How much (if anything) should I be doing?

[amum/Cathy]

On 9/22/2017 at 13:13, Huddsballetmum said:

I asked my DD to wait until after 6th form to apply for anything and, as she wanted to go down the MT/contemporary route, she agreed and went off to 6th Form to study A levels, even though her heart was set on being a dancer.  Two years later on we are trawling round universities that have a great law course and her focus is now solely on becoming a criminal lawyer.  Universities with a great extracurricular dance programme are coming up top of the shop but it's still law first and dance second which I never thought I would see happen.  

What changed her mind?  I have no idea, but something triggered a passion greater than dance.  I will support her in whatever decision she makes, even if it means walking round 15 campus accommodation buildings at every university and ranking them out of 10!!

 

I think children are exactly that, children, and sometimes they need the time to grow up and make adult decisions.  

 

 

Huddsballetmum my ds is at Warwick uni where he is heavily involved in the extracurricular dance scene. I’ve started a thread about extracurricular dance at university here http://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/16246-dance-as-an-extracurricular-activity-at-uni/

 

[Flora]

Ballet bean I will pm you

On ‎24‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 18:38, balletbean said:

I am very interested to know of overseas vocational schools, we are considering all options.

My DD is open to any suggestions/recommendations  'as long as they speak English' was her reply! She doesn't think her GCSE German would be enough for John Cranko Academy. 

 

[alison]

On 24/09/2017 at 18:38, balletbean said:

I am very interested to know of overseas vocational schools, we are considering all options.

My DD is open to any suggestions/recommendations  'as long as they speak English' was her reply! She doesn't think her GCSE German would be enough for John Cranko Academy. 

 

But OTOH sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and learn, languages-wise - immersion is a great way of doing it.  Ask Xander Parish.  Ask all those students who come to the RBS or wherever with barely a word of English.  And I'm sure many of the students will speak English anyway.

[meadowblythe]

Know of successful students who have gone to Hamburg (school and then company) without even GCSE German.

 

DS joined a Czech company without any language GCSEs at all (and no, I'm not proud of this ..).  By October he could "take class, order beer, order any type of pizza and play poker" in Czech  And he really felt it covered the essentials.

 

Alison is right,  it's a different skill to live abroad to pass a GCSE.  It certainly helps, but most students survive.  It's more a desire to embrace the opportunity.

[Guest]

So true. In my youth I went to work in France, and although I had passed O Level French with an A, what I had learned at school was pretty useless, with its focus on asking people to clean the blackboard, or telling them where I had been pour les vacances. I picked up most of what I needed to know by watching TV programmes (Scooby Doo!) and its a very different experience having people speaking the language all around you all day every day.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

This just shows how different they all are. My daughter doesn't feel ready to move to London never mind abroad (despite an extreme lack of homesickness)

 

 

[Pas de Quatre]

I too went to France with just school taught French.  With no other fluent English speakers in my first company (they had a little English from school and films), I soon picked it up.  Mind you what you pick up can be a bit fruity!  Then later I went to Spain, never having studied Spanish in my life.  I picked that up easily too, and to my amusement everyone said I spoke Spanish with a French accent not an English one!

[balletbean]

18 hours ago, alison said:

 

But OTOH sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and learn, languages-wise - immersion is a great way of doing it.  Ask Xander Parish.  Ask all those students who come to the RBS or wherever with barely a word of English.  And I'm sure many of the students will speak English anyway.

Thank you Alison for that reassurance.  Just also discovered that due to limited travel arrangements, it would take 6 hours and two flights just to get to Stuttgart!! And my DD was concerned about finding her way back form BW to Glasgow airport!!! Oh, Teenagers don't we just love them. All grown up one minute then a little girl the next.