schooling in second language

[fordfiesta]

am thinking of sending ds to a welsh speaking school.... he is 2.5 and starting pre school in the new term for two days a week. they assure me that by school age he will be talking both languages equally well. any one any experience of this? i have him registered at the english speaking school as well,just in case he struggles.

2 days a week will be enough I think. dd went to a spanish nursery and then started Spanish school: it's a bit different in Spain because pre-school staff ratios are more than double those in the UK but she did OK.

and even if he's not fully fluent by the time he startes school, there'll be lots of other kids in the same boat, and the staff will understand English. I think he'll be fine.

anyway how do welash speaking schools work? do they learn any english reading/writing etc?

My dsis and I were both taught in a french school, I flew and she didn't. The school told my parents that 99 out of 100 are perfectly able, but 1 percent of kids that don't get it .. she was that 1% she went to an English school at 7 and was very fine from then on.

welsh speaking schools learn english from age 7 up,was thinking of getting some home tutoring for english or having a stab at teaching myself until then.....the liklihood of my moving back to england are quite small but i guess it could happen if family etc needed it so he does need a basic grasp of written english as well.
he should get a choice of english/welsh speaking secondary when the time comes.

He'll be fine Ford.
I'M A SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPIST (oops) working in Wales and I speak Welsh to my children. Loads of half Welsh and English children in school here (Gwynedd) who mangage just fine. Understanding of English comes really easily too (even to children from non English speaking homes) as English is all around us constantly.

Being bilingual is a wonderful thing. I shall direct you to a useful website..

Twf

My kids are at Gaelic school, in Scotland - dd1 in p3, ds in p1 and dd2 in preschool.

DD1 didnt have anything more than basic phrases/colours/numbers/days of the week in Gaelic when she started school - 2.5 years later she sounds like a native speaker (apparantly) and is in her top group for literacy. Ds had a bit more going to school (partly cos of dd1, partly he was at a better preschool)and dd2 is picking up loads.

I dont speak anything more than very basic Gaelic but they are doing brilliant. Dd1 will start english after the CHristmas holidays and should be reading/writing at the same level as non-gaelic schooled kids in both languages in 18 months.

I think bilingual education has a load of benefits - makes another (any other) langiuage easier in the future, improves verbal and non verbal reasoning, and for us the cultural aspects are great - as well as all the normal instruments, at my kids school they can also learn clarsach (scottish harp), accordion, whistle, and bagpipes! ANd there are loads of cultural events via the school.

There is a gaelic education thread in this topic which might help you in thinking about it. here

It'll be fine, fordfiesta.

I went to welsh school and plenty of the kids in the school came from english-speaking homes. Nobody ever had any problems, that I remember. Kids are clever like that!

Hiya moondog, shw'mae?

I moved to Wales aged 5, went to a welsh school and was thrown in at the deep end, I was fluent within 6 months. My mum is a linguistics expert, her advice has always been to start bilingualism asap as the the younger the child the more receptive it is to language.

From a practical point of view, if you intend to stay in Wales and your child chooses to stay also, it will be an advantage career wise if they have fluent written and spoken Welsh!! I live in England again now but have benefited hugely from learning a second language!

Moondog, Gwynedd? Tyfais i fyny yn Talysarn, agos iawn i Penygroes a Caernarfon. O le ti'n dod?

DD started in meithrin with not a word of Welsh & is now in year 1 & has no problems at all. The schools are totally set up for kids to come in monolingual English - I'm sure your DS won't be the only one from a non-Welsh speaking home.
Don't know if you speak any Welsh, but I would recommend going for at least a basic course (Welsh for Parents maybe?) otherwise it could be hard dealing with reading books etc. I've been going to classes for 2 yrs now and at last (!) I understood the Xmas play this yr
On another note, any suggestions for good Welsh language spelling practice books to use at home suitable for yr 1? Lots of stickers a big advantage . . . . (And yes, I know Welsh is phonetic & it should be easy - try telling DD that)

My DD is in Yr1 in a Welsh medium school, DS is in the meithrin. I am a welsh learner and don't speak much welsh to them at home (for fear of misinforming them!!). I have found they tend to pick up numbers/colours/animals and some basic phrases in the Meithrin and develop a good understanding of spoken Welsh. Their spoken Welsh only really takes off in the Reception/Derbyn once they go full time though (unless you speak welsh at home of course). This really doesn't hold them back in the long term at all though. I certainly wouldn't worry about tutoring your DC in English - DD is picking it up along the way by herself and apparently they learn it very quickly once they are taught it at age 7+ because they already understand 'how' to read.

There are so many positives to a Welsh medium education, I would go for it! DD is learning some French now in Year 1 and I can't believe how quickly she picks it up, I'm sure that's because she has become more receptive to learning languages through going to a Welsh school.

Katebrithdir - there are some good learning resources on the gomer.co.uk website. I just ordered some letter/reading/number welsh activity books on there.

Do it. I went to Welsh medium school at 4 and was fine. Lost it all as we moved back to England though :(

I would, however, second the idea of learning basic Welsh yourself. As a child it was difficult trying to do basic homework with a parent who understood NO Welsh especially when I wanted to practise reading or spelling and the pronunciation wasn't there. As an adult I've worked with several different educational systems and it is very difficult trying go help with homework or explain concepts when you have no understanding of the language and the child doesn't have the equivalent word in English and you can't guess, even when the child is fully bilingual themselves.

Good luck :)

Just realised this thread is 3 years old! Oh well, anyone considering the original question it's still solid advice

D'oh