Your Child Isn't Ready for the Next Spanish Level. Now What?

In my last post, I highlighted several signs that indicate your child might not be as ready as you believe for their upcoming Spanish class this fall. With summer rapidly coming to a close, it's time to come up with an action plan if that is the case.

If we were face-to-face in a parent teacher conference, I'd tell you this. At the lower levels of language learning, a great deal of students that earn good grades know how to play the game of school very well. It looks a little like this:

- They ace their assessments in Spanish class because they know how to study.

- They memorize vocabulary lists but rarely retain that knowledge beyond the day of the quiz.

- They completed extra credit assignments that artificially inflated their final grade.

- They may have had a teacher who has antiquated views on how language is learned. Completing worksheets does not lead to true proficiency.

In this post, my goal is to equip you as a parent with possible solutions to this problem.

As a veteran teacher with over 24 years in the classroom, I can state confidently that I've seen it all. As an IB Spanish teacher and curriculum developer, I know that traditional teaching methods that mirror what many of us did in our language classes when we were students often do not lead to the ability of a student to communicate effectively in the second language.

What Not Ready Looks Like in the Classroom

What does that look like in the classroom?

- The student begins the year already feeling behind. They freeze when they are asked to produce oral responses.

- They often say, "we didn't do that last year." Sometimes there is some validity to that statement.

- They disengage, embarrassed to participate, and then fall even further behind.

- They try to always partner with the kid that they perceive as the smart one.

The good news? All of the above is useful information for a teacher or coach. And I'd like to drive home the point that not all is lost.

A student that is prepared for the new class might have several of these characteristics:

- They can respond fairly easily orally to questions posed by the teacher.

- They challenge themselves to answer even when they are weak in content knowledge.

- They have developed strong study habits that will continue to serve them well.

Three Paths Forward

Path 1: Bridge the Gap This Summer

Linguists have proven that the summer slide is real. Believe it or not, a typical student potentially forgets up to 1/3 of the language that they learned in their previous studies. Language is a skill. It must be practiced to be retained.

The first path forward for these students is to bridge the gap over the summer with targeted coaching and exposure to the language. This type of work will best benefit students who are motivated to continue their learning. This works best for a kid that recognizes that they are good test takers but have trouble producing spoken language without lots of scaffolds.

Summer coaching for this type of student should include grammar instruction on the most important grammatical structures, particularly speaking in the past tenses. With two past tense structures in Spanish that are not used interchangeably, this is one of the most important concepts to master. It's about understanding the nuances and choosing wisely.

Another key structure is called the subjunctive mood. We use this to express wishes, doubts, emotions, and requests of others. This concept is extremely important in upper level courses and is often a huge challenge for native English speakers, because we don't have a good equivalent in English.

What will not greatly benefit this type of student is a language app like Duolingo. Yes, they are all the rage, but their usefulness in creating communicative ability is extremely limited. They focus mainly on learning vocabulary words. And that's great. But you need structure to communicate with others.

Path 2: Repeat or Drop Down

The second path for a student might be to repeat their previous course or to even drop back a level. This might sound counterintuitive seeing that they may have earned a strong final grade in the course.

However, that's not the right way to view this option. Imagine a student beginning an Algebra 2 class this fall, but has noticeable weaknesses in the foundational math from Algebra 1. Quickly, they will be drowning in the new course.

In a class of 30 students, the amount of time that a teacher has to devote to an individual student is sadly limited. As the content becomes increasingly more challenging, frustration and failure become very likely. Those feelings eventually create a disdain for the language in general.

I've seen this play out over and over throughout the years. Confusion turns to apathy and then disgust.

Path 3: Targeted 1-to-1 Support

Next, the option of targeted 1-to-1 support can alleviate many of these issues. Students that are good test takers do well with this kind of approach. Sessions focused on language gaps benefit every student. Well-planned coaching sessions help students gain confidence in expressing themselves in the second language. And that confidence leads to much greater achievement.

What a good coach does versus a typical tutoring session is very important. Most tutors basically offer homework help. They are running triage just to get the student through the next assignment or assessment. From my experience, they don't plan sessions based on individual needs. They show up and help with homework and use flashcards for quiz preparation. And that won't lead to communication. It's like treading water and they never get ahead and never find confidence in their ability to communicate effectively.

At Spanish That Clicks, students are evaluated to determine proficiency level before any coaching actually begins. Gaps are quickly identified. Using the Spanish That Clicks system that I've developed over my time as an educator, sessions mimic authentic learning experiences that are tailored to the needs of the individual student. They are never sessions based on the question: What are you learning now? They are never one-size-fits-all generic sessions like most language tutors. Furthermore, you will receive an after session report every time I meet with your child. This includes the content of the lesson, what your child is doing well in, where they still have struggles, and assignments to do in between sessions to improve those gaps.

There are several questions you should ask a potential Spanish coach to see if it's the right fit:

- What is your philosophy of language learning?

- What types of success do you generally see after prolonged work with a student?

- Are your lessons the same for all students?

- What is your experience and background and how will that help my child?

What NOT to Do

In your role as the parent, these are three things I would advise you not to do:

- **Don't rush and buy a language program like Rosetta Stone.** These programs focus solely on vocabulary and are not intended to bridge gaps that your child has. They are the same for everyone that uses them.

- **Don't hire a homework tutor.** Sure, they might help improve your child's current grade, but they won't be addressing any of the actual deficits your child needs corrected. You're always staying in the current problems and not building a strong foundation that will lead to communication. The foundational problems still exist and only continue to compound.

- **Don't choose someone who possesses limited experience.** Language teachers hone and improve their craft over time and that experience is what benefits your student.

Closing Thoughts

In my years as an educator, I've worked hard to see many students close the gap. It happens not through more homework and worksheets. It takes place through a strong framework — the kind that is developed over many years.

Good grades do matter. But the ability to communicate effectively happens by strengthening the underlying steps toward language proficiency.

Get the Free Spanish Readiness Guide

In an effort to help you determine if your child is ready for Spanish in the fall, I've created this free Spanish readiness guide. Use it to help you know what next step is best for your individual case. You might also schedule a free Spanish readiness check with me over Zoom to discuss your concerns and for me to determine the best path forward. For some that might be regular coaching, for others possibly several targeted sessions to bridge the gaps they currently face. Or perhaps they don't need anything before the new school year starts. This will be a useful tool for you and there will be no sales pitch. It will include an authentic recommendation for your child.

Spanish Readiness Guide:(https://1drv.ms/b/c/0693b77c987b73c3/IQCBvkdvsqx7TKO3tnsPVDfZATGQ5IEiHMBTLidMEiPDdNo)**

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*Jay Rowsey is an IB Spanish educator regularly invited to examine for the IB and the founder of Spanish That Clicks, where he coaches learners and supports Spanish teachers with resources built around real proficiency — not just good grades.*