In the summer, I took my kids to a French bakery for their favourite croissant and pain au chocolate. My son ordered in French, and the girl at cash was charmed. This is his fifth year in French Immersion at a Toronto public school, and his language skills are increasingly strong. I am pleased about that, but I also have other concerns.
I was a French Immersion student years ago in New Brunswick. Our program of study, however, started in Grade 7. As a result, we already had a good foundation in the English language. Our English writing, spelling and grammar had been established and the French education did not disrupt that base. The challenges for us, however, were learning all our high school subjects in French. To this day, I only know some Chemistry and Biology terms in French. When I went into a science program at university, where everything was being taught in English, this proved to be challenging,.
In our neighbourhood in East Toronto, the French Immersion program begins in senior kindergarten. In some ways, I see the advantages to starting at this time. At these young ages, the kids are like sponges, and appear to absorb new concepts with ease. Learning a new language when you’re a child is much easier than the alternative.
But, lately I have been having some serious concerns. For his “English” class, my son had to write a four to five page essay featuring his autobiography. I left him to do it on his own, and asked to look at it when he was finished. I was shocked and dismayed! Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors glared profusely at me from every angle of his essay. With his French training, he frequently placed the adjectives after the noun (e.g. milk chocolate, a tournament of hockey fun – you get the picture).
I expressed my concern to other parents and his teacher. The general response and reassurance was that he will “catch up”. I hope so: his future educational and career goals will be contingent on his ability to express himself well.
I decided to start some rituals at home to strengthen my son’s English skills. He’s now only reading English books at home, and my two older kids have started to keep journals. Every day after school I ask them to write two pages about anything. I don’t correct it or comment on it. It’s just there. My mom did the same with me, and the daily writing taught me to express myself more clearly through language.
I’m hoping this helps. If not, we will re-examine the situation again in a few months. Has anyone had similar experiences with French Immersion? If so, what did you do to support your kids’ English language skills?
Your concerns are my concerns, and I’m wondering how things have worked out for your son, now that it’s 2 years since you’ve written this?
Thanks for the insightful post, which I find valuable because I need to make the decision soon, of whether to send my daughter to French Immersion for Grade One later this year. I love your daily journalling ritual, which I will likely adopt regardless.
Your concern with your son’s English skills is a very real one. I am curious how it works out, because I am not entirely satisfied with the general consensus that the child will “catch up”.
For me, one of my big concerns is, my daughter is currently excelling in Mathematics in her Montessori school, and she visibly has a huge interest in it. Putting her in French Immersion feels like it will definitely suffocate that aspect. Do you have any experience you can share on that?
As someone who successfully went through the early immersion program in Nova Scotia, I might be able to offer some reassurance and insight. I’m not sure if the programs are completely the same though: we started in French in Primary (or Sr. Kindergarten by Ontario standards) and had French only instruction with the exception of Gym and Music up until grade 2, then an ‘English’ class was added in grade 3 up to grade 6. Jr. High was predominantly in French, though there were a couple extra classes in English. High school was about 50/50 for French/English instruction. First off, I love your your initiative for helping them at home. I firmly believe that because I read A LOT at home in English is why my English skills were always high. I never had any problems in school and consistently got As in most subjects. I loved writing and reading, so those were things I actually did in my spare time. Because I mostly did those things in French in school I would read and write my own stories in English at home. My parents did allow me to make my own decision to continue in French immersion in grade 7, and again in grade 10, and I chose to stay. I weighed the pros and cons of both and made the best decision for myself. There was a bit of an adjustment from learning French in the sciences and math, but I quickly figured it out. I did very well through high school and actually finished with the highest average among the graduating French Immersion students. I also was selected to receive a scholarship from my high school for ‘displaying examplary skills in the English language, both written and spoken’. Not bad for a ‘French’ student!
On the flip side, my boyfriend is from New Brunswick and I’ve had a hard time convincing him that we should put our kids into French immersion, because he had friends in the program growing up who did not do well. I think it really depends on the program and how much involvment the parents have at home in their child’s education though. From your description, it does sound like your child’s program knows what it’s doing, but your involvement will help ‘cover the gaps’ until they do catch up.
I have absolutely no regrets about doing the French program all through school. In comparison to my counterparts who started in Grade 7, our class had much better language skills, as well as a much better accent. Having a good accent might sound unimportant, but I can tell you for a fact that some French speakers will automatically switch to English if they can detect you’re not speaking their language correctly. Your grammar and vocaublary may be impeccable, but if you don’t sound French, then you’re considered ‘English’. I didn’t use my French for several years after High School, but then got a job that required me to use it again. I could tell that my grammar and vocabulary had slipped, but I began to pick it up again the more I used it. I occassionally get corrected, but I’m open to it because often as soon as they tell me the correct way of saying something, I rememebr it from the back reccess on my brain. I know my friends who started in late immersion would not as easily pick it back up. French speakers often will ask me about my accent because they’re not familiar with it (part Acadian, part Quebec), but I have had very few people switch to English and some do not even know that French is actually my second language.
I hope this information helps!
There are always pros and cons. You just have to be determined to do the best with whichever choice you make. If there’s a concern that one is suffering because of the other, i.e. studying in French is having a negative impact on learning in English, make a concerted effort to enhance opportunities for more learning in English (tutoring, extra reading and writing, outside of school). The cons of being slightly behind where the child would be in English to where he or she might be with only one language, are outweighed by the pro of learning a second language. There is ample research and evidence to support that knowing a second language enhances overall language abilities as well as abilities and achievement in other areas of study. Whatever choices we make about educating our children, we always have the option to supplement where we anticipate the child might require or appreciate a little extra either from within the system or from somewhere else. Thank you for raising the question to help me think it through for my children too 🙂 Loving the helpful comments from others too!
Every parent must be patient. The skills a child will learn in the French language will transfer to the english sector as well. It much more difficult to learn the French language than the english language. The French language has so many more exceptions, than the english language. I studied in a completely french environment through my entire primary, junior and senior academic experiences (including university and graduate school). The rewards have certainly outweighed any issues that I faced during my academic years. I am now a supply-teacher with a first language French school board and I have not regretted any of my parents decisions regarding my educational requirements.
I am also a tutor and I would be willing to help any student in both official languages. A little help will go a long way to academic achievements. A student should feel special to be involved in french immersion or entire first language French instructions at school.
Enjoy our child’s development and provide a good support system.
I agree with Jen – I think the positives far outweigh the challenges, too. My son is at an all-French school… until last year, he could barely even read English, but I’m sticking with the “he will catch up” mantra. French is soooo much harder to learn than English is (the rules are trickier) and at least, at home his English is supported due to the fact that our home is primarily English. He will learn. I’m not too worried about his English at this point.
And what I love the most is his pronunciation is absolutely beautiful. His accent? Almost flawless. It’s amazing, really. But, he’s learned the basics so well, it’s the only way he knows when he sounds a word out. (Of course, he applies the same accent on the English words he’s trying to read, too… but it will change with more practice.) “He will catch up.”
I do see your point, Amreen, and I think for some kids it is too much and some will have to work harder to catch up. However, what a great gift! Another language is going to serve him well in many aspects of his life.
My son entered Extended French in grade 7 like you did. I see that he will likely have some challenges but I am also envious as his French is already much stronger than mine will ever be. It opens up a whole slew of opportunities from a career perspective and travel becomes much more exciting. In addition, we are looking at exchange programs for him. What an amazing way to spend a few months!
Anyway, my point is, I think the positives outweigh the challenges 🙂