Tips for starting immersion?

[Anonymous]

Our kiddo is starting PK3 at a full Spanish immersion school. We don’t speak Spanish and while the school assures us they are very used to this and kids adapt quickly, I thought I’d also ask the DCUM hive mind for any tips or things you’d wish you’d know if you also sent your child to an immersion school. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Prepare and provide extra patience with your 3 yr old the first few weeks. It is WORK to work-play-operate in a new language and they likely will have exhausted all their own patience by day's end. They may be short, cranky, and otherwise annoyed with those whom they trust the most - probably you all at home. Also, some basic Spanish pronunciation aids for you would not go amiss. Just knowing what sounds the letters make (with very few exceptions) will go a long way. Spanish is great: it sounds exactly the way it looks, no mysteries. Enjoy! Que disfruten!

[Anonymous]

It'll be fine, just hang in there.

EYES WIDE OPEN about the quality of the school, its leadership, and its upper grade academics. "At least they're learning Spanish" covers a lot of problems, until it doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kiddo is starting PK3 at a full Spanish immersion school. We don’t speak Spanish and while the school assures us they are very used to this and kids adapt quickly, I thought I’d also ask the DCUM hive mind for any tips or things you’d wish you’d know if you also sent your child to an immersion school. Thank you!

No sé.

[Anonymous]

Support them, talk with them, try to learn along with them.

[Anonymous]

One year in my best advice is just to have reasonable expectations for how quickly they start speaking the second language and keep it super low pressure. It’s tempting to want to show off the language skills for grandparents or be constantly listening for “progress.”

But for your kid, this language exists in the classroom and is about play and relationship with other kids and their teachers. It’s hard to explain, but it won’t belong to you (unless you speak it too). So they may never use it at home with you, but speak it a lot at school. (The first time I heard it was when my dd was speaking to her doll while playing alone at home.) Or they may be slow to start using it at school, but their teacher will be the best judge of their pace of learning. So just keep doing all of your normal parenting and keep the language pressure low at home. You don’t have to add a bunch of supports or push them to use it or monitor progress.

[Anonymous]

Para empezar, debes averiguar si tú o alguien en tu vida puede apoyar el idioma fuera del aula. Si no se refuerza y ​​apoya el idioma más allá de lo que sucede en el aula, entonces el concepto de "inmersión lingüística" es principalmente una estrategia de marketing diseñada para atraer a los padres de clase media alta hacia los objetos brillantes.

Toda la suerte.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Para empezar, debes averiguar si tú o alguien en tu vida puede apoyar el idioma fuera del aula. Si no se refuerza y ​​apoya el idioma más allá de lo que sucede en el aula, entonces el concepto de "inmersión lingüística" es principalmente una estrategia de marketing diseñada para atraer a los padres de clase media alta hacia los objetos brillantes.

Toda la suerte.

B+ at best. Clearly not a native speaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Para empezar, debes averiguar si tú o alguien en tu vida puede apoyar el idioma fuera del aula. Si no se refuerza y ​​apoya el idioma más allá de lo que sucede en el aula, entonces el concepto de "inmersión lingüística" es principalmente una estrategia de marketing diseñada para atraer a los padres de clase media alta hacia los objetos brillantes.

Toda la suerte.

Merci

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Para empezar, debes averiguar si tú o alguien en tu vida puede apoyar el idioma fuera del aula. Si no se refuerza y ​​apoya el idioma más allá de lo que sucede en el aula, entonces el concepto de "inmersión lingüística" es principalmente una estrategia de marketing diseñada para atraer a los padres de clase media alta hacia los objetos brillantes.

Toda la suerte.

B+ at best. Clearly not a native speaker.

+1 Google translate is good, but a native speaker will always be able to tell that google translate was used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Para empezar, debes averiguar si tú o alguien en tu vida puede apoyar el idioma fuera del aula. Si no se refuerza y ​​apoya el idioma más allá de lo que sucede en el aula, entonces el concepto de "inmersión lingüística" es principalmente una estrategia de marketing diseñada para atraer a los padres de clase media alta hacia los objetos brillantes.

Toda la suerte.

B+ at best. Clearly not a native speaker.

+1 Google translate is good, but a native speaker will always be able to tell that google translate was used.

I feel sorry for people like you and PP who go through life without a sense of humor. Lighten up, Francis!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One year in my best advice is just to have reasonable expectations for how quickly they start speaking the second language and keep it super low pressure. It’s tempting to want to show off the language skills for grandparents or be constantly listening for “progress.”

But for your kid, this language exists in the classroom and is about play and relationship with other kids and their teachers. It’s hard to explain, but it won’t belong to you (unless you speak it too). So they may never use it at home with you, but speak it a lot at school. (The first time I heard it was when my dd was speaking to her doll while playing alone at home.) Or they may be slow to start using it at school, but their teacher will be the best judge of their pace of learning. So just keep doing all of your normal parenting and keep the language pressure low at home. You don’t have to add a bunch of supports or push them to use it or monitor progress.

+100
Very well stated. My kid has been in Spanish immersion for two years and loves Spanish. Can speak in full sentences, express herself clearly, etc. The caveat is the ONLY reason I know this is because her teachers tell me. She won’t speak Spanish around me or anyone else who she speaks English with. I have heard her speak Spanish with random kids she hears on the playground but her brain truly keeps who she speaks Spanish with separate from who she speaks English with. It’s really interesting but her teachers assure me they are so impressed with her interest and ability in speaking Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Alexa knows Spanish, you can ask her words quickly and easily
Some kids get really mad when you try to speak/read to them in Spanish. It’s ok not to do this year one. Sometimes they just need a space where they know it will be safe and easy and in English, and that’s ok
Don’t expect your kid to necessarily make a crazy amount of progress on non Spanish areas in prek3. For example, if your kid might otherwise be an early reader learning Spanish may “slow them down” because the letter sounds they used to know no longer make sense

[Anonymous]

If there are other families who are monolingual in the partner language, make sure to be friendly and reach out as much as you can across language barriers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It'll be fine, just hang in there.

EYES WIDE OPEN about the quality of the school, its leadership, and its upper grade academics. "At least they're learning Spanish" covers a lot of problems, until it doesn't.

+1000