Frequently Asked Questions

For young children, exposing them to a new language needs to be done in a natural and fun manner with materials that are designed for use with young children. Having a playmate who speaks another language is an excellent way to expose your child to a new language. Do you have a neighbor or know another family who speaks another language and has a child near your child’s age? Arrange play dates or take turns caring for each other’s child in your own home. A bilingual school program can also offer this language exposure in a natural environment where everyone speaks it. Listening to music in the targeted language helps children develop an interest and fun, catchy becomes happy & comfortable about learning the second language.

Placing an English-speaking child in a bilingual program would best be done in Preschool or kindergarten, thus giving him/her an advantage. A child entering a Foreign Language-immersion program in 2rd grade or higher may be very difficult for the child to ‘catch up’ to his peers who began the program in preschool or kindergarten. Many studies have been conducted on this topic and all the studies have concluded that placing an English-speaking child in a bilingual program at a young age in an English-speaking country serves as an enrichment; it never inhibits the child’s learning to read and write in English. Unless the child has a language or learning disability, he/she will easily keep up in English because it’s spoken at home and the child is literally surrounded by English through the media and in the community.

The reality is that more and more English-speaking parents are interested in their children learning a second language now more than ever, especially with the importance of international trade and companies doing business overseas with their own factories or through outsourcing. Parents realize that the job market is tough and they want their children to have an “edge” in the competition.

Young children learning a second language will learn similarly to the way they learned their first language. The teacher will use hand and body cues, stories, inflection, facial signals, songs, games, and fun to make clear what is being conveyed. Children learn to explore and examine their surroundings and environment. In a short time, they catch on to what is being communicated. Young children do not have the same inhibitions that older people tend to have while learning. They are natural mimics and have little fear of making mistakes; they absorb the second language much more naturally and with less hesitation than an older child or adult might.