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Featured
Article
It's
Beautiful to be Bilingual
Article by LangoKids
Irvine
In
a recent panel of experts at an Immersion school
in LA, the topics of language immersion and
language acquisition were the center of the
discussion. The fact that language acquisition
is not only important, but also necessary for
our children could not be emphasized enough
and if you know me, (a huge advocate for languages),
you will know I was "En mi salsa" (Idiom in
Spanish that means I felt happy diving into
a topic that not only interests me but I'm passionate
about). So much so, I think I didn't even blink
the entire time! I truly wanted to take everything
in.and I did! It's hard to summarize the wealth
of information I received, but I'll try to do
my best here:
1.
Speaking another language is a very powerful
thing and the best way to end class inequality
(People want to turn a blind eye to this or
think there's no such a thing, but it does exist).
The world is getting smaller day after day,
and only those who are well equipped can help
build strong bridges among cultures.
2.
Our infants are the citizens of not only this
country but the world. They have an amazing,
intact, and well-functioning brain that continuously
adapts without any awareness. The older we get,
the less flexible our brains get. The key years
for language acquisition are from birth to 7
years old. During those years, kids separate
out information (without getting confused!!)
and their "affective filter" is low. The affective
filter has to do with mistake awareness and
embarrassment in front of peers. If this filter
is low, language acquisition is very likely
to take place.
3.
Immersion programs are often misunderstood.
People tend to look only at school scores without
realizing that the possibility of getting a
good score in grades K-5th is very slim, as
kids are being taught in another language and
tested in English. However, as time goes by,
because the intensity of the foreign language
goes down (not needed anymore so much) and because
the skills in one language are easily transferable
to the other, kids actually outscore the kids
in monolingual programs. They end up having
two huge linguistic skills rather than one,
not to mention the other skills they get along
the way (math, reading, and problem resolution
to name a few).
4.
Last but not least.it's so beautiful to be bilingual,
biliterate, and bicultural!
- - - -
This
article is brought to you by: Lango-Foreign
Languages for Kids in Irvine. This information
applies to any foreign language. LangoKids Irvine
is an after-school immersion program. We offer
Spanish and French. You are taking a big step
by deciding to bring your kids to us, however,
if you know of a program that offers what we
do for an entire day, that's truly the best
deal and the best thing you can do for your
child! We guide you in that process too. Here
is another scenario... English "is in the air".
If your child goes through an immersion program
already, he'll learn English (and how to read
it and write it perfectly) no matter what! Then,
why not coming to us for a third language? Kids
can pick up five languages by the age of five
if the right input and conditions are in place.
Whatever situation you're in, when it comes
to your child's language acquisition and learning,
we are here to help!
Contact
us today for a free trial class!
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