The following was published in Time Out Chicago, June 8-14, 2006:
Parlez-vous Français?
When Tricia Nagel of Palatine started teaching French to her daughter, Sarah, a few years ago, the two-and-a-half-year-old felt confused. “She didn’t understand why I was using unfamiliar words to describe familiar things,” says Tricia, who teaches French and Spanish at George Washington Elementary School in Park Ridge.
Tricia heard from a friend about Language Stars, a local company that specializes in foreign language instruction for children. She enrolled Sarah in both French and Spanish classes (Tricia had spent time in France and Spain when she was younger and saw value in the two languages). In the group classes, in which the teachers spoke no English, Sarah grew more comfortable with the languages. Now, at age five, she practices them at home with her mom and looks forward to class.
“Knowing other languages gives you so many more opportunties in life,” remarks Tricia, who would enroll her daughter in German and Italian classes if time and money allowed it.
Susan McDermott’s two daughters, ages 5 and 6, learn French with Language Stars. This summer, they’ll start with Mandarin Chinese, a language Susan believes is important to know given China’s increasing importance in the American marketplace.
“When you count on someone else to make sure that you’re understanding each other correctly, you don’t necessarily know if you are,” she says. As for her own children, “I hope that by establishing this interest and love of languages very young, that as they get older, they’ll be able to choose what they want, and that will be important for them, too.”
In an increasingly interconnected world, parents across the country have expressed greater interset in recent years in having their children learn a foreign language. It’s a trend that predominantly touches urban and suburban areas, with a lot of parents clamoring for more language instruction in elementary schools and an increasing number seeking out caretakers who speak another language, says Marty Abbott, Director of Education for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a trade organization in Virginia.
“I think that as parents begin to see the use of languages more in their own jobs and positions, they start to think about this as a critical skill for their own children,” observes Abbott. Chinese, for example, traditionally has been a stronghold on the West Coast, says Abbott, because of that area’s proximity to China, but is now “exploding” in Chicago. She expects a survey next year by the Center for Applied Linguistics, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., to show “incredible increases in Chinese, moderate increases in Spanish, leveling out of French, German, Latin and Japanese and slight increases in Arabic” across the country from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Biologically, pre-adolescent children have an easier time than adults learning a new language. “Adults can learn languages at a rapid rate, but young children can do it more naturally, similarly to the way they acquire their first language, because they are still forming cognitively,” explains Mary Lynn Redmond, Executive Secretary of the National Network for Early Language Learning, in Winston-Salem, NC.
The Chicago area has a number of resources for summertime foreign language instruction for children. All of those listed here (with the exception of Concordia Language Villages) have daytime group sessions, and most classes use the immersion method of teaching, in which only the foreign language is spoken. Check with the organization for session price and availability.
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Chez Kids Academy at the Alliance Française
French
810 N. Dearborn St., Chicago
(312) 337-1070; www.afchicago.com
Enrollment available in any number of six weekly sessions from June 19 to July 28. For ages 6 to 12.
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Concordia Language Villages
Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
A program of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota
(800) 222-4750; www.concordialanguagevillages.org
A highly reputed summer camp that attracts more than 6,000 young people each year. Sessions from one to four weeks; dates vary according to age and language. For ages 7 to 18.
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Estrillitas at the Cervantes Institute
Spanish
875 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago
(312) 335-1996; www.cervantes1.org
Package of six Saturday sessions from June 24 through July 29. Targeted to children who are already exposed to Spanish through at least one family member. For ages 3 to 11.
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Italian Cultural Center
Italian
1621 N. 39 Ave., Stone Park
(708) 345-3842; www.italianculturalcenter.net
Two-week session beginning June 19. For ages 7 to 13.
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Language Stars
French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
Multiple locations in city and suburbs
(866) 557-8278; www.languagestars.com
Dates vary according to age and language. For ages 1 to 10.
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Spanish Horizons
Spanish
2836 N. Southport Ave., Chicago
(773) 769-6300; www.spanishhorizons.com
Enrollment available in any number of five two-week sessions from June 12 to August 18. For ages 5 to 11 (approximately).
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Spanish Language Center
Spanish
In the Loop, Lakeview, and Rolling Meadows
(773) 665-9887; www.spanishinchicago.com
Package of eight sessions; variable dates. All ages. ◼
