[Mummy2907]

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This post has been edited by Mummy2907: 05/01/2013, 04:08 PM

[Guest_CaptainOblivious_*]

I wish it was available near us. I would sign my kids up in a flash. There are so many benefits to learning a 2nd language early, and an hour a week doesn't really do it justice. I'm amazed it's available in a public school. I only know of one school that offers it in primary and it's a very expensive private school in Sydney.

[Juki]

I did a full French immersion at a private school and it was great and I would recommend if your child is interested. Just make sure that they keep up with maths and science skills in English as well.
I don't do anything with languages now but I have found that I am very good at understanding people with accents compared to some of my coworkers.

[lsolaBella]

I would sin my kids up in a heartbeat. That being said their cousins are half German and live in EU.

[Gudrun]

There are public bilingual schools in Melbourne in German, French, Auslan, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Macedonian. The bilingual programs are based on a long-standing tried and true Canadian model.
The German program at Bayswater South Primary has been going for yonks. The French program at Camberwell Primary is not as old but still very well-established. The others are newer but supported by local ethnic communities.

The trick is to live near one of these schools. IMO all schools should be bilingual schools.

[CallMeProtart]

I wish some near us had that...

[doubting thomas]

My local one does a similar thing in French, northern sydney public primary. About half the classes per year are french immersion classes. The others arent. You can choose which you want, the french ones cost about $800 per year

[bye]

I'd have jumped at the chance to have my kids in such a school! And with any language, if there wasn't a choice.

[lizzzard]

I was just speaking to my DH about this the other day. He is Canadian and both he and SIL attended a French immersion program when they were growing up. SIL is still fluent in French - she kept it up throughout university; DH dropped out of the program at 16 - he could get by in French and has a perfect accent but is rusty.

I suspect the French immersion was quite detrimental for DH actually. His English was much better than his French, and as a result, he did very poorly in the subjects/topics taught in French - not because of the subject matter, but because of his French comprehension.

Despite this, I think the theory of immersion is great...I'd just recommend care as their can be some pitfalls you don't have to worry about with single-language schooling.

[Gudrun]

I don't believe a properly constructed and properly run bilingual program has any 'pitfalls', only advantages.