Really cool to read this! Our family immigrated to Portugal 4 + years ago, when my daughter was 14.... and we chose to enroll her in international school, with instruction in English, mostly because we felt it would be uber traumatic to do otherwise. Much to our surprise, she picked up Portuguese through her sports activity - the coach let the other athletes speak in English to her for 2 weeks and he maybe spoke to her in English 4-5 weeks, but it was a sink or swim situation and she loved the activity so much, she was uber motivated to learn. (note she did have to take Portuguese at school, and started in the beginner's class, and they quickly moved her into "capable" though she wasn't technically capable yet, but she only had it for 2 years). We spent the first summer after our move here and she hung out with Portuguese teammates/friends all summer and leveled up... fast forward to high school graduation and she chose to attend University here, in Portuguese. There were moments where there were social misunderstandings, communication issues and there was lots of discomfort but she powered through and us parents just stayed out of the way. The friends and the activity were important enough to her she worked through the issues. Regardless, I wish more ppl were willing to give the process enough time to actually work, especially with younger kiddos and maybe an ability to sit with the discomfort? Mine came with a native level fluency in Spanish which of course helped her tremendously (public Spanish immersion school combined with SoCal upbringing for the win), but it's been magical to see her growth and understanding of a new culture at a much deeper level than my own (though I do take classes)... just discovered and enjoyed reading a couple posts from your blog.
Interesting. We moved from the NWT to Quebec City for my wife’s schooling. Our 3 year old son got plunked into a bilingual day care. Not really, French. I realized something was up when my son asked for his truck red. French construction in English. By the time he was five he said « J’aime pas ça quand tu parle comme ça Papa. I was talking in English. We decided then he would go to An English school.
Our kids both went French émersion schools. Most classes in French with some in English. At the end of HS, they could both get by but needed finishing in a total French environment to become fully bilingual. My son persevered and my daughter took up skiing in BC.
Our grandkids all go to French school. None of them spoke French before they started school. They started in pre maternelle and carried on. Now we can talk to all of them en français.
All this to say I am an advocate for total émersion starting at a young age. Partial immersion provides a bit of security for parents but it is a half measure.
Good got you for letting you kids jump in and sort it out.
I taught French for years. Learned several languages. One day a new student arrived from Holland. No English. 11 years old. The kids took him in… he was fluent pretty quickly. From the kids’ point of view, he wasn’t a problem. He was an opening! Our school also hosted a 12 yr old boy from Chernobyl. For years kids came for health care and a break. I unearthed my Russian as best I could to start. Also knew the kids would take him in. Again… took a bit, but he got it. Seeing it from a teacher’s perspective… it’s a beautiful thing to observe. 😉and yeah…it’s hard. Until it isn’t.
Really cool to read this! Our family immigrated to Portugal 4 + years ago, when my daughter was 14.... and we chose to enroll her in international school, with instruction in English, mostly because we felt it would be uber traumatic to do otherwise. Much to our surprise, she picked up Portuguese through her sports activity - the coach let the other athletes speak in English to her for 2 weeks and he maybe spoke to her in English 4-5 weeks, but it was a sink or swim situation and she loved the activity so much, she was uber motivated to learn. (note she did have to take Portuguese at school, and started in the beginner's class, and they quickly moved her into "capable" though she wasn't technically capable yet, but she only had it for 2 years). We spent the first summer after our move here and she hung out with Portuguese teammates/friends all summer and leveled up... fast forward to high school graduation and she chose to attend University here, in Portuguese. There were moments where there were social misunderstandings, communication issues and there was lots of discomfort but she powered through and us parents just stayed out of the way. The friends and the activity were important enough to her she worked through the issues. Regardless, I wish more ppl were willing to give the process enough time to actually work, especially with younger kiddos and maybe an ability to sit with the discomfort? Mine came with a native level fluency in Spanish which of course helped her tremendously (public Spanish immersion school combined with SoCal upbringing for the win), but it's been magical to see her growth and understanding of a new culture at a much deeper level than my own (though I do take classes)... just discovered and enjoyed reading a couple posts from your blog.
Interesting. We moved from the NWT to Quebec City for my wife’s schooling. Our 3 year old son got plunked into a bilingual day care. Not really, French. I realized something was up when my son asked for his truck red. French construction in English. By the time he was five he said « J’aime pas ça quand tu parle comme ça Papa. I was talking in English. We decided then he would go to An English school.
Our kids both went French émersion schools. Most classes in French with some in English. At the end of HS, they could both get by but needed finishing in a total French environment to become fully bilingual. My son persevered and my daughter took up skiing in BC.
Our grandkids all go to French school. None of them spoke French before they started school. They started in pre maternelle and carried on. Now we can talk to all of them en français.
All this to say I am an advocate for total émersion starting at a young age. Partial immersion provides a bit of security for parents but it is a half measure.
Good got you for letting you kids jump in and sort it out.
Best
Migrants’ children do it all the time, all over the world
I taught French for years. Learned several languages. One day a new student arrived from Holland. No English. 11 years old. The kids took him in… he was fluent pretty quickly. From the kids’ point of view, he wasn’t a problem. He was an opening! Our school also hosted a 12 yr old boy from Chernobyl. For years kids came for health care and a break. I unearthed my Russian as best I could to start. Also knew the kids would take him in. Again… took a bit, but he got it. Seeing it from a teacher’s perspective… it’s a beautiful thing to observe. 😉and yeah…it’s hard. Until it isn’t.