Thread: Fluff - Foreign Languages

My daughter is in french immersion and so is learning french. I am hoping it will help her in the future, I know if I had kept my french up, I would have so many more job opportunities then I do now. DH too.

Originally Posted by ftmom

My daughter is in french immersion and so is learning french. I am hoping it will help her in the future, I know if I had kept my french up, I would have so many more job opportunities then I do now. DH too.

I hear ya. My 3 nephews are all in immersion and the oldest, who is 10, is fluent. I am considering immersion for DD next year, but then my SIL was telling me that the curriculum is slower than the english schools. Do you think that's true? I have no idea. She says the 10-year-old is bored sometimes.

Spanish. Once my DH is done with school this spring we are all learning it. I used to be conversationally fluent but have lost it from disuse.

Originally Posted by Potter75

Spanish. Once my DH is done with school this spring we are all learning it. I used to be conversationally fluent but have lost it from disuse.

Same here. I could read, write and speak with pretty much ease. Now, my reading is okay but I've lost the rest of it pretty much. Sigh.

Everyone in Canada has to learn French to a certain level which I am fine with. If she wants to choose another language that is great. I think the more languages one is exposed to the better. DSD did her French and is now doing some Spanish.

Originally Posted by ClairesMommy

Definitely French, as it's one of our official languages. Being bilingual here is a huge asset. If I could, I'd send them to France to learn because Parisienne French just sounds so much better than Canadian French.

I think the French we learn is Parisian not Quebecois. At least in BC it is. I did French up to first year University and I had no problem speaking with our TA from Paris. But I can't hold a conversation with someone from Quebec at all.

Originally Posted by ftmom

My daughter is in french immersion and so is learning french. I am hoping it will help her in the future, I know if I had kept my french up, I would have so many more job opportunities then I do now. DH too.

Yep. My sister did full immersion and is now bilingual. She has a lot of prospects open to her because of that. For the moment DD will be in English school starting next year. But there is an option for a late start French Immersion in grade 6. If she is really excelling and needs a challenge then we will look at immersion. If she is doing well in school, but an extra challenge would be detrimental then she will stay in English school. For myself, my other sister and my DSS immersion would have been a wonderful option as we were all bored silly in school.

Originally Posted by fuchsiasky

Yep. My sister did full immersion and is now bilingual. She has a lot of prospects open to her because of that. For the moment DD will be in English school starting next year. But there is an option for a late start French Immersion in grade 6. If she is really excelling and needs a challenge then we will look at immersion. If she is doing well in school, but an extra challenge would be detrimental then she will stay in English school. For myself, my other sister and my DSS immersion would have been a wonderful option as we were all bored silly in school.

I did late immersion and loved it. Unfortunately we moved when I was in grade 8 and I wasn't able to continue with it, which I really regret now.

Originally Posted by ClairesMommy

I hear ya. My 3 nephews are all in immersion and the oldest, who is 10, is fluent. I am considering immersion for DD next year, but then my SIL was telling me that the curriculum is slower than the english schools. Do you think that's true? I have no idea. She says the 10-year-old is bored sometimes.

You are in Alberta right? Curriculum in schools is provincially based, so I can only speak to BC, though they tend to be similar. Here the curriculum is the same in English and French except that up until grade 4 they only do French and no English at all (so all the things that would normally fall under the English Curriculum, they do in french), then in Grade 4 they start learning 'English' as a separate subject, similar to learning a second language at that grade. From that point on they do more and more subjects in English until by grade 12 they are completely working in English except for a French class or two.

As a teacher I will say that French immersion tends to be a higher quality of education because children who struggle tend to be streamed back into the English program, so the teacher is able to teach to a narrower range of abilities then in a classic school setting.

Not sure what you mean by 'slower', but perhaps it is the way the teacher teaches, or maybe your nephew would be bored in any school setting?

We speak Turkish already but maybe one day I/we can learn Spanish. I had a difficult time in Spanish class while in high school because my foreign language brain automatically wanted me to speak in Turkish.