And Never the Twain Shall Meet...? on PNN

And Never the Twain Shall Meet...?

Posted by bilingualbabies Posted on: 04/27/08

And Never the Twain Shall Meet...?

I have a few work colleagues whose children are several years older than ours, and they have been asking me about where K.C. will be going to Kindergarten. In this process, I became aware of a parenting divide among us: those whose chidren are in language immersion programs and those whose children are not.

My colleague Rachel (names have been changed) has two girls who attended went through Alice Fong Yu School, a public Cantonese immersion program in San Francisco. Our conversations about school always seem to be in shorthand - we share a common vocabulary and set of references. On the other hand, I was struck by the identical reactions of Betsy and Jean, whose children attended regular schools. When I told them K.C. was going to CAIS, the first thing they both independently asked me was, "oh, is that the school Rachel's kids went to?"

Now, in every other way, these are really caring and supportive friends, but... after working together for over six years, they don't even know what school Rachel's kids go to?! I guess it's like the stereotype that all Asians look alike (by the way, here's a site with some entertaining games and articles that play on this idea). All Chinese immersion programs must be the same.

I find this really a bit sad. Language immersion has so many benefits for the student and family; yet, many people have assumptions about it based on very little (obviously) information. I'm not saying that immersion is the right choice for everyone, but before you dismiss it out of hand, here are the top things I wish people knew about immersion, or bilingual education, along with some useful links with more in-depth information...

1) Immersion in another language actually helps kids learn English. In some cases, the development of English language skills may lag slightly behind monolingual students. Many parents report that they do not even observe this initial lag. Long-term test scores and studies clearly show that bilingual students not only catch up but often surpass monolingual students in their English language skills.

2) Immersion is not just for students of a particular heritage...
Perhaps, I am not in the best position to make this argument, since my family is of Chinese ancestry, and we are teaching my children Chinese. However, my husband is Korean-American, and there are many families in Chinese immersion programs who come from families without any Chinese ancestry. The benefits of learning a second language apply to any student. And the benefits of or kids learning Chinese are, to us, that it is a tonal language (requires much more of an "ear" than most languages), is connected to a rich culture and history, and may be useful in an ever-more interconnected world. We also seriously considered Spanish immersion, since Spanish is so widely spoken in our area and internationally. It hurts me a little that Spanish immersion is so much more attractive than Chinese to parents without a family connection to either language. I'd like to think it is due to point #3, rather than any other factors.

3) Parents do not need to speak the immersion language. It can be intimidating to place your children in a classroom where you cannot understand the language. However, it is important to understand that an immersion classroom is designed specifically to accomodate students and parents who are not familiar with the "target" language. Teachers create assignments that students can do independently, and may schools encourage cooperation with classmates and also offer extra homework support. Having your children become more independent academically may be a positive side effect of immersion.

Some good immersion links: