Forward Thinking Parents Exposing Children To Foreign Language In Early Years
CHANGE: the world is changing . Our planet is changing. As Americans... we want our future president to bring about change in our Government. What about ourselves as individuals? Can or should Americans get out of the frame of mind that the world revolves around us. With respect to Foreign Language, should we rely on the fact that most other countries we interact with speak our language? Technology is enabling other countries to catch up with us in so many ways. Yet in many ways, we as Americans are not making the shift towards true global thinking.
Our Government recognizes the need for our Country to teach and expose our children to other cultures and languages. There are articles about Govenment initiatives that leaders have tried to implement on this subject for more than two decades. Nothing of major significance has been implemented (except in the private sector and in small regional localities). At least none that I have been able to locate in my research. If you know of any, I would love to hear from you.
The rest of the world lives by this way of thinking. We are so isolated, as a country. Living in most any part of Europe, one is often only a few hours drive from another foreign Country with all its customs and language. I suppose this makes it more natural or logical for them to learn about each other. The resulting riches to these peoples is immeasureable and includes a global sophistication that many Americans lack.
So, I hope to get a feel for Americans thoughts and
impressions about the subject of teaching Foreign Language for our
children. I strongly believe in the importance of this topic. Our
children are enrolled at a French Immersion school, which they began
September 2007. This is the first step of many in which we hope will
lead to a richer appreciation for this world and to give our children a
competitive advantage in their futures.
I love this school! On the first day, entering the grounds and hearing all the languages spoken by the parents, Bonjour, ca va, Oui ca va... Bonjour, Bonjour, I felt the thrill of an adventure, as if I were overseas. In my older daughters 1st grade class, the majority of the children in the classroom speak 3, 4 and even 5 languages already. My daughter is one of a few that is only starting her second. English is the language that the children speak together on the playground. The families are many diiferent combinations of American, French, British, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and others. Being able to expose the kids to so many cultures is very fulfilling.
I love this school! On the first day, entering the grounds and hearing all the languages spoken by the parents, Bonjour, ca va, Oui ca va... Bonjour, Bonjour, I felt the thrill of an adventure, as if I were overseas. In my older daughters 1st grade class, the majority of the children in the classroom speak 3, 4 and even 5 languages already. My daughter is one of a few that is only starting her second. English is the language that the children speak together on the playground. The families are many diiferent combinations of American, French, British, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and others. Being able to expose the kids to so many cultures is very fulfilling.
One day recently as I went to pick up my
kindergartner a little early from her classroom, I heard a slightly loud
chanting as I approached the door. I opened the door not sure if I was
interrupting...to see the kinder teacher with her arm raised high in
the air, encouraging the children to join in the phrase "Vivent le roi et
la reine"!!! "Vivent le roi et la reine"! She cheered (Long live the
king and the queen)! Such passion is contagious!! This was Roi de la
Galette week. A week where the school recognizes a French holiday where
a special pastry type of cake is baked by all the people of the towns.
Inside is a little figurine and the lucky child who finds it gets to
wear a crown for the day. It's the Galette des Rois. The feast of Kings! This
type of activity is a regular thing in the Lycee. This is a full French
immersion school where all instruction in the classroom is done in French (except for one hour per day of English) . There is exposure
to many cultures and customs and teaching is done from a global
perspective. Overall it has been an incredible experience. I believe we
put our girls into the school just before we missed the opportunity. The
school recommends getting the children in as young as possible
- preschool age. Learning a new Language at a young age is almost
effortless as compared to learning languages as an adult. We plan in
the future to begin to learn Mandarin Chinese as a family at home, and
continue through at the Lycee.
I agree with you 100%. I know I went thought high school without taking any sort of foreign language class at all. I truly regret not taking something in high school, it was I think kind of hard to take up a language in my 20's. I think that it should be something that you have to take.
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Good read. There is currently quite a lot of information around this subject on the net and some are most defintely better than others.
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