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Contents 1 Introduction 2 Pros 3 Cons 4 Late French Immersion 5 Further considerations in choosing FI 6 Francophone Schools 7 Sources of information

[edit] Introduction

• In many places in Canada, French Immersion schools are available specifically for children who are being raised in English-speaking families but whose parents wish for them to have the benefit of learning French early on.
• For kids raised in French-speaking families, Francophone schools are available.
• French Immersion can be conducted in specific FI schools or, more commonly, in dual-track English/FI schools.
• It is available in many, but not all, communities in Canada, so it is worth checking with the school boards of your chosen province to investigate where it is offered.
• In FI, all activities and teaching in class takes place in French up to Grade 3 level - that includes math, social studies, health, etc. - even PE and music (in some areas) are taught in French.
• The children are encouraged to speak only French in the classroom, hallways and during recess.
• The aim is to make students completely fluent resulting in kids who can eventually think and dream in French!
• In Grade 3, formal English classes are introduced and these are gradually increased year on year until Grade 9 when the student makes a decision whether to continue in FI in High School or alternatively, to switch to English at this point.
• But, with that having been said, do not fear for your kindergartener's ability to cope with French. At the kindergarten level, instructions initially are given in English. At the beginning of the year, the teacher introduces just a few words of French to the students. As the year progresses, the teacher speaks less and less English and more and more French.

There are numerous discussions on the BE forum about the pros and cons of French Immersion schooling.

[edit] Pros

• Anecdotal accounts seem to suggest that most families who try French Immersion are happy with it.
• As most classes are conducted in French, it is required that the student pays particular attention to the teacher's words, mouth shape when speaking, body language etc. This helps to enforce a natural discipline to the FI classroom which MAY be missing from the usual English classes. FI classes can be quieter as a result, and students tend to learn focussed study skills that continue beyond the classroom.
• FI classes MAY be smaller than English classes in SOME areas.
• Fluency in French is an advantage in many spheres - including opening up opportunities for governmental work in adulthood. The level of fluency that students attain in French Immersion schools is of a different order of magnitude than they can attain by taking French as a subject at an English school.
• If parents play their cards right, a French Immersion (FI) school can sometimes give their children a superior education, over and above the opportunity to learn French. While these factors are not universally true, FI schools sometimes have student populations that come from families with an above average level of interest in education, and they sometimes are better funded than their English counterparts. Some schools are "dual-track" in that they run FI and English streams side-by-side.
• At Kindergarden/Grade 1 level (i.e., Early Immersion) children do not need to demonstrate any special talents in language arts per se, as the French element is introduced routinely into their usual activities. It becomes second nature to them to learn in French in school and speak English at home.
• Late Immersion students can be particularly successful if they are actively interested in, and have a talent for, languages. Please see below.
• Overall, FI can be a way to provide the child with an enriched academic environment.

[edit] Cons

• Notwithstanding school officials' claims, if parents genuinely cannot speak any French at all, the inability to mentor kids when they're doing their homework can become problematic for some. Some strategies that may counter this perception are detailed below.
• Languages are not the forte of all children, and there are some kids who just do not take to FI. Before removing the child from FI, however, it is important to work with the school to ensure that the problem is specifically FI related rather than an alternative learning or attention difficulty.
• For some it has been suggested that mastery of a child's first language sometimes can suffer if he/she does not receive a thorough grounding in that language before being immersed in a second language. It is fair to say that for the first 4 years in Early Immersion (K-G3), English takes a back seat in school and so the child's ability to read and write in English is limited to what naturally develops during these years. However, by Grade 3 English is formally introduced and the children very quickly catch up with their English-only counterparts. By Grade 6, the FI student is reading and writing in English just as well as the other kids - and some studies suggest that the study skills introduced via the FI route, enable the FI students to perform even better than their English-only friends.
• Sadly there is some negativity still existing amongst some English-speaking Canadians about FI. This is based on the past and present arguments concerning Canada being a dual-language country. Some English-speaking Canadians do not see the value in teaching children French and therefore FI is not popular with them. As an FI parent you may come up against this viewpoint occasionally, and so it is just as well to be prepared. Happily, this attitude is becoming less prevalent and will hopefully decline further in the future. To the extent that this attitude still exists, you are more prone to run into it in strongly unilingual (English-speaking) communities in rural areas.

[edit] Late French Immersion

• An alternative approach to consider is Late French Immersion.
• Unlike Early French Immersion, which starts in kindergarten, Late French Immersion starts in grade seven. (There also is a version that starts in grade four.)
• Tests have revealed an interesting phenomenon. By the time they graduate from high school, students who start FI in grade seven are as fluent in French as students who start in kindergarten.
• The reason is a bit of a mystery. The hypothesis is that, because Late French Immersion is a choice that students make for themselves, rather than having the decision made for them by their parents, Late FI students are highly motivated.
• It may be that Late FI offers the best of both worlds -- a thorough grounding in English, followed by the fluent acquisition of French.
• Another option is to pursue the English stream but select a school that has formal French classes (of the style of a school in the UK) at Grade 4 level or above. However, French is not offered in all schools and the aims of these classes are not to create fluent speakers.

[edit] Further considerations in choosing FI

Before choosing FI for your child, you may like to consider the following (note that most of these comments pertain to Early Immersion):

• It's important to assess the reputation/facilities of all the options open to your child when coming to Canada. If, after investigating local schools (English, FI and others), the school that offers FI is on a par with or better than the others, it may be worth enrolling your child. If the facilities and/or reputation of the school appear to be significantly lower than other schools in the district, then FI may not be the best option in that particular geographical area, regardless of your preference for an FI education for your child. In addition, be aware that FI is not offered everywhere.
• It can be challenging being the parent of an FI child if you don't speak the language they are learning - especially in the early days when the kids are bringing home spelling lists and math practice for you to do with them and expect you to test them in French! In reality, this is not an onerous task, but it does require a postive attitude, active interest and flexibility from the parent(s). Sometimes, this requires a commitment that you may not be prepared to maintain.
• To support your kids in their early FI years, it is useful for you to be able to count to 20 in French (to 100 by Grade 3), learn the French of "plus", "minus" etc; and also be able to spell out words using the French pronounciation of the alphabet. Add to this a willingness to listen to them read in French (it is not required that you correct their pronounciation at this stage - it is simply to encourage them to practice), and you will easily be able to support a Kindergarden to Grade 3 FI student.
• If you can't recall your GCSE French sufficiently, many local FI parent groups provide cheap or free classes in these basics that you can take or else ask your child to teach you! They pick it up very quickly.
• Once beyond Grade 3 - they will probably know more French than you ever will and be able to translate their homework instructions into English for you quite easily. As the concepts are the same, e.g., math, etc., you will easily be able to explain how to approach the assignment in English for them, and they can take it from there.
• Notwithstanding, the comments made above, as an FI parent you need to trust that the teachers are doing their job in these early years. It is their job to teach them French, and -- as you cannot test progress yourself as such -- you have to trust that that is being done to the best of their ability.
• That is not to say that you do not/should not/will not take an active roll in your child's school experience at this point.
• Many parents are encouraged to volunteer/observe in the classroom to see firsthand how the mechanics of FI teaching works.
• There are also clearly laid out provincial targets for FI teaching, against which termly reports will measure achievement.
• In addition, FI teachers generally are very open to your questions and concerns, especially if this is your first child going through FI. FI teachers tend to be very committed to the success of FI in schools and so the atmosphere at FI schools typically is very supportive and welcoming.
• Obviously, some children may find it difficult to adjust to FI, but the percentage who transfer to English in these early years usually is small. Obviously it is important to monitor the child's progress attentively, and maintain a willingness to change tracks if necessary, but it is preferable to do this only after open and full discussion with the teaching staff.
• It may be that there are other learning issues, or simply the adjustment to the school environment, that are challenging the child (regardless of the FI course itself). After identification, and with appropriate support, these issues sometimes can be resolved without abandoning FI.
• Alternatively, if it is decided that FI is not appropriate for the child (for whatever reason), the good study practices learned during his/her FI days should stand him/her in good stead during the rest of his/her education. So neither the parent nor the child should view this as wasted time.

[edit] Francophone Schools

• Since 1985 the Canadian Constitution allows any Canadian citizen to send their children to Francophone state school, if they meet certain criteria.
• Criteria for eligibility are: (i) at least one parent's native and still best understood language is French, or (ii) at least one parent has received primary education in French, or (iii) the child has already received primary level schooling in Canada in French.
• The same criteria apply to new immigrants.
• Francophone schools are further in-between than French immersion schools.
• These schools target French-speaking children from families with at least one parent a French native speaker.
• Communication between the schools and the families is only in French, in addition to, of course, the language of instruction and communication with the children being exclusively French.
• Sometimes the same schoolboard administers English, French immersion and Francophone schools. In British Columbia, since 1999, the Conseil Scolaire Francophone defines the rules and finances for the Francophone schools.
• Native French speakers who fulfill the above criteria have guaranteed places in the Francophone schools, contrary to French immersion, where a lottery system is on in February to attribute one of the few spaces for the September Kindergarten year satrt.

[edit] Sources of information

For more information on French Immersion schooling see Canadian Parents for French for a general overview and also to see a province by province breakdown of FI schooling.

Federal and provincial government websites also provide information about French Immersion schooling.

To find out about other aspects of schooling in Canada, please see the Wiki article entitled Canadian Schooling.