Yu Ying (and immersion programs in general)

[Anonymous]

Looking for insight from parents of kids in immersion programs or educators/people with knowledge of educational pedagogy and how kids learn. It seems like a great idea to teach kids how to speak another language. My concern, however, is whether doing a full immersion program (like Yu Ying has in PK) inhibits kids' ability to thoroughly learn English. Have people seen kids have issues with being taught in Chinese, for example, for the whole day?

[Anonymous]

Among DC schools with a mixed SES study body (e.g. not IB WOTP DCPS) YY and LAMB are among the top performers in both ELA and Math.

Most research on dual language education shows that children who are in an immersion setting will be slightly behind what you might expect based on demographics in 1st-3rd, and then catch up and perhaps exceed expectations by 5th or 6th.

You do have to have a bit of faith though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Among DC schools with a mixed SES study body (e.g. not IB WOTP DCPS) YY and LAMB are among the top performers in both ELA and Math.

Most research on dual language education shows that children who are in an immersion setting will be slightly behind what you might expect based on demographics in 1st-3rd, and then catch up and perhaps exceed expectations by 5th or 6th.

You do have to have a bit of faith though.

You're not generating interest PP because their have been loads of threads on YY and immersion program in the last couple of years. Why not find them?

[Anonymous]

Here's a quick research brief from RAND that may be helpful

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9903.html

[Anonymous]

All the studies on the benefits of immersion can't alter certain inconvenient truths. Families who embrace these programs but can't support the language learning at home don't tend to get great results unless they can and will pay a bomb to supplement for years and years. If you can and will, go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the studies on the benefits of immersion can't alter certain inconvenient truths. Families who embrace these programs but can't support the language learning at home don't tend to get great results unless they can and will pay a bomb to supplement for years and years. If you can and will, go for it.

Nonsense. My child has scored a 5 on the ELA twice now, no supplementing. The question was about English, not another opportunity for you to bitch about Chinese.

[Anonymous]

What about the YCT though? That is supposed to be the gold standard

[Anonymous]

Yes, how are Yu Ying students doing on the YCT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the studies on the benefits of immersion can't alter certain inconvenient truths. Families who embrace these programs but can't support the language learning at home don't tend to get great results unless they can and will pay a bomb to supplement for years and years. If you can and will, go for it.

Nonsense. My child has scored a 5 on the ELA twice now, no supplementing. The question was about English, not another opportunity for you to bitch about Chinese.

NP. Chill out. The PP did not mention Chinese or any other language. Sounds like his point was that it's not clear that immersion is worth it for families who can't and/or don't work hard to supplement at home. It's a fair point.

We've been at Oyster since PreK4, now in 4th grade. My child also scored a 5 on the ELA.

Most of the kids without family members, or au pairs, who speak Spanish don't excel at Spanish. By the upper grades at Oyster, a native Spanish speaker like me can easily tell which kid is in which box.

Think twice, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the studies on the benefits of immersion can't alter certain inconvenient truths. Families who embrace these programs but can't support the language learning at home don't tend to get great results unless they can and will pay a bomb to supplement for years and years. If you can and will, go for it.

Nonsense. My child has scored a 5 on the ELA twice now, no supplementing. The question was about English, not another opportunity for you to bitch about Chinese.

Just another opportunity for you to bitch about parents who know far more about raising bilingual kids than you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for insight from parents of kids in immersion programs or educators/people with knowledge of educational pedagogy and how kids learn. It seems like a great idea to teach kids how to speak another language. My concern, however, is whether doing a full immersion program (like Yu Ying has in PK) inhibits kids' ability to thoroughly learn English. Have people seen kids have issues with being taught in Chinese, for example, for the whole day?

Learning any second language won't necessarily hinder children's ability to learn English. As many studies point out, it might just as well help it.

But take note that any of the Chinese languages would be harder to support at home (and to learn) than any Romance or Germanic language in the US. I am a native Mandarin speaker raising an English/Mandarin bilingual child who also goes to an English/Spanish bilingual school. Spanish resources are far more abundant.

[Anonymous]

If you can get a spot at YY and are just looking for a pleasant school that teaches more language than language exposure in DCPS non-immersion programs, YY should work.

If you really want the kid to learn to speak, read and write halfway decent Mandarin by age 10 or 12, to value Chinese culture, and to befriend bilingual Chinese-speaking peers, you're going to have to work hard, and to pay plenty, to supplement.

The PP above makes a good point.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, everyone! It's interesting that language immersion helps with English acquisition. I think it seems like a great idea, but I agree with PPs that the acquisition of the second language itself (aside from the benefits for English language acquisition, critical thinking skills, and exposure to a new culture) likely will suffer if the child only converses in that language at school. Neither my husband nor I speak a word of Chinese.

We'll have to think about it. Of course, YY is a massively popular school, so this only becomes an issue if we're lucky enough to get a spot.

[Anonymous]

These threads seem to gravitate toward the idea that if a child doesn't become totally fluent, immersion programs aren't worth it. In my opinion, the exposure is fantastic for a kid regardless of the degree of fluency. I started French when I was 8 and didn't have anything like immersion, but taking those classes gave me a facility in French that I was able to develop as an adult, and a general comfort with learning languages that opened a lot of doors for me in my life. So as a parent of a child in an immersion school, I'm not that concerned about whether my kid is fluent by 5th grade -- I am just happy that he will have this tool in his arsenal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These threads seem to gravitate toward the idea that if a child doesn't become totally fluent, immersion programs aren't worth it. In my opinion, the exposure is fantastic for a kid regardless of the degree of fluency. I started French when I was 8 and didn't have anything like immersion, but taking those classes gave me a facility in French that I was able to develop as an adult, and a general comfort with learning languages that opened a lot of doors for me in my life. So as a parent of a child in an immersion school, I'm not that concerned about whether my kid is fluent by 5th grade -- I am just happy that he will have this tool in his arsenal.

Thank you! That ex-YY poster seems to feel that all is for naught if kids aren't 100% bilingual by middle school. I think the consistent exposure to another language and culture is wonderful for various reasons even if full fluency is not reached. Some of these kids may go and to do more language study, study abroad, etc. in high school and beyond. And there still may be cognitive benefits to early exposure even if they don't continue to pursue the language after YY. So for their families, it may be worth it nonetheless.