[Aging_Redneck]

I'm considering putting my son into french emersion when he starts grade 1 next year. At first, I thought that it would be a good thing for him. But now I'm not so sure if it is. I am concerned that he might not learn french or english properly. And if that is the case, how could he possibly learn the other subjects like math and science properly?

Anyway, I'd appreciate it you guys pull out all the stops and be really brutal about you opinions on this one.

thanks

AR

[mtbr]

French in Alberta or western Canada is really not necessary. If you want him to have an edge on some one learn Mandarin.

[westmanguy]

immersion has been successful for some cousins of mine.

I say only do it if you have french background/family/social life. If you're a typical Western Anglaphone and know hardly anyone french, why bother mixing his languages up?

[dino_bobba_renno]

The only one I know of in Calgary is up in Cougar Ridge. I've heard pretty good things about it though. My brother was going to send his kids there and he had done a fair amount of research so I'm guessing what he found was to the good. That's about all I know about it.

[RUEZ]

BC has a lot of French immersion schools, and they always fill up fast. I think it's a great idea to learn another language especially our countries other language. I wish I had paid more attention to French class in highschool.

[Aging_Redneck]

My parents were the first generation to not speak french to their children. And, of course, that means I'm the only generation to not know any french. It's a lost heritage for me.

[Brenda]

If I had the chance, absolutely. I was taught 4 languages in highschool, which was a bit too short to speak either of them really fluent. I can still get around in all 4 languages, although 2 are a bit rusty.

My kids were too old already when we moved here, but if I could, I would have done it. Definitely.

[xerxes]

It's never a bad idea to learn a second language and the younger people start, the easier it is.

And your son won't have any problems with english either. He'll still hear enough at home and elsewhere to properly learn it.

[lily]

A lot of people here put their kids in Frnech Immersion because it's like free private school - smaller class sizes, etc.

If your child is game, I'd say go for it. The other option is to wait till he's in grade 6 and put him in the late immersion. My nieces did that, and they enjoyed it, but wouldn't recommend it for high school.

[Tman1]

Learning a second language is fine and dandy but why force your child on that in an early age? Unless you are gearing your child up into the federal government, why french? Your child can learn a second language, any language for that matter at any time, anywhere at your childs point in life.

My parents put me in french immersion since kindergarten until grade 6 and hated it, never used it, had no interest in it and have since learned more colourful and interesting languages like Japanese and German. I don't use those languages on a daily bases like french but I had an interest in them at a later point in my life rather than intermingling two languages in school. I find french immersian schools and programs elitist and just another way to force their kids to learn french because of some mass program of bilingualism.

Personally I think it should be his/her choice later on in life if it suits his/her interest or benefit for their own values.

[Tman1]

RUEZ wrote:

I wish I had paid more attention to French class in highschool.

Why? Isn't french optional from junior high and high school? At least it was in Alberta.

[lily]

I needed at least French 11 to get into university. The requirement might have just been a language, but French was the only one offered.

[RUEZ]

Tman1 wrote:

RUEZ wrote:

I wish I had paid more attention to French class in highschool.

Why? Isn't french optional from junior high and high school? At least it was in Alberta.

What do you mean why? Pretty simple really, if I'd paid more attention I might know how to speak French right now.

[proudcanukchick]

I know several children who have gone through the French Immersion program (none with bilingual parents) and it did NO harm whatsoever. The only thing with French Immersion, is as a parent, you have to be prepared to be very involved with your child's education. In many schools the immersion classes are somewhat segregated. They do a lot of their own activities (plays, etc.), their own fundrasing - that sort of thing.

As for the languages - as long as you keep them in until completion of Grade 6, they'll be fine. From Kindergarten to Grade 3, it's all French. English isn't introduced until Grade 4. If you were to enroll them, and then remove them in Grade 2 or 3, they'll struggle with English for a a few years.

Math and Science are fine. It's all the same curriculum. The teacher just speaks French instead of English. Math is math no matter what the language, and elementary science isn't a continual program. They can't "fall behind". The curriculum is completely different from year to year, and the earlier years are not required to learn the latter units.

[Tman1]

RUEZ wrote:

What do you mean why? Pretty simple really, if I'd paid more attention I might know how to speak French right now.

If anybody 'paid' complete attention to their classes, they would be A - certified geniuses now, wouldn't they?

What I am asking is, if you didn't pay much attention to french class in high school, was it because it was an optional or mandatory class? If you didn't pay much attention to the class, perhaps you didn't like it? Did you even have to take the class?