Will my child become fluent in the immersion language?

The answer to this question depends on four factors :

1. The child’s attitude, or whether s/he has the desire to learn the language

   Students at IST are happy and enjoy doing what they do, and as a result they enjoy learning, whether it be Science, Mathematics or another language.

2. The child’s aptitude or whether s/he has the ability to learn the language

   Children are born with a facility to learn multiple languages and certain areas of the brain are pre-programmed for language acquisition, although if these areas are not utilised as children grow older, the brain often reclaims them for other use. Research suggests that this begins to occur at around age 7, which helps explain why young children can learn more than one language and not have accents, whereas adults learning a language will inevitably ‘sound foreign’.

3. The time devoted to studying the language

   Learning also includes actively using and the programme is designed to ensure constant, authentic use. Students at IST not only learn the languages in the classroom, but also use them in activities outside the classroom.

4. The meaning of “fluent”

   Most children will reach a good degree of oral equivalency after the three-year Pre-School period, however a distinction needs be made between the acquisition of the immersion language where the child is surrounded by that language outside the school setting and the acquisition of immersion language where the child is surrounded by a different language.

For students who arrive at IST with little or no Language A, the expectation is for a relatively high degree of fluency after the three-year Pre-School period, although much also depends on the support children receive outside the classroom. Parents learning the same language, audio and visual support, trips to a country where the language is spoken and so on will all positively contribute to the progress a child will make in learning the target language.