Benefits of the dual language model

I am taking Spanish classes at Amgios. They offer beginners Spanish for parents and I am in the level two class. Last week, one of the parents brought their children to class with them. One child, a girl, is in 5th grade and the other, a boy, is in 3rd grade. Both of the parents are English speakers and do not speak Spanish.

During the class when our teacher asked us a question that we didn't know the answer to, we all looked at the children and they quickly gave us the correct answer. We all laughed with joy, but we were also a little embarrassed. As the lesson continued, the teacher continued to ask us questions that we didn't know the answer to and everytime, the children would blurt out the answer without any effort. At one point the teacher stopped and said. " They are good, what grade are they in?" The boy in 3rd grade knew all the answers and was able to correct us as we spoke.

At this point, I became completely giddy. Here we are parents of these children struggling to learn a second language that they just so easily learn everyday. Yes, of course it is work for them and I know they put a lot of effort into learning the language, but it feels impossible to learn it as an adult.

The other interesting observation we had was that they had no inhibitions. They were not afraid to speak. They were not embarrassed or concerned with how they sounded. They were proud of what they knew and were matter of fact in their answering.

It was so beautiful and reassuring to me that dual language education does work. And it reassured me that with our world being more and more global and diverse it is worth the added effort.