Has anyone's child become fluent in a language not spoken at home exclusively by learning in middle or high school?

[Anonymous]

Why do schools teach foreign languages the way they do? Why isn't a foreign language generally taught in elementary?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but they went to a foreign language immersion private school since kindergarten. There’s also a foreign language public immersion school in our city.

[Anonymous]

We tried the FLES in MoCo and it was terrible but my kid took Spanish in MS, HS and college and is now living in Spain so I think they are reasonably fluent.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s possible but even if they started younger you need a real commitment and interest. My kid that is interested did things llle change all their computer and iPhone settings to default to the other language, started listening to podcasts in that language, found tv shows and books etc. You’re mot going to train your brain in one hour per day. The best bet is to go to a foreign country for a month or more after you already learn the basic vocab and grammar and just commit to doing everything in that language for a month. I did that as a teen and by the end of the month I was dreaming in the other language.

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

Foreign language instruction in the US is generally terrible. I was very surprised that my niece (who does not speak English as a native language and takes it in school) could speak as well as she does with my daughter (who completely understands Spanish but is resistant to actually speaking in it). Very rare that a 9-year-old in the US would have any level of foreign language ability.

[Anonymous]

What can be done to improve it? Is foreign language taught differently elsewhere? Or is it simply because English is the most important language to know so there is not the urgency to learn another language?

[Anonymous]

I became fluent in Spanish from starting it in 7th grade. My first language wasn't English so maybe my brain was already primed for languages

[Anonymous]

No. My daughter will take AP Spanish Lang next year, and despite straight As, is nowhere near fluent or bilingual, even though we're French and entirely fluent in that language.

I learned German and Spanish at school in France. I was never fluent. This is not an "issue", it's normal. It happens to all kids learning foreign languages the world over. You would need an immersive environment to be entirely fluent and bilingual and that's not given to most people. The only reason I ended up fluent in English is that I lived in the UK from 8 to 12 years old and upon my return to France, was placed in an international school with half of my classes in English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s possible but even if they started younger you need a real commitment and interest. My kid that is interested did things llle change all their computer and iPhone settings to default to the other language, started listening to podcasts in that language, found tv shows and books etc. You’re mot going to train your brain in one hour per day. The best bet is to go to a foreign country for a month or more after you already learn the basic vocab and grammar and just commit to doing everything in that language for a month. I did that as a teen and by the end of the month I was dreaming in the other language.

I had this experience also after being in France for 6 weeks living with a host family in high school. I had taken French since 1st grade and I was solid but not fluent. It wasn't until my brain didn't have any option besides French that it clicked over. By the time I got home I was forgetting how to say things in English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. My daughter will take AP Spanish Lang next year, and despite straight As, is nowhere near fluent or bilingual, even though we're French and entirely fluent in that language.

I learned German and Spanish at school in France. I was never fluent. This is not an "issue", it's normal. It happens to all kids learning foreign languages the world over. You would need an immersive environment to be entirely fluent and bilingual and that's not given to most people. The only reason I ended up fluent in English is that I lived in the UK from 8 to 12 years old and upon my return to France, was placed in an international school with half of my classes in English.

I agree with all this but it does seem like a lot of foreign language instruction here is just awful. I had Spanish teachers who were both native speakers and trained educators. In public school. My kids have had at least 9 different Spanish teachers at McPS and only one was really good. (A second was a good teacher but had such an awful accent.). At least one of them spoke almost no Spanish and another speaks a little Spanish but not nearly enough to teach at the level she is teaching — my kids repeatedly sees her using good translate in class to translate words she is supposed to be teaching. There was another that never showed up to class and then just quit mid year to move to another state. Especially in MS, it seems like the Spanish teachers are some of the worst teachers in the system.

I could understand this a little for a rare language but Maryland is full of native Spanish speakers, many of whom are very educated. There should be a quick certificate program for native speakers to be trained to teach.

[Anonymous]

Yes but he also spent two summers in Germany as an exchange student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can be done to improve it? Is foreign language taught differently elsewhere? Or is it simply because English is the most important language to know so there is not the urgency to learn another language?

PP here. I lived abroad for a year to study a relatively obscure (and very difficult language) and the primary difference between the language institute I went to and the German classes I took in high school was the heavy emphasis on teaching the students at the language institute to communicate in the language. My German instruction in high school was centered around worksheets and tests, which works well if you’re trying to grade students for GPA purposes, but is terrible if you want to teach them to speak the language. It’s not as if I wasn’t tested abroad—but it was using an exam designed for the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is communication-based. When I returned to the US and decided to pick up German again at university, for some reason we were reading fairy tales, which is near-useless for talking with someone in the 21st century.

[Anonymous]

Yes! My daughter became fluent in Spanish after 3 years of learning it in middle school. She overheard her Spanish teacher talking to the principal one time about the girl who spoke Spanish as if she were a native speaker. She told me that she thought he was talking about the girl she was sitting next to. Then she got the award for the class so realized he had been talking about her. She does not speak any other language except for English. I’ve heard it’s easier for multi-lingual kids to learn new languages but my DD was an exception. Sad that she did not have to continue it in college. I bet she’s not as good anymore.

[Anonymous]

I don't know anyone who became fluent just by taking classes in MS and HS, but I know a bunch of people who became near fluent with that PLUS living in a country where the language was spoken for a year or more as a working adult. Study abroad doesn't work as well because you often spend too much time with other students. It can work okay if you live with a family, but work is the best way.

I have several friends who worked as au pairs in Europe after college for a few years and it cemented language skills they laid the groundwork for in school. Even living in a city where many people speak English. But you have to continue to put effort in.