A second language is an asset to all kids

When Bob Malcolmson is scanning a resume, one of the things he’s looking for is a second language.

Whether it’s French Immersion, Italian Immersion, or German Immersion, learning any second language is an asset, said Malcolmson, CEO and general manager of the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce.

“It gets you that little extra edge in a competitive market,” Malcolmson said.

Parents need to start thinking about how to give their children the best opportunities possible while they’re young, he said, which is why he put all three of his daughters in French Immersion.

“It was going back in the 1980s, it was new and we felt the fact it was a second language would help get your foot in the door later on,” he said.

And it has, presenting job opportunities, scholarships, exchange programs, and other benefits.

“It is an easy way to give your child that step ahead, that edge,” said Maria DiMauro, Durham District School Board’s program facilitator for French as a second language, classical and international languages.

It’s also an added bonus to their own learning experience, she added. Research shows it strengthens their first language skills as well. Grade 9 students in French Immersion have higher scores in provincial literacy testing, she said.

Learning about another culture also makes them more comfortable in the global village, she added.

But still, some parents may question putting their children into a French Immersion program.

“The number one misconception is always, I have to speak French to put my child in French Immersion,” DiMauro said.

But they can help their children learn by doing what they’ve always done: saying the alphabet with them, and reading books and helping them make predictions about what is going to happen next for problem solving.

Their communication with the school is also still in English and the school board provides many supports, such as an audio dictionary.

“The strategies in reading are the same in one language as in another,” she said.

Another misconception is that students will speak French right away, she said. The program is a gradual release of English.

“By January, we like to drop the English, but it is a progression,” she said.
In Durham’s public board, French Immersion starts in Grade 1, allowing students to get some formal English instruction first, she said.

It also allows parents time to decide if their child is a good French Immersion candidate.

A good candidate is someone who loves languages, playing with words to make them rhyme and repeating new ones, using vocabulary appropriately, and paying attention to conversations for five to 10 minutes at a time.

“Usually that tells us if they’re a good language learner,” she said.

Because French Immersion is a progressive program, it’s best to start them at the beginning. The programs and expectations are completely aligned with the curriculum, just taught in a different language, she said.

To become bilingual, they need to continue the program right through high school, which means taking one third of their credits in French - be it history or geography.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it,” she said.

Although most kids follow French Immersion right through, some try to drop it in Grade 9. They’ll say they can get higher marks in English, or they can’t fit all their compulsory credits in while taking French Immersion, but they can, DiMauro said.
She encouraged her kids to stay and they finished successfully. Her daughter graduated from sciences and got a job requiring her to be bilingual.

It can be hard for youth to grasp, but they need to see how they can give themselves the biggest advantage in life, Malcolmson said.

“Any student that gets the opportunity, take advantage of it,” he said. “You never know where your career is going to go, but you should take advantage of it no matter what it is.”

His oldest runs a farm in Guelph and has her own children enrolled in French Immersion now, while his youngest daughter went to a French university in Ottawa. His middle girl got a food services job at Disney’s Canadian pavilion thanks to her bilingualism; she’s now assistant director of food services at a university, he said.

“There’s always opportunities,” he said. “I’m not saying French Immersion did it all for her, but it certainly opened up a lot of doors.”

It’s definitely an asset in the long run in the job market, DiMauro said. Try it, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she added.