Reply to Foreign Language after school program at ES in MCPS?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Foreign Language after school program at ES in MCPS?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We did FLES one year and I am sorry to say it was a terrible experience (put my kid off learning spanish for several years).

I think we had a bad teacher, but also the approach seemed to be "immersion" (i.e. no english) which I think is hard, or at least hard without a good teacher, for  the amount of time they had.[/quote]

I am a parent who took FLES as a child.  The program has not changed significantly since we were kids.  The "immersion" approach is deliberate and most appropriate, especially for little kids.  The class is designed to mimic the way children learn a language naturally -- you don't get a vocabulary list of English and French words, you learn these words as a parent reads to you and points to pictures in a book.  You learn the word "ball" when a person throws a ball at you while saying the word, etc.

As an adult, besides English and my FLES language (French), I now speak 3 other languages (to different degrees).  Several of these other languages I completed at a university level higher than my FLES language.  Some of these languages I learned while living for years in a foreign country, whereas I never spent more than a week or two of vacation in a French-speaking region.   None of the other non-FLES languages do I speak with such fluency as I do my FLES language.  It is still, to this day, 40 years later, the only language in which I can think and speak directly in the FLES language without having to think in English first and then translate.  It is the only language in which I can listen to someone speak and still understand what they said, without asking them to pause for me to translate into English in my head.  It is the only language, besides my native English, in which I can conduct simultaneous oral translation (into or out of).  I cannot translate between any of my other languages without first going thru English.  My FLES language is even the only foreign language I occasionally dream in!

There is something unique about learning a language in an immersion environment at a young age.  I didn't like getting up early before school, but I'm grateful my parents made me do it.

Because I could see the BIG impact FLES had in my life, I ran the after school FLES program for awhile at my school.  The curriculum is developmentally appropriate.  Yes, it's true, like any school environment, some teachers are better than others, but ALL of the teachers I met were fluent native speakers.   The program does vary a little bit with the "story telling" curriculum geared more toward K and 1st grade, and the "class environment being more appropriate for 2nd or 3rd grade and up and focusing on "units" like numbers, colors, personal descriptions, school, home, work, travel, interests, etc.

You can help your child a lot by explaining that it is OK to be confused in class, that they didn't understand what people were saying to them as babies either, and it's taken them all this time to learn, so it will take awhile in the target language.  It's a different experience than "School", in that even though there is no "explanation" in English, there are also no "tests," so they shouldn't feel anxious.  Just pay attention to what sounds the teacher makes and try to match them with pictures, actions, etc.

Also, some kids (like me) are more word-oriented learners and by year 3 I think, FLES kids start learning to read.  That can really help solidify the phrases they're hearing into individual words.  But, reading and the written word are not introduced sooner because it's not developmentally appropriate and would turn the language learning experience into one that is really more akin to the "vocabulary list/translation" style of language education.  This latter approach really doesn't foster true fluency.

FLES is not enough that your child is likely to begin their MS language at an advanced level (although a few who took FLES for 3-4 years could try something other than first semester or first year).  FLES is only once a week, after all.  BUT, for me, even though I didn't start "really taking" my FLES language until MS, once I did begin, the degree to which my language was able to develop was quite different than many students who didn't have the previous exposure.  [/quote]

I'm 13:59.  Thank you for posting about your experience.  It's how I feel about FLES, but was not able to articulate that!

I didn't grow up here, but did start taking French through a special program in ES in 3rd grade.  It was similarly only once a week, and I continued on through HS.  And, then took Spanish in college.  I think the experience of starting to learn a second language earlier (rather than later) was definitely beneficial to me.

Glad to hear you had a positive experience, and it helps validate my choice to make my own kid get up early to do it also![/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics