Reply to Does anyone have language immersion regrets?

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Reply to "Does anyone have language immersion regrets?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I always find it interesting that all the families who aren’t native speakers are confident that their kids speak “tons” of the target language. How are you confident of this?  How do you know your preschooler is “fluent”? [/quote]

This attitude is so tiresome.  Of course kids in immersion aren't perfectly fluent (especially before age 10!); just like many people with second languages aren't perfect in the second language.  I bet compared to before, the child does know 'tons' of the language.  The point is to start down the road to fluency - some will get there sooner than others - thus teaching kids an important life skill in this shrinking world and potentially opening up more opportunities down the road.  My DS, while probably not a perfect Spanish speaker, appears to communicate effectively with other Spanish speakers, and he's only 8 - I have enough knowledge of Spanish to feel confident about this.  I imagine it will get even better as time goes on.  Another perk is that it provides extra challenge at school.

It's fine if you don't prioritize second languages - maybe your kid does math club, or a sport, or plays an instrument.  I doubt they will have achieved perfection in those skills by age 10, but that doesn't mean there isn't value.[/quote]

What's tiresome is the attitude that plenty of kids who can barely manage a basic conversation in the target language in the upper grades at immersion charters are routinely presented as "proficient" or "fluent."

This is common with immersion study in this City, particularly for French and Chinese.  [/quote]

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