Benefits of the dual language model

2010-03-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Concerns about starting a dual language school

2010-02-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

My son is a first grader at Amigos, a 20 year old dual language Spanish/English school in Cambridge, MA. It is a Jr.K-8 elementary school and is made up of 40% Native Spanish speakers and 60% native English Speakers.

I am a believer and advocate for dual language education. I didn't grow up speaking another language and as a result, I feel disconnected from a big portion of the people around the world who are multilingual. Because I want more for my children than what I had, I pushed to get him into Amigos. After waiting one year, he finally got in off the waitlist and was able to enter the school in first grade. Naturally we were excited, but as the summer ended and his first day of school was closer, both my husband and I were anxious about our decision.

My son is a shy boy who has a natural curiosity about the world around him. He lives to build and especially loves to figure out how things work. Language does not come easy to him. I think he really doesn't see the need for it yet. Given his personality and the fact that my husband and I don't speak Spanish and that he was entering the school two years behind many of his classmates, our anxiety was expected.

It has been 5 months and I couldn't be happier with our decision. First and for most, he loves school. He is excited about going to school and he is even more excited to be learning Spanish. This excitement didn't happen over night, but it happened over the past five months. At first he came home not understanding why he was learning Spanish. He was frustrated that he did not understand the language and that he could not participate fully in the class. We would talk about his frustration and I would say, "Imagine how non-english language children feel when they enter a school or community not knowing the language. It is the same feeling." Now he has a sensitivity and understanding of what others go through.

In addition it was about a month into school when he started to have appreciation for our Spanish speaking babysitter. When she started, he wanted nothing to do with her. More recently when it was time to do his homework, or if he did not understand what happened in school that day, he would ask for her. He was now making a connection with her and has a sympathy to her struggle with the english language. I believe these cultural lessons are invaluable and in addition to his learning a second language will shape his moral values.

Hola Padres

Benefits of the dual language model

Concerns about starting a dual language school