Modern Languages - Primary Schools

[Ejjones76]

My DD is due to start school next September at 4yrs. We are looking at all the local schools however she has a particular interest in learning Italian and French and none of the local schools seem to offer foreign language teaching until KS2 which I feel is far too late - why wait until they are 7???
I am now considering private schools in Kingston/Surrey area. Does anyone know of any pre prep schools that have a particularly good reputation for teaching modern foreign languages right from reception age with a good choice of languages taught? So far I have found Putney High School seems to have a great reputation and very good achievement levels in exams for languages but have found no others.
Any help would be really appreciated
Many thanks

My DD's school offers a first foreign language from the age of 3 and teaches it at six levels right through primary school, from bilingual down to elementary. DC who are good at school and proficient at their two languages may add another language from Y5. All language teaching is by native speaker teachers and the DC learn very quickly.

Her school is in Paris.

Italian is my favourite language

I doubt even Italians would say Italian is a global language anymore. Much as they would like it to be.

My favourite is Spanish.

Italian gives you access to Italy. Which is reason enough for me!

I don't see how a 3yo can't have an interest in particular languages if they've been exposed. DS is bilingual because we have 2 home languages but I would say he shows a definite interest in other languages, and is more drawn to some than others (whether that's to do with the person speaking it or the way it sounds I don't know).

He is 2. In a year or so I'd expect him to be able to articulate that interest a bit more and if there happened to be a choice of an additional language to learn I'd probably ask him which he preferred.

you can't argue that Italian is not a global language
sorry but I can and I will.
Please name countries in three continents where Italian is the official language?
In fact according to this page
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers
its only spoken in Italy and countries in / adjoining Italy.
Unlike Spanish and English.

Italian is an excellent language to learn as it provides access to Italian civilisation and culture which is wildly more interesting than Hispanic civilisation and culture.

I love Italian. I used to have to speak it at work (which was fun as I'd never learned it) BUT for kids needing language skills French, English, Spanish and Mandarin are more useful.
DD is doing Spanish as she wants to be able to travel in the Americas ....

But learning Italian will prove hugely useful learning Spanish later so it's not entirely a lost cause. Also for advanced study of music it's practically indispensable (along with German and French).

All languages have their uses and not everything is related to travel.

I speak Spanish - indeed, I studied Spanish at university - and have travelled extensively in Spain and Latin America.

I also speak Italian - which I learned at school. I go to Italy every year and would advise anyone, any day, to learn Italian over Spanish if they had to choose.

(it's me Bucharest btw )

I studied Spanish at university and have lived in Italy for the past 19 years and would advise anyone to learn Spanish over Italian any day!

Ciao

I was chatting to a horse today - no I am not horsey, I just happened to go past one - and had a lovely time watching its ears swivel around as I spoke to it in a friendly voice ...
Of course children enjoy sounds & voices, some more than others!
There is a lot of exciting stuff about to happen in modern languages thanks to technology and the internet. Already resources are able to link listening & speaking to reading and writing more easily than ever before, and all children will be taught a language from 7.
Search French for kids on Google - there are lots of free resources.
Before school age songs & nursery rhymes are great, though watch out as some are tricky, just like English nursery rhymes - I'd listen to samples first before choosing.

Talkin

We will have to beg to differ on what constitutes a global language.
Perhaps I should revise the countries accepting Italian Operas and Arias as a form of entertainment for their people.
Whilst I agree that other languages serve far different purposes and have different scope, and I'm sure my dd will learn additional languages but for now it is the only one that meets her needs at present.

morethan
if you really think Opera defines acceptance of a language, you really need to get out of the Crush Bar more, or at least picnic further away from the HaHa

Opera is utterly irrelevant to 99% of the population. Italian Arias are the background of adverts not real language.

Languages at good level would come handy if your child would like a good university degree without a hefty tag. So for design orientated child Italian might prove to be a good idea. Engineering and tech degrees will be cheaper in German. Medicine would be good in French. Having German and French would give an advantage if they want to work at a good level at any of EU organisations. A lot of children are not interested in reading or writing at 4 and many countries don't start teaching it until children are 6 or 7 but for some reason it is considered to be essential in UK and that's what parents expect. Timings and subject of teaching is just a matter of tradition and parent's preferences. OP can and should decide for her daughter at this age - later it would be up to the child to keep up with it or drop it.

Talkin.

I think you need to revise your percentage, but agree its not everybody's cup of tea.
It does attract huge investment though, in this country alone it commands the majority of funding for the arts.
Of course Italian is a real language and last time I heard the Italian Arias and Operas were sung in Italian.
Anyway, as it suits dd and obviously other people that will do for me.
Perhaps you see French and German as useless too.

morethan
I grew up going to the opera and know from people who are obsessed with it that percentage is actually slightly UNDER 1%

And yes, its offensive that it gets so much funding for so little return to the bulk of the population
the £150 million that Covent Garden squandered could have funded local arts and language groups that children could have got involved with for years and years

only Glyndebourne can hold its head high because they do not take cash that would be better spent supporting the language and arts skills that are being cut all over the country.

Just THINK how many Italian and German and French teachers in schools could be paid for if ENO and ROH stopped taking all that cash.

Indeed. DD went to the opera at Glyndebourne this summer to see Don Pasquale. We shall be going to Rome and Pompei at Easter. She doesn't (yet) study Italian (French, English and Spanish only so far) but she is exposed to the language during her leisure time.

How do you know that the Italian, French and German teachers are available to be paid for, TalkinPeace? What is the point of learning a language if there is no higher culture to access?

ENO sing in English, ROH do surtitles. No, joking apart, Opera will never ever be mainstream. Glyndebourne proves that it does not need loads of taxpayer cash and these figures
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24742529
show that "high culture" should not always involve a train ride to Lonson (or west Sussex)

There are lots of experienced teachers but cash strapped schools hire NQTs
and the competition for PGCE places for language students is fierce - because there are not enough placements for them because school budgets do not regards multi language skills as core

Gove's Ebacc asks for one, then they do one.
DCs school has dropped Latin, Italian, German, Russian and Japanese since they became irrelevant to league tables

I am amazed that no one else has brought up the wealthy of research that has shown that learning a second language prior to the age of 10 years has shown that not only are these children more receptive to the new language, but that this improves mastery of the child's first language. There is also evidence that learning a second language before 10years of age strengthens the ability to solve complex Maths problems.
In short early exposure to a second language has been shown to build a 'stronger brain'.

Therein lies the rub really.....ten or so years back, when I was contemplating moving back to the UK, I looked into doing a teaching qualification via the GTR, as a languages (French and Spanish) graduate with 15 years of university and state school ESL/EFL teaching I was told there would be a place for me "next Monday" because at the time no languages graduate wanted to touch a PGCE with a shitty stick. The government was then throwing money and jobs and incentives ad infinitum at languages graduates to get them into teaching.

It still didn't work, the money (I guess) ran out, and so they decided not to even bother with languages post 14 (is it? I stopped keeping up once I decided to stay put)

If you are interested in bilingual education for your children, in Lambeth. There is the prospect for a bilingual Spanish/English primary school to open in 2015! and no need to be bilingual prior to joining as it would be an inclusive school.

If that appeals to you, show your interest here: www.blpsp.org.uk/

Please let me know if you have any questions on this.

Joëlle