Reply to Why are so many families interested in Dual Language?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think this OP doesn't realize how privileged she is to know 3 languages, 2 of them fluently. This is sad. A person growing up bilingual in this country should be constantly made aware of the benefits she is receiving, be they soft skills as mentioned by some, potential for higher earnings, ability to travel more easily, or potential cognitive benefits.

[b]The benefits are so huge, [/b]I am sad her parents didn't really let her know what they are or she didn't hear them. This is a good message for us parents of kids in dual language. It may not be obvious to our kids why we are doing this to them. I hope that my values are instilled in my children, which includes intercultural communication (and basic empathy for all people which grows through such experiences). THAT is why my children are in dual language, and thanks for the reminder to make sure they know that as they grow up.

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The benefits are huge when the kids actually learn to speak the language decently.  This isn't always the case in DC charter immersion programs.  You know this if you're a native speaker of any of the DCI target languages who tries to speak to various upper grades kids in your language around your neighborhood.  The results can be pretty grim considering that some of these kids have been in 50% immersion for up to 8 years.  Some of them even go through ECE in 100% immersion.  There's an awful lot of pretending going on about how well many charter immersion students can actually communicate in the target language.  Less so at Oyster.[/quote]

While you may be right, and parents should push admins to make sure strong learning is happening in each language, exposure itself can be a fantastic ground for later proficiency. I didn't learn Spanish until college, but I'd like to have had the base for it developed much earlier and especially the accent. Instead took French which I also started too late to get any kind of respectable accent, in my once a week classes for fun in elementary school. I think simply getting that accent is a bigger deal than you realize, even if it's still clearly non-native. Developing the ear, much like music class, is great.

So, yes we should push for better, but also this answers OP's question about why we "go nuts" for DL.

Also - in order to get any better, [b]we need to change rules around recruitment into charters to prioritize native speakers and improve the balance[/b].[/quote]

I would love this to happen.  I think it would help Stokes' French program as well.  I encounter tons of francophone West African families in this area, probably more than Europeans who speak French, and a good handful attend our IB.  I would love if they could have a preference at Stokes and DCI.[/quote]

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