French lessons for my 9 year old and 6 year old. Would it make me a ponce?

[tiredemma]

PIL have made a permanent move to France. We have just returned from a short break there and have plans to visit quite often.

I have been thinking about some french tuition for both of them, but its sounds a bit poncy?

DP looked at me as I had gone mad when I suggested it, however MIL thought it was a great idea as it will come in handy for both boys when they visit.

Is it a good idea? Can Fench lessons even be arranged for this age? (Obv. school do not teach any languages)

I do understand your worries though. Some of the parents of my students in Germany had negative reactions from friends when they said that their DC were taking English lessons.

They started saying that they were going to an after school club that was run by a Scottish woman and she did songs and games in English. That made it a fun activity and not 'lessons' iyswim

my dd1 does french as a lunchtime, paid for class, at school. Before she started school she went to an after school club one which took children from 4 - she loves it, i don't think its poncy, she asked to learn after going on holiday to france. DD2 will either do french or spanish at lunchtime once she's in Year 1 - she can decide.

If they're already having a go at you for the cricket, rugby and skiing, I don't think the French would make much difference

I think it is a great idea and you should be able to find after school classes. There are definitely classes in London. DS started with a short 30 minute class when he was in Year 1 and continued until Year 3. He now has a weekly French class in school and the previous experience has made him very confident. It also helps their accent if they start early.

I don't see it as poncy at all. Language is such a huge part of their development and being able to speak more than one language is a fantastic skill. Some children are good at sport or music but other children have an apptitude for languages. I believe that this apptitude is not being recognised and nutured at an early enough age.

tiredemma Tue 26-Jan-10 14:58:45
"I wished that it was part of the normal curriculum tbh, everyone is right- after a certain age languages just dont 'click' do they?"

This is a very British attitude. Swedes are generally supposed to be among the best linguist in the Western world, but they don't start learning their first foreign language until age 10; they might then start another one when they start secondary and a third in Sixth Form (I did this and also started Latin and Greek in Sixth Form). They are still expected to learn them- that's what makes the difference.

My ds has had French lessons since Yr 4 in his English school: I can't find that he's learnt any French whatsoever. Dd has now been doing French for 4 years and really hardly knows anything. I knew more after my first term in a Swedish school, though I was 4 years older when I started. But I was worked much harder and that makes a difference at any age.

Picking up languages is worthwhile at any age.

But I think the OPs idea sounds brilliant.

Eh? Why would you want to 'drop it into a conversation at the school gates'? Learning a language isn't poncey; dropping it into conversations is.

When I read your OP, my feeling was that yes, it is poncey. But then I remembered that my DCs have been doing French at school since Y1, which would presumably make them extra-poncey. And do you know what? My son plays rugby and cricket (at school) rather than football, which he loathes the very idea of.

I have never given it a moment's thought, frankly. Do whatever suits you.

The thing is though, presumably it's not going to be very intensive? So they're not really going to learn that much and will then do all the same things in Year 7.

I live in south london, and have just seen this french immersion camp taking place in sydenham during the long vacation: www.campfrancais.com/index.html

I thought to share it here if anyone's been looking for this type of thing, like I have been.

So are you judging everyone as being poncy for giving there kids language lessons?

"Poncey"

My ds has just started French lessons and he is just 4. Never crossed my mind it was "poncey" and I think it is very narrow minded to suggest this. My thinking was that you can never start them too early learning a language and it will really help them in the future.

I don't feel the need to drop it into conversations, but I'm certainly not ashamed of it and will freely talk about it if it comes up.

Round here, there are a lot of second generation Italian families. All the Italian children at my DC's school go to 'Italian school' one afternoon a week after school. All the Polish children go to Polish school on a Saturday morning. No one would raise an eyebrow at other children learning French (and FWIW, it's not a very middle-class area, just very multicultural).

I've been considering this very thing myself, and in the absence of there being an organised class locally, I would consider getting a tutor to come to the house.

Excellent idea. I teach French to young children using the La Jolie Ronde methodology. Children pick up the French languague very quickly and they very much enjoy it.

No, it makes you a great parent! It helps with lots of other area of learning- memory, discipline, thinking outside the box etc...

Languages can click after 7/8- when I started German I was 12 and it definitely clicked with me. That was with a class of 30 and a couple of times a week. And I am no genius! :o