Tpil

Hi
My family will immigrate to AU at middle 2004, with 2 children
around age 10 without any English ability.
I would like to be inform by families who passed this process,
how important it is to reach AU with English (meaning to
push the children for English private lessons) or maybe children
in this age will manage the language by their own in AU.
Thanks in advance
tpil
Hebrew speaker

Tom Clasener

On 14 Nov 2002 06:00:02 -0800, [email protected] (tpil) wrote:

    >Hi
    >My family will immigrate to AU at middle 2004, with 2 children
    >around age 10 without any English ability.
    >I would like to be inform by families who passed this process,
    >how important it is to reach AU with English (meaning to
    >push the children for English private lessons) or maybe children
    >in this age will manage the language by their own in AU.
    >Thanks in advance
    >tpil
    >Hebrew speaker

As long as they have 2 or 3 years of primary school remaining, they
seem to cope reasonably well. Also, at that age, they learn quite
rapidly. My wife's daughter arrived here at age 14, spent her first
year of High school at an English language centre. She had many
problems with the language and, most importantly, the culture. It was
a very difficult time for her and the legacy of it remains to this day
(she is now 31).
It is said that it is as traumatic for a child to change a school as
it is for an adult to change a country. Imagine then how it must be
for a child to not only change a school but a country, a language and
culture as well.
You have a year and a half before you move. Why not give your children
a head start and send them off to English language classes now. That
way there will be one less source of trauma for them when you finally
do move.

Tom

You can't win.
You can't break even.
You can't stop playing the game.

Tatiana

Quite a gloomy picture . I know several kids (some of them graduated from a Uni by now), and no one was traumatised by this experience.

But fact are generally correct: in public primary schools there are special teacher and additionional English lessons for those kind kids who need it. The lessons happen during school ours, not after.

But by the time you arrive to Australia your kids will be about 12, am I correct? It means they should go to Year 6 (last year of primary school) or Year 7 (first year of high school). It means they should go to that English Language Centre school first. (in Sydney one of these schools is near Central Station).

To teach kids English or not to teach - it's up to you, but it is almost two years between now and your arrival in Au - quite enough time to bring their English to fluent. Do not shovel it down their throat, of course, but some preparation would help them to adapt quicker and will help you with your worries .

ptlabs

Think about it: if you're a kid, and you have no English ability at all, and suddenly, in the first few weeks or month of your arrival in a foreign land, you do not know how to read the comics in the newspapers, you do not know how to read the name of the street where your favourite ice-cream shop is at, you do not know what the cartoons on TV are all about.

Kids can learn language at a pace much faster than adults can, so you should take the period between now and the time you land in Australia to at least introduce your kids to the language.

At least if they have a basic grasp of the language, they'll primarily only need to align their English accents as well as 'upgrade' their knowledge of Aussie slangs when they arrive. Otherwise, they'll have to start from scratch.

Just my 2 cents.


Peter