Immersion and Dual Language Schooling Is Catching On

Across the United States schools are offering an alternative to single language study. Immersion classrooms are springing up all over. Here are a few articles highlighting different schools in two different states.

FLAG (Foreign Language Academy of Glendale) in Glendale, CA teaches children in Spanish, Armenian, Korean, German and now Italian. This program is working and has been so successful that they were awarded a $2.4 million in federal grant monies.
Read about their interesting approach to the multi-cultural area they are in and why it’s working. (Read full article.)

County schools expand dual-language classes, ESL Assistance

“Research shows that dual language is better for the students,” said Keely Krueger, District 200’s bilingual coordinator. “I think a lot of that reason is [the Spanish-speaking students] do start learning English in kindergarten. And they have those English language models in the classroom.” (Read full article.)

This type of teaching not only benefits those for whom English is a second language, but also for those who it’s their first language and will for a lifetime.
From a personal observation, I speak both English and Spanish. As a demo girl at Sams in Central Florida I have the opportunity to talk with members in their native tongue. It makes them feel more at ease and they always appreciate the effort that I make to speak to them in their first language. As for me, I love having the knowledge of a second language. It enriches my life and has afforded me many opportunities that, if I didn’t speak Spanish, I’d never have experienced.

posted by Joy Delgado
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Bilingual Babies - What More and More Parents Beginning to Realize

Here's an exerpt from an article I read. It's timely and very informative for those who are thinking about starting to teach their children a second language.

"Why are so many families jumping on the bilingual bandwagon? "In our increasingly global world, parents realize that their kids will benefit from knowing more than one language," says Nancy Rhodes, director of foreign-language education at the Center for Applied Linguistics, in Washington, D.C. "There's definitely been a grassroots push for more bilingual education in preschools." Exposing your child to a second language will help him learn about other cultures. Research has shown that bilinguals tend to be more creative thinkers than those who speak one language, and one study suggests that their brain functions may stay sharper as they age."

Want to learn the steps they suggest to start your little one down the path to becoming bilingual? Then follow me over to Parents.com and jump on the bilingual bandwagon.

So, now that you've read this article, what are your thoughts?

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
Check out what’s going on at the zoo!
Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog

Being Bilingual with Benefits

So, you are or aren’t bilingual. What’s the big deal anyway?

Here are a few articles that give some insight into why being bilingual is a good thing, a really good thing.

Bilingualism's Brain Benefits
Bilingual speakers are better able to deal with distractions than those who speak only a single language, and that may help offset age-related declines in mental performance, researchers say. (read more)

The Advantages of Being Bilingual

Most children have the capacity and facility to learn two or more languages. Research suggests there are advantages to being bilingual, such as, linguistic and metalinguistic abilities and cognitive flexibility, such as, concept formation, divergent thinking and general reasoning and verbal abilities. (read more)

The advantages of bilingual education are many.
Knowing another language, and being encouraged to incorporate it, does not mean that the main language needs to suffer. If done in a way that allows for both languages to coexist then the advantages of bilingual education can be acknowledged without the threat that it will take away from learning the dominant language. (read more)
So, do you agree?

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
Check out what’s going on at the zoo!
Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog