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Language Spotlight Series: French - Boosting Your Child's Future Opportunities

Language Spotlight Series: French – Boosting Your Child’s Future Opportunities

For the final segment of our Language Spotlight Series, we are taking a look at the benefits of choosing French as a bilingual study program for early education. While we’ve thoroughly covered the immense benefits of bilingual learning in previous sections of the series, for this portion we will be focused solely on the advantages of introducing your little one to French.

If you’re considering enrolling your child into French lessons, you’re not alone. With over 220 million French-speaking individuals across the globe (according to diplomatic policy resources), it’s quite evident that French is much more than just a beautiful romance language.

Spotlight on French

Diplomatie.gouv.fr states France is “the world’s fifth biggest economy and a leading destination for foreign investment.” As such, learning the language of such an economic powerhouse is certainly a valuable skill to acquire – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here is a look at five of the most important benefits to adding French to your child’s educational curriculum:

1 – French Economic Investment

As mentioned previously, France is a major player in world economic development and investment as well as endless other areas. You may think of France as a place for delicious food and romance, (and you’d be right, for sure), but it’s much more than that. The companies and interests rooted in French industry are major players in the world economic picture, so it goes without saying that learning the language is a huge plus for future economic opportunities.

2 – Rich Cultural Experience

If you’re looking for your child to gain more than simply a linguistic advantage, few languages open more cultural doors than French. French culture is deeply rooted in the arts, cooking, and theater – all of which offer immensely enriching experiences for those who open themselves to it.

“French is the international language of cooking, fashion, theater, the visual arts, dance and architecture. A knowledge of French offers access to great works of literature in the original French, as well as films and songs.” – Diplomatie.gouv.fr.

3 – It Opens Doors Linguistically

Another major benefit of studying French is the linguistic similarities it shares with other languages. While it’s certainly not an exact translation, there are many benefits to picking up the similarities between English and French. In other words, learning how the two languages have developed and share certain key components helps to understand other languages even more. In short, by picking up French, it helps students learn even more languages later in life with ease due to the ability to recognize those base components and transfer them to other cultures.

“The knowledge you gain about your own language equips you with a plethora of tools you can use to learn further languages, and if you choose to learn another romance language – Portuguese, Spanish or Italian, for example – then you’ll recognize a host of grammatical and lexical similarities.” – Babbel.com.

4 – International Connections

The United Nations recognizes French as both a “working language and an official language” (diplomatie.gouv.fr). As such, its presence can be found worldwide in organizations such as the Red Cross, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), global embassies, and even the Olympic committee. What does this mean for your child? Well, it means it’s opening up a world of fascinating opportunities in practically every avenue of adult life.

5 – The World’s Top Travel Destination

It’s hard to consider French language and culture without considering the immense travel and tourism attached to it. According to French statistics, “France is the world’s top tourist destination and attracts more than 87 million visitors a year” (diplomatie.gouv.fr).

By introducing French to your child, you’re opening doors to not only economic and career opportunities, but opportunities for travel, higher education, and culture as well. Speak with educators to discover even more benefits to adding French to your child’s curriculum!

What is immersion education?

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Immersion education is a teaching method where students learn all subjects in a target language like French, Spanish, or Mandarin. It works best when children start early, as they can easily pick up language nuances. These classrooms offer efficient learning environments with quick transitions.

Teachers who are fluent and native speakers of the target language, commit to speaking it consistently. They use the target language during instruction, transitions, outdoor play, and meal times. Teachers pay close attention to students’ needs and individual learning styles.

 

The classroom features a literacy-rich environment with pictures, labels, and meaningful visuals to support the target language throughout the day. Teachers adeptly help comprehension through non-verbal clues and smart teaching strategies.

Days are organized, routines are consistent, and key phrases and vocabulary repeat often to boost vocabulary development. Children make connections across the curriculum as the target language and English curriculum align, reinforcing concepts and ideas in both languages.

Will your child lose their English?

Research indicates that children in immersion settings perform the same or better than their non-immersion peers.

What if you don’t speak the target language at home?

Your child can still succeed and gain proficiency even if you don’t speak the target language. Homework uses songs and games to review classroom learning in a fun and engaging way. Strong communication with your child’s teacher is essential for success.

Summer Travel Plans…?

At Tessa International School, we make it our mission to prepare our students to be leaders of the 21st century and happy world citizens. During the summer months, traveling with your children can be a great way to introduce them to the diversity beyond our borders.

Traveling with your children can be a fun and very educational way to broaden their mindsets. When you travel with your children, you are allowing them to observe and experience new places, languages, foods, and cultures first-hand. At Tessa International School, we strongly believe in preparing our children to embrace the world with enthusiasm, confidence, and the strong will to make a difference. Traveling is one of the key ways to help develop their open-mindedness, curiosity, flexibility, independence and many other skills at an early age that are necessary for them to succeed in our highly interconnected and globalized world. Raising global children means sending them off into the world better prepared to tackle the issues of the 21st century.

Here are our top five reasons to travel with your kids:

  1. It is a great way to spend valuable time together as a family. There is no better way to show your child that you care than to spend time together. Travelling will certainly leave you with some remarkable photos and unforgettable memories!
  2. It broadens your child’s mindset and perspective of the world. It is amazing how quickly children catch on to subtle differences in their environment. Travelling presents a wonderful opportunity to spark their curiosity and imagination.
  3. Travel allows your child to develop their self-esteem, confidence and independence. Exposing your children to new and different cultures will undoubtedly teach them new things. It will also a great way to strengthen their character and discover who they are and where they come from.
  4. It teaches them to embrace diversity. Meeting new people, listening to foreign languages, and trying new foods are all great experiences that showcase the differences in our cultures. Celebrate the diversity!
  5. Before you know it, your child will become a seasoned traveler. You may be hesitant to take your little one along for the vacation, however, it is an excellent way to set expectations and let them grow accustomed to what is expected of them on travel days.

It’s never too early to start exploring the world with your little one. Visit our website to learn more about our world class curriculum and language immersion programs in either French or Spanish. At Tessa, we understand the importance of preparing our children to take on whatever challenges life throws at them and embrace global opportunities with enthusiasm and confidence. RSVP to join us at our next information session or call us to schedule an appointment at (201) 755-5585.

Safe travels and we look forward to meeting you and your family soon!

Start Your Journey With Us

Tessa International School

Office: (201) 755-5585 | Location: 720 Monroe St. Hoboken, NJ 07030