Reply to Fastest way to improve Spanish

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Fastest way to improve Spanish "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Leave immediately. Go to Mexico. Stay there. Give him a soccer ball and send him out to find friends.  [/quote]

This.

But, a lot depends on his social needs.  If he is a kid who is comfortable playing alone, it will be tougher.

I taught in DOD schools.  In Germany, I taught one child who was Hispanic and lived in a German village.  She could speak German, English, and Spanish fluently.  She was six years old.  She was of average intelligence, but had keen social skills.  If there was one thing she was going to do, it was communicate with others.  She spoke Spanish at home, German with her friends in her village, and English at school.

There were other kids in my first grade classes who had the same living circumstances.  They did not have the same success in language that she did.  Some struggled in school with English.  Some were actually smarter than this other child.  The difference?  A gift for languages and a desire to have friends. At least, that is my observation.

I agree that immersion in the culture is the best solution--but, there also needs to be a little talent.

Are you trying to get your son into an immersion program?  Is that your purpose?
[/quote]

Yes. We’re moving inbound for Oyster. DS’s sibs all got into privates, but one DS did not. To help ease the disparity, I want to at least be able to send him to the IB school that’s an easy walk from our house, not have him commute across town. My hope is that he will still feel like he has something special going for him (the neighborhood school; easy walk; language immersion) to ease his disappointment. [/quote]

So will your son be in 3rd grade (Oyster) or 4th grade (Adams) next year?  Either way, a bit of advice:  Your son has an uphill challenge ahead.  Oyster has many native Spanish speaking students who only speak Spanish at home and spend summer breaks in their family’s home country.  Many non-native speakers have attended immersion schools since pre-K, and many had Spanish speaking nannies beforehand.  I say all of this not to discourage you, but to inform you that your son needs to be prepared to struggle academically, at least initially (math, Spanish language arts and some specials are taught in Spanish).  If his self esteem will be shattered by this experience, you may want to reconsider.  You know your son best.  Good luck![/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