Reply to Language Immersion Schools?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don't do it unless your children, and you, are prodigies who pick up languages easily. They will be hugely behind other kids who started at age 5 or younger. The teachers in foreign language will not translate for them. They will assume the child already knows the basics of the target language and the extensive vocabulary that comes from speaking the language with other fluent speakers every day. They can't slow down for your kids. It takes at least 4-7 years of dual immersion, or 2-3 years of full immersion/no  English, to gain effective fluency.

Any school that says your kids will be perfectly fine starting that late is being irresponsible. If they have a lot of monolingual kids starting from scratch that late, then it is questionable how effective the school is at producing bilingual and bi-literate students.

There are many ways to enrich your children with the benefits of learning a language like camps, tutors, and weekend classes. You don't need to throw them into the deep end.

HTH[/quote]

I agree with this. If you children are truly dedicated and interested, they may do well. My son started in the 1st grade at age 6 and it was a challenge, particularly since his classmates had a least a full year of language immersion over him. He is in the 6th grade now and conversant but not fluent. We have had to supplement both his English and Spanish with tutors. I don't regret our decisions but if the option were to start him a year later in 2nd grade, I would not have done it. [/quote]

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