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Many parents (and kids!) are intimidated by the idea of immersion, even if they've heard it's the best way to learn a language. They're afraid they'll be confused, overwhelmed or not understand anything that's going on! But immersion doesn't have to equal confusion. Immersion programs are based on a language acquisition model, which is different than the language learning you may have done in school.
The Old Way — Language Learning: Old models that focused on learning vocabulary and memorizing verb forms are ineffective and frustrating. They lead to students who know a lot, but can't use what they've learned.
Language Acquisition — Learning through Communication: Language acquisition is based on the idea that every student can learn a new language. After all, they've probably already mastered most of their native language! Language acquisition uses the same methods that children used to learn their first language, taking advantage of the brain's natural bias toward understanding meaning and communicating.
We weren't meant to learn through lists and charts. Language is best taught through story, ideas, interaction and back-and forth communication. Immersion creates a carefully structured environment where students get input they can understand and are given the tools to communicate back about what they've learned.
About Language Immersion
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But how will my children understand if they don't
know any Spanish?
Take a look at the following video. Don't feel like you need to understand every word. See if you get the general meaning of what the speaker is trying to communicate.
Comprehensible Input
The video above is an example of what is called Comprehensible Input. It's entirely in Spanish, yet you probably understood most of the story. How? Because the storyteller crafted the story so that you would understand it. As human beings, our brains are gravitate toward stories and have a bias toward meaning. A vocabulary list doesn't have any meaning other than what our teacher wants us to learn. But in the context of that story, you learned vocabulary — zanahoria, mamá, papá, niño, etc. — but you learned it effortlessly because you wanted to understand what was being communicated.
How do you use this in the classroom?
In a classroom, teachers use comprehensible input to get students listening and responding in the language. They ask questions, repeat language structures and continually check if their students are understanding. The video below shows a teacher using immersion techniques to get his high school students understanding an easy Spanish text.
Making Things Interesting
Let's face it — memorizing vocabulary lists and verb conjugation isn't very thrilling for most people. Instead, we use content that kids want to learn about in order to encourage them to use the language.
Funny stories, animals, science experiments, songs, dances, fascinating cultures around the world — when kids find a topic interesting, their brains will focus in on understanding and communicating what they want to know.
What to Expect With Your Kids
Like any transition, adjusting to an immersion classroom takes time. Your student may come home saying they didn't understand anything or that they were overwhelmed. That's normal, so don't panic! Their brains need time to adjust. As a native English speaker, they are used to understanding almost everything they hear, so they may feel confused, but their brains are already doing the work to start acquiring a new language, even when they don't realize it yet.
Some common experiences for parents of immersion students:
— may not be able to tell you too much about what they've learned
— may be more tired after an immersion day compared with other activities
— may sometimes resist coming to class (in the same way that we all resist going to the gym — we feel better when we get home, but it's hard to get off the couch!)
— won't magically start speaking to you in Spanish - they need the supportive environment to bring out their natural abilities to learn another language
— won’t be able to translate vocabulary or phrases, even if they are able to respond to them when used in context in class. You might ask your child, “How do you say chair in Spanish?” and they won't be able to tell you, but they will be able to go sit in the chair when their teacher asks them to.
To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world."
—Chinese Proverb
Why Learn a Second Language?
— Cognitive benefits: research shows that people who speak more than one language have better attention spans, are better problem solvers and have better memory
— Better Creativity and Empathy: studies have shown that multilingual people are more creative and have greater empathy toward other people
— Better job prospects: bilingual people have 35 percent more job opportunities and opportunities for better pay in the workplace because of their language skills.
Why Learn Spanish?
— Spanish is spoken in 21 countries on four different continents and opens up a world of travel and opportunities for learning.
— Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the world, spoken by 460 million native speakers and 580 million people worldwide
— Spanish has a similar alphabet and grammatical structure to English, but its spelling and pronunciation rules are much easier, making it an easier language to learn to read and write
— Spanish creates an amazing opportunity to connect with people from around the world, make new friends and learn from them!