Anonymous
01/07/2014 08:50
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
From what I am reading, success of immersion if parents don't speak the language is mixed at best. Therefore we are not considering it.
Can you share links/references on this topic? Trying to learn more.
anyone? anyone?
Yes, I was wondering that as well. I have read many, many articles touting the benefits of immersion for both language acquisition and brain development. "Mixed at best" doesn't sound like anything I have read. But, good news for everyone else who is hoping for language immersion if some parents are not interested.
Anonymous
01/06/2014 23:29
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
From what I am reading, success of immersion if parents don't speak the language is mixed at best. Therefore we are not considering it.
Can you share links/references on this topic? Trying to learn more.
anyone? anyone?
Anonymous
01/06/2014 11:35
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My grandmother decided that French was inferior to English and so she spoke to my mom in English only. Now my mother doesn't speak French and neither do my siblings and I. We don't feel the culture pride and connection to my grandmother's heritage and we aren't accepted because we don't speak French. I'm way too old to actually feel less because of this, but I truly feel my culture was stolen from me. Please don't underestimate what happens to a child when a parent decides to alienate him/her from the culture, starting with denying the child the right to learn the language. It can truly affect self-esteem, etc... My two kids are in French aftercare and they're only pre-schoolers, so I'm hopeful they will have the language skills I was denied. The language of a community truly is the culture. I don't understand why parents don't seem to understand that.
Exactly! Glad someone else sees it this way.
I don't feel this way at all probably b/c I was born and partially raised in another country and my parents and relatives still live there. Even though I'm completely bilingual and born there, I know my countrymen consider me American. Certainly, my biracial child will never be considered "one of ours" even if he spoke the language fluently with a perfect accent, was born and raised there, etc. He'll have the culture as a part of his heritage but there is simply no getting around that fact and while knowing the language is nice, it is the way it is. Currently people in my native country send more students to China to learn Mandarin than to English speaking countries to learn English so I'm certainly following their cultural norm. Asians are pragmatic if anything.
Your child speaking your native language hear [b]would garner respect.[/b] It's not really about what happens abroad. However with that said, you cannot tell me that there wouldn't be greater respect for your child and more sympathetic treatment of him/her if he/she spoke your native language to your family in your home country. I don't think you know because like many who speak the language, you take it for granted. It's the child who loses out. Why not give your child the choice to decide how important knowing his heritage language is? Why are you deciding for him?
Unlike the U.S., it's a small homogenous country and the language is not a language of commerce and not particularly worth studying. If one is going to put forth the effort to learn another language, most people in my country and even the ones in the US would rather that their kids study Mandarin. They would think I was foolish for choosing my native language over Mandarin and feel sorry for my child. Also, there are no immersion schools for my native language and no one around to practice speaking it with other than me. Since my DS is at YY, we'll concentrate on Mandarin. DS also studies a third language, Hebrew for his bar mitzvah, so I think that's enough.
Anonymous
01/06/2014 09:32
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:And not everyone gets into YY, so enjoy!
+1. What's the point of threads like this? The chance of your kid getting into any of the immersion language charters is what? 1 in 10 or less? Last yr Mundo verde had 1000+ on their waitlist, etc.
Whenever I see threads like this, it's always seems like the fox saying the grapes are sour so why bother...
Really, you don't understand the point? Maybe the point is: the deadline for the common lottery is fast approaching. You only get 12 choices. If you are thinking you value bilingual ed but you don't speak a 2nd language yourself, you may wonder whether it is doing your child a disservice to put several bilingual schools as your first choices.
That seems like good research and asking the right questions, i.e. good parenting on a critical issue for a family. You still need to make choices and you want them to be informed choices. Why is this such a mystery to you, even if the odds are not good?
Or you're like OP and you do speak more than one language, but not the languages of the schools you're considering applying to. Still, the point is right, it's a very reasonable question, no mystery there about why it's asked.
Anonymous
01/06/2014 09:30
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:And not everyone gets into YY, so enjoy!
+1. What's the point of threads like this? The chance of your kid getting into any of the immersion language charters is what? 1 in 10 or less? Last yr Mundo verde had 1000+ on their waitlist, etc.
Whenever I see threads like this, it's always seems like the fox saying the grapes are sour so why bother...
Really, you don't understand the point? Maybe the point is: the deadline for the common lottery is fast approaching. You only get 12 choices. If you are thinking you value bilingual ed but you don't speak a 2nd language yourself, you may wonder whether it is doing your child a disservice to put several bilingual schools as your first choices.
That seems like good research and asking the right questions, i.e. good parenting on a critical issue for a family. You still need to make choices and you want them to be informed choices. Why is this such a mystery to you, even if the odds are not good?
