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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I really can't understand all the hype about immersion programs. [b] I'm not convinced that anyone knows how to do language immersion[/b].  It's just the latest educational fad. Coupled with all that touchy-feely IB stuff, what a waste of time.  But if it makes you feel good, what the heck.[/quote]

There are established immersion schools in other parts of the US that have a track record and are doing well, so a "fad" here in DC, maybe, but not in other areas, especially outside of this country, where it is done well and the model has been around for many years (dating back to at least the 1970s/1960s).[/quote]

Name one.  And then explain how you know that it's "doing well".[/quote]

The french immersion system in Canada:

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=144196bf-8a12-47e8-8109-b7be65a7bb9b

[/quote]
I have a child in an immersion school, and think it's stretching his mind in wonderful ways.  However, I think that studies of French immersion or bilingual schools in Canada really don't apply here.  French has official status as a second language, and an entire province where it's the official language.  The US certainly has large areas where Spanish is the most commonly spoken language, but it lacks official status even at the local level, let alone protections for Spanish speakers at the national level.  This gives Canadians incentives to be bilingual that the US simply lacks.  [/quote]

The PP questioned immersion programs in general "how you know that it's doing well".  I agree that there is a difference between French Canada and the US.  However, as the link argues, these programs are very successful for the elite and the students that attend the private language schools like WIS in DC and other schools in the Northeast in the US are "doing well".  There are also successful public programs near Cambridge, MA and in NYC that do well by US testing standards.  [/quote]

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