What are the pros and cons of introducing a foreign language into your curriculum in the elementary years? Are there specific reasons why one family chooses to do a foreign language and another not? I am interested in hearing what others are doing as I had not considered teaching a foreign language of any kind in the elementary years but now am reconsidering the idea. Would anyone be willing to share their story and which language they chose and for what reasons? Your time is truly appreciated. Thank you.
I chose to start foreign language because kids just learn this stuff so much easier, the younger they are. For now we're learning Spanish, mostly because it's very useful where we live.
Many studies have proven that kids learn easier the younger they are. So we are doing Spanish and ASL. I am fluent in Spanish so it's the easiest choice, and both DS5 and I really want to be fluent in ASL. That being said, many parents choose not to because there are so many other, equally important things to learn in the early years. And just because it's easier now, doesn't mean that they can't still do it later.
My DD did 4 years of German because she wanted to starting about grade 2. We used a tutor as she was so young & I am bad at languages & don't speak German. She then decided she wanted to do French, which I do speak, but am still looking for a curriculum & DD has since decided she might prefer Soanish. She picks up languages easily & well so we probably will continue with one when we get our act together.
Dh learned Spanish as a babe because his parents taught it to him. He said it was much easier learning it at a younger age than if he was older.
We're doing Spanish mostly because of of our work here in Mexico. When a person learns a new Lang they also learn HOW to learn another Lang. That means any other Langs. they decide to learn are so much easier and quicker.
For what it's worth, I HATED Power Glide! Deena and I bought it at pretty much the same time, and neither of us cared for it. As for whether or not to learn one, yes. Why? I guess the best reason is one I saw on the door of the French/Spanish teacher at a high school I subbed at: Monolingualism can be cure!!!
I am not ready to start teaching a language yet because I want them to get used to learning first but probably in about second grade I'm going to start teaching latin to the boys...not so much so they can be fluent but because it's so helpful with grammar rules and such. Then after a year or two of latin I"ll let them decide what they want to do. We will probably use Latina Christiana
We chose Spanish just because living in Colorado there are so many Spanish speaking families here. I have learned with my kiddos that it's so much easier to learn a foreign langauge when their young.
We are doing spanish. Our state offers free online courses and when we went through the catolog to see if anything looked intersting ds (9) was very excited about learning a language. I have had people tell me that they learned about grammar and the parts of speech by learning a foriegn language so it has language arts based advantages as well as the others metioned on this thread.
We are learning Arabic. We introduced it to the kids a few years ago when we 1st moved here. When we return to Oz I doubt we will continue with a language (unless they return to a school, and it is offered).
We are trying to learn Chinese. I've tried for years on my own --- internet sites, books, audio, CDroms, etc --- Was getting nowhere fast! LOL But now I'm taking a class at my Buddhist Temple & really enjoy it. My kids are learning WITH me. I make scan copies of my workbook pages for my oldest to practice & I also have some kids' flashcards & flashcard-type software. I'm learning it just because I want to --- no other reason, really. I don't know anyone personally who speaks Chinese & don't plan to travel there until retirement --- but the way things are going, I might[/I] know enough by then to hail a cab & know what I'm eating LOL It's TOUGH!! My kids are learning it just because they want to, too. I gave the the option -- whatever language you want to learn. They chose Chinese. I think a lot of it with us has to do with the fact that my husband has been in martial arts since he was 7. He & I both have a strong interest in Chinese culture & history.
Being a language buff myself (I decided at age 5 I was going to learn English and at age 9 that I was going to learn French) of course we are learning another language! We are learning Spanish. I had two years in high school, though we didn't learn all that much there as our teacher was kind of a ditz. So now ds and myself are really trying to get it together and we are doing pretty good. Ds pronounciation is awesome, I am so proud of him. About learning another language when you are young: Ds picked up Norwegian in about 3 months when we moved to Norway and he started Norwegian school without knowing hardly any Norwegian. We have lived here for 6 years now and he is 99% fluent, only making a few small mistakes here and there. And he still speaks perfect English with his dad.
Recently we went to a Mexican Restaurant and the waitress kept asking ds (6) to read Spanish from the menu. She was completely stunned at his pronunciation, etc. Crazy thing is-- we've never "done" Spanish! We would play his Baby Einstien videos and such in Spanish when he was little, and he has a couple Leap Pad games he plays in Spanish, but that's it. She encouraged me to let him watch cartoons in Spanish. So, even though I'm a 30-minutes-of-media-or-less kind of person, I've been letting him watch one Magic School Bus in Spanish every day. He thinks it's cool, and I think it's cheap and easy!
We will probably do Spanish next year. From personal experience, I started Spanish in 2nd grade in public school (back in the olden days), and took it all through high school. While I can only speak a bit still, I can get the gist of a conversation. I think it will be valuable to my kids.
Thank you all for sharing. You have given me many things to think about and I appreciate that. :love:
I think that is true. We did a little Spanish in elementary and my daughter is about the same level as me right now. I hope to get a program to get my daughter into it again, but it cost about $200 I think. I want to get it while my dad is still alive and can practice with her since he lives next door to us. I never learned it as a child, even though it was spoken in my house a lot we were encouraged to speak english especially in school or we would get spanked. I understand it better then I could speak it. I know all the cuss words hahaha..(no daughter doesnt know these) Since San Antonio is a huge spanish population I see it in the want ads a lot asking for bilinguals. I told my daughter she will have a better chance landing her job if she has the job experience plus the language skills for around here. Sam
Were doing Latin next year mainly because for one its the best grounding for education. Heres a quote from the internet "But more important is the fact that traditional study of Latin starts out with a grammatical framework.... As American students begin Latin, they become acquainted with the "Latin grammar" system, which they can indirectly transfer to their work in English. What it gives them is a standardized set of terms in which to describe words in relations to other words in sentences, and it is this grammatical awareness which makes their English writing good." I will probably have him learn the language of his choice once he is a bit older. So far he has wanted to learn Spanish so we might be learning Spanish in a few years.
I vote light load of forgein language in elementary school... We did some sign language and some french, some spanish, nothing major just through video games.