Anonymous
01/06/2014 07:25
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
To 01:30, my in bounds dcps school where I have a guaranteed spot is bilingual. Not sure why you assume this post had to be about charters only.
Anonymous
01/06/2014 04:27
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My grandmother decided that French was inferior to English and so she spoke to my mom in English only. Now my mother doesn't speak French and neither do my siblings and I. We don't feel the culture pride and connection to my grandmother's heritage and we aren't accepted because we don't speak French. I'm way too old to actually feel less because of this, but I truly feel my culture was stolen from me. Please don't underestimate what happens to a child when a parent decides to alienate him/her from the culture, starting with denying the child the right to learn the language. It can truly affect self-esteem, etc... My two kids are in French aftercare and they're only pre-schoolers, so I'm hopeful they will have the language skills I was denied. The language of a community truly is the culture. I don't understand why parents don't seem to understand that.
Exactly! Glad someone else sees it this way.
I don't feel this way at all probably b/c I was born and partially raised in another country and my parents and relatives still live there. Even though I'm completely bilingual and born there, I know my countrymen consider me American. Certainly, my biracial child will never be considered "one of ours" even if he spoke the language fluently with a perfect accent, was born and raised there, etc. He'll have the culture as a part of his heritage but there is simply no getting around that fact and while knowing the language is nice, it is the way it is. Currently people in my native country send more students to China to learn Mandarin than to English speaking countries to learn English so I'm certainly following their cultural norm. Asians are pragmatic if anything.
Your child speaking your native language hear would garner respect. It's not really about what happens abroad. However with that said, you cannot tell me that there wouldn't be greater respect for your child and more sympathetic treatment of him/her if he/she spoke your native language to your family in your home country. I don't think you know because like many who speak the language, you take it for granted. It's the child who loses out. Why not give your child the choice to decide how important knowing his heritage language is? Why are you deciding for him?
Anonymous
01/06/2014 01:30
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:And not everyone gets into YY, so enjoy!
+1. What's the point of threads like this? The chance of your kid getting into any of the immersion language charters is what? 1 in 10 or less? Last yr Mundo verde had 1000+ on their waitlist, etc.
Whenever I see threads like this, it's always seems like the fox saying the grapes are sour so why bother...
Anonymous
01/05/2014 23:58
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:
From what I am reading, success of immersion if parents don't speak the language is mixed at best. Therefore we are not considering it.
Can you share links/references on this topic? Trying to learn more.
Anonymous
01/03/2014 12:51
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My grandmother decided that French was inferior to English and so she spoke to my mom in English only. Now my mother doesn't speak French and neither do my siblings and I. We don't feel the culture pride and connection to my grandmother's heritage and we aren't accepted because we don't speak French. I'm way too old to actually feel less because of this, but I truly feel my culture was stolen from me. Please don't underestimate what happens to a child when a parent decides to alienate him/her from the culture, starting with denying the child the right to learn the language. It can truly affect self-esteem, etc... My two kids are in French aftercare and they're only pre-schoolers, so I'm hopeful they will have the language skills I was denied. The language of a community truly is the culture. I don't understand why parents don't seem to understand that.
Exactly! Glad someone else sees it this way.
I don't feel this way at all probably b/c I was born and partially raised in another country and my parents and relatives still live there. Even though I'm completely bilingual and born there, I know my countrymen consider me American. Certainly, my biracial child will never be considered "one of ours" even if he spoke the language fluently with a perfect accent, was born and raised there, etc. He'll have the culture as a part of his heritage but there is simply no getting around that fact and while knowing the language is nice, it is the way it is. Currently people in my native country send more students to China to learn Mandarin than to English speaking countries to learn English so I'm certainly following their cultural norm. Asians are pragmatic if anything.
Anonymous
01/03/2014 08:38
Subject: If your kid's school is bilingual but you are not
Anonymous wrote:My grandmother decided that French was inferior to English and so she spoke to my mom in English only. Now my mother doesn't speak French and neither do my siblings and I. We don't feel the culture pride and connection to my grandmother's heritage and we aren't accepted because we don't speak French. I'm way too old to actually feel less because of this, but I truly feel my culture was stolen from me. Please don't underestimate what happens to a child when a parent decides to alienate him/her from the culture, starting with denying the child the right to learn the language. It can truly affect self-esteem, etc... My two kids are in French aftercare and they're only pre-schoolers, so I'm hopeful they will have the language skills I was denied. The language of a community truly is the culture. I don't understand why parents don't seem to understand that.
Exactly! Glad someone else sees it this way.