting more emphasis on speaking vs writing. DD told me they only had 2 graded assignments last term - 1 test, and one “interview.”</p>
<p>I think I will tell her that if she takes Latin 1 she has to commit to taking Latin 2 as a Sr. Otherwise stick with Spanish 4, or take an elective in another area (Public Speaking, Desktop Publishing, Accounting… it’s a big school with a lot of options). I don’t think that Spanish 4 CP (College Prep) or even Honors would be that hard, because the school also offers Spanish 4 as an AP class, so the kids who are really excelling in Spanish will be in AP.</p>