Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach Spanish in the county, and kids with a solid start in 6th grade and take full-year courses each year thereafter can take both AP courses (language and literature) in high school. Many of the students in those AP classes have achieved a very high level of proficiency.

Thanks for posting, it's great to hear from a teacher! In MS, is foreign language a requirement (i.e. not an elective, which might conflict with other courses a child might want to take)?

Foreign language ("world languages") is not a requirement in middle school. Most students take the core classes, and then have two slots left over. Some students are required to take Reading (different from English, which everyone takes) in one of those slots, but the other choices include a language.

Anonymous wrote:I teach Spanish in the county, and kids with a solid start in 6th grade and take full-year courses each year thereafter can take both AP courses (language and literature) in high school. Many of the students in those AP classes have achieved a very high level of proficiency.

Thanks for posting, it's great to hear from a teacher! In MS, is foreign language a requirement (i.e. not an elective, which might conflict with other courses a child might want to take)?

I teach Spanish in the county, and kids with a solid start in 6th grade and take full-year courses each year thereafter can take both AP courses (language and literature) in high school. Many of the students in those AP classes have achieved a very high level of proficiency.

NP here who is also fluent despite not starting until college! I lived in the country for over a year and studied a great deal on my own, plus took a job that required use of the language. it can definitely be done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18:57 again. I forgot to post a link to Kemp Mill ES's blurb about the program:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/kempmilles/dualprogram/

Thanks for posting this. It's really interesting to see how this is works. I agree, totally the way MCPS should go.

Unless something has changed recently, the Spanish part of the dual language program is for native Spanish speakers, based on research that suggest students should learn to read in the language they know best. Two teachers at my school used to teach it and we've discussed that model at length.

Anonymous wrote:18:57 again. I forgot to post a link to Kemp Mill ES's blurb about the program:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/kempmilles/dualprogram/

Thanks for posting this. It's really interesting to see how this is works. I agree, totally the way MCPS should go.

18:57 again. I forgot to post a link to Kemp Mill ES's blurb about the program:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/kempmilles/dualprogram/

This won't be the answer for most people, but Kemp Mill ES has a dual language program, where instruction is in English and Spanish (depending on subject I believe). It's not a magnet program and so is only for kids living in that school zone. However, I've read good things about dual immersion programs in general and perhaps this is a direction mcps can take in the future.

Anonymous wrote:Most MCPS ES offer FLES-- foreign language in elementary school-- as a before or after school activity. Instructional quality seems to vary widely AFAICT.

Our ES offers FLES in Spanish and it's been great for DD! Yes, it's not the same as immersion, but we didn't get in, so we do the FLES. Supplement at home with videos and books from the library. DD is definitely NOT fluent, but has learned a decent amount, and I think the early exposure to a 2nd language is beneficial regardless of fluency.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ No, you didn't. My apologies.

6th or 7th grade may not be optimal, but I know a number of people who learned languages later in life who are fluent. They usually studied overseas in high school or college, worked overseas, or had friends who spoke the language they were learning and had ample opportunity to practice. Just because your child didn't get immersion from the beginning, it doesn't mean they'll never be fluent.

However, I haven't been very impressed with the after school foreign language programs. They don't meet often enough for the students to learn much other than basic vocabulary and phrases. It is often very helpful if your child has a caregiver who speaks another language and practices with them. Check out bilingual books from the library, or go to the public library website, where they have language programs available online for even the youngest children. PBS Kids has Spanish language games and series online. If you surround them as much as you can with the target language, they may not become fluent until later, but it should be easier for them to pick up.

+1

I am fluent in Spanish after having started in 7th grade. I continued through high school and college, studied abroad junior year, and then lived abroad for several years after college.

I think MCPS language offerings are like MCPS sports. You really have to go looking for them in ES. Middle school has just enough so that someone who is capable of eventually being fluent isn't left behind. While in HS, no school really sells itself based on attaining fluency but at least at the IB schools, it is mentioned.

The big issue of whether K immersion or starting in the 7th grade does more has TOTALLY to do with how the kid ends up viewing languages. I know families that spend every summer in Spanish speaking countries to support their K immersion kids and their kids are fluent. I know kids who started language in 7th grade, who found duo linguo own their own and easily got the IB fluent diploma. (Not practically fluent but it does meet a real standard) I know lots more families that drove their kids to hate foreign language because K immersion made them too different from the other kids on their street.