We are planning to admit our kid in French immersion school from grade 1. We have some apprehensions and would appreciate if anyone has thought about this before.
1. Would the child get used to two foreign languages at the same time - English and French.
2. What happens if he does not find French immersion suitable and we decide to bring him back to regular English schools. Any difficulty in the transition?
3. And the most important reason we still have not been able to decide is our future in Canada. Not a week passes by and we (at least me) think about moving back. And then it would be (at least our presumption) a bit more challenging for my son to get back to the Indian English schools.
We did go and attend an information session at the school yesterday. We are very keen but this points above keep on holding us back.
These are a few random thoughts and would appreciate a discussion on this.
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Originally posted by Iceberg
We are planning to admit our kid in French immersion school from grade 1. We have some apprehensions and would appreciate if anyone has thought about this before.
1. Would the child get used to two foreign languages at the same time - English and French.
kids, especially at that age pick up languages quickly. Both my kids are in french school. Something to consider is if a kid already has a learning disability in one language, then it may not be prudent to switch.
Another issue...if you speak a language other than english at home, your kid may be at a disadvantage in English. However, I dont think it will suffer all that much since you are in Ont, unlike us in Montreal. The teachers here do not allow the kids to speak to each other in English during school hours (except in English class once a week).
I read English books to my first grader and my 4th grader is encouraged to read only eng books at home too. This hopefully makes up for the slack.
English is currently the dominant business language, so I will move both of them to English school after 6th grade, since they will have enough foundation in French by then.
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2. What happens if he does not find French immersion suitable and we decide to bring him back to regular English schools. Any difficulty in the transition?
see above.
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Thanks for your post.
In Ontario the French immersion is not 100% French but 50% English and 50 % French. For example the grade 1 kids start with Maths and a other subject in English and Social Sciences and such subjects in French. The stress is more on oral French and as grades progress, importance is also placed on written. Just for your info if you did not know about this.
Thanks once again.
no probs.
Actually i thought French immersions in ON are like French schools in Montreal.
If they are like you say...it sounds perfect!
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Location: carl sagan's universe
Posted on: 14-01-08 06:11:30
Hi Iceberg,
It may be a bit late in the day for this post, but being a guest lecturer at high schools, I do know that there are children there that have been in French immersion in Ontario upto grade 8 and then hit the English schools in high school and do not find it a hard transition.As a matter of fact those kids are better off in language capabilities than the English educated ones.
However I am told by other teachers that their French capabilities wear off if they don't keep at it constantly and by the end of high school if they do not opt for French as second language, their grammar skills deteriorate and they do not pick up high flown French that is learnt by reading French novels and literary works.
The trasition though is not really a big deal I am told for as you commented the French immersion here is not totally 100%.
Where are you planning to go back? India or other place?
For India and Dubai, I know of children who have gone back, in the 3-4 grades, who have not found any hassle in grooving into the English medium schools there.
Hi, I totally agree with Investpro, kids pick up languages very fast and a two-three language exposure is actually very good for them. My kids study in Dutch school and speak/understand read alphabets in fluent English and Hindi too. They are only 4 yrs. Many kids from my family have done their high school in Dutch and done college/university in USA all in English. Transition was never tough.
Hope this helps.........................Jona
Thanks to all.
We have decided to enroll my son for the French immersion school from grade 1. We feel as you said picking up a second language not not be a problem and the overall Fraser ratings for immersion schools are higher.
