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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I went to the Yu Ying open house the other night expecting to love it, since it seems like there are tons of benefits of dual language, and Chinese seems like it would be especially useful. There were a lot of really impressive aspects of the program; however, there were two things that the administrators said that have stuck with me. One is that the early childhood kids are usually "miserable" for a few months, since the program is 100% in Chinese and they are just lost for a while. I realize that this may be more of an issue with Chinese than with other languages, since it is so different from English, but I could see my toddler getting really overwhelmed in that environment. On the other hand, kids are resilient, and maybe that misery would be worth it for long-term gain. Second, they said that the test scores in 3rd grade tend to be lower than other schools because the kids are only learning in English for 90 days a year. I don't really care about the test scores component, because what they said makes sense. It did make me start to wonder whether the dual language model means that some other classes get the shrift, not just English, but also math, science, etc., since so much of the focus is on dual language.

So, as I contemplate my lottery picks for this year, I'm wondering whether those who have experience in dual language programs can talk about what has worked well and what hasn't. I'd also love to hear your experiences with the two points above (whether your child was miserable when he or she started the program and for how long, and whether you feel like academics in other subjects suffer). I don't mean to limit this to YY parents--I'd love to hear from people from other dual language programs, too. Trying to figure out whether dual language would be a good fit or whether to focus on monolingual programs moving forward. Thanks![/quote]

I think "miserable" is probably too strong a word, but the first few months of immersion are definitely really tiring for little kids.  It is for adults also, if you have ever talked to someone who moved to another country, they often talk about their fatigue at the end of every day.  It is incredibly taxing to have to interact in a foreign language for an extended period of time.  What I have noticed is that they get used to it after about 2 months or so.  Your children will be exposed to a lot more difficult things in their lives, it's a good thing to take on something hard but doable.  That goes for adults also.  Resiliency, grit, etc, etc.

It's also much, much easier for kids to learn 2nd languages than adults, not just because their brains are less developed.  A big reason is because they have fewer issues with making mistakes, so they are much more willing to try to say something even though it may be wrong, and thus have a chance at correction and improvement.  Many adults just stay silent for fear of being wrong and don't try and improve.

The general guidance I have heard is that ON AVERAGE, kids in immersion programs test worse in English in 3rd, about the same in 5th, and start to surpass single language students around 7th/8th.  That's ON AVERAGE, of course there are a lot of situations where that is not the case.

The University of Minnesota has one the best language immersion education programs and is a good source for research and guidance.

http://www.carla.umn.edu/index.html[/quote]

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