More on bilingual education

More on bilingual education

Why choose a bilingual education ?

Making the choice of bilingualism will be of great benefit  to your child. Specific research in the neuroscience field, has proved the following: Choosing English language for French speaking students is of paramount importance in today’s international world. We can also argue that a child who has already learned a second language will have a strong ability to study a third, which opens interesting horizons.

It is for this  reason that  during the first year, our Middle School offers the choice of a third language, and students will be able to study a fourth language when they finish Middle or High school to expand their language skills.

The benefits  of studying in a bilingual environment

Bilingualism has a positive impact on the intellectual development of the brain. Researches have highlighted more complex connections in the brain with bilingualism.

-Bilingualism provides a greater development of abstract understanding translating into better performance in math and logic skills.

-Bilingual education leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, creates a creative, imaginative and divergent “out of the box” thinking process.

-Bilingualism gives children a greater ability to process sensory information and a better ear for listening.

-It Improves a child’s understanding of his/her native language and builds a wider range of vocabulary leading to a broader set of associations, expanded vision and more comprehensive understanding.

  –A stepping-stone to plurilingualism

Bilingualism can serve as an effective stepping-stone to plurilingualism ; when you learn early enough to listen and talk to others using two different languages, you develop the  ability to study a third or fourth one by the end of the compulsory education.

-Values of development: tolerance and opening out to the world 

Learning different languages makes you face plurality, diverse perspectives, and gives you open-mindedness which will allow you to shape your own identity, “decentring” in a sociological approach.

-Brain plasticity

For the majority of students, studying a second language will not interfere with the study of their own mother tongue. On the contrary, at the end of their bilingual schooling, the French results are most of the time as good, and often better than at the end of a monolingual education. -Communication is the first step to appreciating and understanding other cultures. The bilinguals being able to talk to different people using various languages develop more self-esteem.

-It gives a student a head start in language requirements for college.

-Offers an increase in job opportunities in many careers where knowing another language is a real asset.

Books, publications and websites: