Language Courses for Children
Language Courses: Where to Start?
So your child wants to learn a foreign language. Or you want your child to, knowing that a command of Spanish, Russian, or Mandarin is well worth the effort. Now the question is, where to start? With so many language courses available, which option is best for your kid? The answer depends on individual goals and learning styles. Despite the absence of a one-size-fits-all solution, familiarizing yourself with the various possibilities will enable you to make a good choice for your child. What follows is a survey of some of the most prominent approaches now in use. These range from immersion language courses in a classroom setting to specialized media for learning at home.
Taking the Plunge: Immersion Language Courses
First implemented in Montreal during the 1960s as a means of teaching French, immersion programs have mushroomed over the past few decades. Now present throughout the United States and around the world, these language courses are “the fastest growing and most effective type of foreign language program currently available in U.S. schools,” according to specialists at the University of Minnesota. Tara Fortune of the university’s Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition and Diane Tedick of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction note that immersion students tend to attain greater proficiency than those enrolled in one-subject language courses.
Sounds great, but what exactly is an immersion program? This approach places students in a setting (often a school) where they speak and are spoken to in the target language exclusively. At a German-immersion school, for example, not only German language classes would be conducted in German, but so would math, history, recess, and everything else. As students progress through the elementary grades, teachers gradually incorporate English, first as a single subject and later as a language for general instruction. By the time students reach grades five and six, their schedules are generally split between classes taught in the target language and those taught in English.
Language Courses, Not Language Classes
Several products take the immersion principle and transfer it from school to home. These language courses, of which MUZZY is an outstanding example, take a holistic approach to learning. They “immerse” youngsters in their of language choice with a combination of visual, aural, oral, and textual elements. Cute stuffed animals are often included. By blending recreational pursuits like cartoons and computer games with language study and vocabulary exercises, the best of these programs entertain as they educate.
They also continue to evolve as media platforms do. MUZZY has not only a Facebook page but a Twitter account, from which he tweets his latest travels. With any independent study program, no matter how immersive, such interface is crucial. Because children in language courses at home do not interact with peers and teachers, they need other outlets. Finding a family member or friend to learn alongside your child is a wonderful solution.
Language Courses Online
The Internet has a lot to offer besides Facebook and Twitter, though these days one sometimes forgets that. Most pertinently, it affords valuable opportunities for interaction between students and speakers of foreign languages. And I do mean “affords”—several of these online communities allow users around the world to correspond at no cost. Simply creating an account enables someone studying Portuguese in Massachusetts to connect with a Brazilian who wants to improve her English. The format of communication varies, though verbal and visual chat sessions are a popular choice.
As a news report from NY1 points out, such interaction has certain advantages over a classroom environment. In a classroom “you can develop a passive knowledge of language, but then you find yourself in a real-life situation and you suddenly discover that everyone speaks really fast,” says Daniela Zollo, Assistant Director at the Foreign Language Department of NYU’s School of Continuing & Professional Studies. “So it is a good idea to offer as much as possible real-life situations so that you can develop skills in that context.” And yes, there is an app for that.
Tried and True: Traditional Language Courses
A less exotic though still effective option is the traditional language course. Offered by schools and some community groups, these operate in a familiar classroom setting: teacher, students, and homework. Since the 1990s, elementary schools have shown increasing interest in making foreign language courses available to children as early as possible. Even in the face of the economic recession, educators continue to emphasize the importance of studying foreign languages at a young age. A 2009 report from the Stanford University School of Education reiterates this message. Focusing on California, the report’s authors argue that forming partnerships with other nations is vital to state and national recovery. International collaboration relies on the ability and willingness of people to embrace new languages and cultures. To teach children foreign languages is to train them for tomorrow.
Seizing the Day
As Catherine Snow, a professor in the Harvard Graduate School of Education points out, people of any age can benefit from a language course. At the same time, children enjoy distinct advantages. Because “younger learners are probably more willing to learn socially useful language, including phrases and longer utterances, without knowing exactly what it means . . . they can sometimes function better in certain social interactions,” Snow says. Furthermore, “while younger learners certainly start out with a ‘foreign accent’ just like older learners, they may be more willing to experiment with unfamiliar sounds and sound sequences.”
Now that you have a sense of the rich variety of language courses out there, give one a try. If need be, try another. Mix and match. See what works and stick with it. Your kids will thank you in their language of choice.
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