Remember second language acquisition takes time

Remember second language acquisition takes time. You will not see results right away, but by having your child listening and practicing a foreign language at least once a week, you are extending their critical period for learning a second language, and most importantly they are acquiring the ability to speak the language without or almost no foreign accent . Older learners would not reach this native-like speaking level.

“The Critical Period Hypothesis states that the first few years of life is the crucial time in which an individual can acquire a first language. If language input doesn't occur until after this time, the individual will never achieve a full command of language.”

Do you want your child to be bilingual?

It is important to understand the challenges and the process of learning a second language, so we can make the right choice as a parent and as a supporter of our child’s new journey.
How do we teach our classes and why?

Students learn new vocabulary and sentence structure using small felt figures, gestures, songs, games, and hands-on activities. These activities have been piloted with positive results on children for many years, once-per-week session giving us astonishing results with the students who stay in the program for at least one year.

This method of vocabulary learning turns classroom into a positive and fun learning experience. It follows the natural approach to learning a second language by providing the students with real-life experiences geared to learning vocabulary in a meaningful context, making language both more significant and more memorable. It also encourages the students to be active, enthusiastic and animated. Materials are presented in a simple comprehensible way.

The first activity is the introduction of new vocabulary with flashcards, felt animals, or toys. This activity promotes forming a mental picture of what it is said. Students learn from the very beginning to think in the foreign language; thus, avoiding translation. Then, the teacher asks the students to repeat the vocabulary and later integrates the same vocabulary in a song. The second activity consists of games. The teacher has at least three different games that relate to the same theme. The third activity involves children working individually doing exercises with paper, crayons, glue, and/or scissors. 

This communicative approach provides a language-learning environment free of anxiety.
 
Read more about how you can help your child to be successful on his new journey to learning a second language at http://www.wlispeak.org/parents.html

Don't give up

We are continuously hearing from parents who are concerned that their children are not learning anything in our once-a-week class. I have been teaching for over 12 years PK-12. I have seen the time it takes the students to be bilingual, as well as the process, and the frustration they have to go through in the middle and high school when they bombarded with the heavy grammar.

When I was teaching 6th grade, I noticed that the students who were exposed at least once-a-week to a language class throughout the elementary years were able to understand their new language much easier. They were not feeling frustrated or defeated because they couldn't understand their teacher. They had a window already opened in their mind, ready to absorb the new concepts. Most of the students who dropped out of Spanish were never exposed to a second language during their elementary years. They switch to different languages thinking that it will be easier, and in the end they quit their language class after the 2nd year, barely covering the minimal college requirement for admission. They give up their bilingual aspirations.

We have to remember that it takes many years of repetition to learn a second language, the same repetition we see in the math classes. I believe math and second languages follow the same pattern and process. They build on from year to year, and they require a lot of practice and repetition. I understand this process as a teacher and as an English student myself. I have never stopped learning my second language. Celia

Welcome parents

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