Language immersion is a language acquisition technique taught by surrounding students with the language they are attempting to learn. Language immersion is one of the best ways to learn a language and is the way we all learned as a baby. By observing our family speaking a language, we begin to understand the meaning of words through social cues. Language immersion programs work in the same way.
At Spanish for fun! We use language immersion to teach the Spanish language. We develop our student’s cognitive, social, and motor skills through play, crafts, and activities, while also honing their linguistic skills by using the Spanish language in these activities.
There are five stages of language acquisition your child will go through in an immersion program.
Stage I: The Silent Stage
When a child is initially exposed to a new language, they will not speak it, but instead will be listening intently and learning different meanings from social cues. Children in this stage benefit greatly from immersion because they’re exposed to more of their new language in an immersion program than a traditional language program, and thus, are able to learn more from social cues.
Stage II: Early Production
The child begins to speak the new language, learning simple phrases, but will still have trouble with pronunciation.
Stage III: Emergence of Speech
The child begins to use more words in their new language, forming longer, more complex sentences. At this stage, grammar is the most difficult aspect of the new language.
Stage IV: Intermediate Ability
This stage is when a child is able to think and engage in discussions in their second language.
Stage V: Advanced Fluency
At the advanced fluency stage, the child is still learning more vocabulary but is able to hold a fluent conversation and think clearly in their second language.
Social Butterflies
An important aspect of immersion programs is the interaction between native speakers and non-native speakers. Children enter our program with varying levels of Spanish language proficiency. Some children in our program are near fluent in Spanish because they learned it from their parents since birth. Other children have no previous Spanish language experience. This difference in language proficiency is actually a good thing because children benefit from learning from one another. Children who have a firm grasp on Spanish gain confidence and social skills from teaching the other children. The children with little to no proficiency in Spanish learn from the example of native speaking children.
Expanded Horizons
Another major benefit of our immersion program is that we expose your children to different cultures. Children learn from interactions with one another about their different backgrounds and learn about Hispanic culture and heritage through class activities.
Learn more about the benefits of raising a Bilingual Child (and get some great tips) here.
Interested in enrolling your child?
Spanish for fun! is an accredited full-time Spanish immersion preschool & childcare education program that provides a holistic, original curriculum designed to teach your children Spanish in a natural and active environment. All our locations have a 5-star rating from the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education. Our programs encourage children to be responsible, think critically and remain open for an intercultural dialogue while staying conscious of their own cultural identity. We provide your children with a variety of ways to play, discover and share. Schedule a tour here.