Early immersion is a method of teaching and learning a foreign language.

It entails having a student undergo intense instruction in a foreign language, starting by age five or six. Frequently, this method entails having the student learn all or much of his or her various "regular" subject matter (such as mathematics and science) via the foreign language being taught. It has been found that students enrolled in an early-immersion program learn the language being taught at an almost-native proficiency by age 11. Such students do show a lagging behind their peers (that is, those peers who are not enrolled in an earlyimmersion program) in reading, spelling, punctuation, mathematics, and science for the first few years. However, such immersion-enrolled students do eventually catch up with their peers in the aforementioned areas (Baker, 1993). Various theories have been purported as to why early childhood is the "easiest" time to learn a language the developmental period when language seems to be "absorbed" as opposed to "learned". However, much debate still remains as to how the brain acquires language, including why the brain seems to have the easiest time with it in early childhood.

Two-way and monolingual English immersion in preschool education: An experimental comparison

W. Steven Barnett and Dulce Blancoa
a , a,

, Donald J. Yarosza, Jessica Thomasa, Kwan ghee Jung

National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, The State University of New

Jersey, United States

Received 20 June 2006; revised 15 March 2007; accepted 23 March 2007. Available online 23 April 2007.

Abstract
An experimental study was conducted comparing the effects of dual language, or twoway immersion (TWI) and monolingual English immersion (EI) preschool education

programs on children's learning. Three-and four-year old children were randomly assigned by lottery to either a newly established TWI Spanish/English program or a monolingual English program in the same district. Children in the study were from both Spanish and English home language backgrounds. All classrooms in the study used the High/Scope curriculum, and all met high standards for teacher qualifications, ratio, and class size. The TWI program alternated between English and Spanish weekly by rotating children between two classrooms (and teachers) each week. Programs were compared on measures of children's growth in language, emergent literacy, and mathematics. Children in both types of classrooms experienced substantial gains in language, literacy, and mathematics. No significant differences between treatment groups were found on English language measures. Among the native Spanish speakers, the TWI program produced large gains in Spanish vocabulary compared to the EI program. Both TWI and EI approaches boosted the learning and development of children including ELL students, as judged by standard score gains. TWI also improved the Spanish language development of English language learners (ELL) and native English speaking children without losses in English language learning. Keywords: Preschool education; Bilingual education; Early childhood policy; Randomized trial

What is a Full Foreign Language Immersion Program?

A language immersion program is one in which children spend all or a large portion of their day learning in a particular foreign language. The foreign language is used to teach in all other subject areas and is not a separate subject area, according to Militia Melton, CEO of Speakeasy Communications, Inc., and author of the Speakeasy Spanish series. At the Language Workshop for Children, teachers speak only the target language in their immersion preschools and the teacher never translates. Depending upon the level of the group she may or may not pause to demonstrate meaning with visual aids and other devices, says Francois Thibaut, founder of the Language Workshop for Children. A language immersion preschool teacher normally presents all the same activities that you would expect from a regular preschool teacher. She reads stories, offers arts, crafts and other projectsmonitors socialization and motor skill development, and leads them to the next step in their overall early childhood development, but all in another language, says Thibaut. Advantages of Full Immersion

Enrolling your child in an immersion preschool or daycares can be more advantageous to your childs foreign language development than a program that offers a foreign language as a subject. Children in total immersion programs work toward total fluency in the foreign language. They are more likely to think and function naturally in the language. Normally, they are able to achieve an extremely high level of overall competency, and they hold speakers of that language in high regard. In addition, their skills in English flourish, says Melton. According to Thibaut, full immersion is less confusing than a translation-based curriculum, which is more appropriate for the adult learner. In addition, in a full foreign language immersion program, children have an opportunity to pro-actively use and rehearse foreign language in a challenging, intimate, emotionally supportive environment that stimulates all their senses. Disadvantages of Total Immersion Thibaut comments that when children focus on learning a particular language ("language 1"), their development of language skills in language 2. This is a temporary disadvantage and is not the case for every child in a full immersion program. For more information about early foreign language learning, see Foreign Language in Preschool.

Benefits of Early Foreign Language Learning

Myelita Melton CEO of Speakeasy Communications, Inc., and author of the Speakeasy Spanish series stresses the numerous benefits of learning foreign languages at an early age:

When children learn multiple languages at a young age, they develop a life-long love of communicating with others. By incorporating foreign languages into your curriculum, children develop a greater appreciation for diversity. When young children learn about the structure of other languages, their ability in English is enhanced. Because the brain automatically compartmentalizes each language correctly, young children have the ability to learn many languages without getting them confused. When children learn a second language at an early age, they will achieve a more native grasp of both grammar and pronunciation in the second language.

Early Foreign Language Learning and Future Success

Francois Thibaut, founder of the Language Workshop for Children, discusses how learning languages at a young age provides a child with a firm foundation for greater success with respect to their education and career. Young children who learn second languages often score higher on standardized tests, such as the SAT. Since 50% of the verbal portions of the SAT tests measure a childs knowledge of root words, studying Latin based languages (such as Spanish, French, and Italian) gives a child a tremendous start building the inventory of words roots they will need to achieve high SAT scores, explains Thibaut.

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In addition, Thibaut makes clear the impact that learning a foreign language at a young age has on success in a childs future career. Because the worlds economy is thoroughly interdependent, there is no single country that can produce all the goods and services it needs to exist autonomously. That said, young children have the best opportunity to become the business and political leaders of tomorrow by learning multiple languages while they are young. Domestic employers in the United States will continue to value employees who can speak multiple languages, especially Spanish. Second language capabilities are in need in our global, diverse community more so now than ever before. Teaching infants, toddlers and preschoolers foreign languages will provide them with invaluable advantages, both now and for the future. For more information about teaching foreign languages to young children, see Multiple Languages in Preschool.

The copyright of the article Foreign Language in Preschool in Day Care is owned by Carla Snuggs. Permission to republish Foreign Language in Preschool in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Where To Start
When I started with preschool Spanish this was the million dollar question for me as I

am sure it is for you. Of course it all depends on your child. Kids learn Spanish and retain more information if the lesson connects with them on a fun level. My little one loves singing and dancing around so I began with lively Spanish children's songs and played them constantly in the background whatever we were doing at home. The secret of teaching preschool Spanish for me was finding fun ways to learn, keeping in mind my little one's favorite pastimes and learning styles. If your child loves books then go for bilingual books, if like Lachlan he loves singing then start with songs. To teach preschool Spanish all you need is a little imagination and you are off! For the purpose of this page I will be focusing on finding fun ways for a pre scholar, but do not regard this as solely for those little ones. I got started by listening to kid's CD's, watching dual language DVD's and reading bilingual books..I really liked (and still do) the books with the accompanying CD..helps when singing along. Teach Kids Spanish Pre School Spanish to 6 years Top Tips for Teaching Pre School Kids Spanish Products I Recommend For Pre School Kids

Teach Kids Spanish...Preschool Spanish to 6 years

What a great age to teach kids Spanish, they are so receptive and open to everything around them that a few minutes a day will have him babbling away in Spanish in no time. It has been proven that a child can be reading by the age of 2 years old by using flash cards. (When I say reading I mean a child can recognize words if he or she has been exposed to that word repeatedly). For more information on this have a look at The Glenn Doman Method. If the card has a word and or picture on it, by saying the word out loud while showing him the card the child eventually recognizes the word and is, in effect reading. My own experience is proof of how teaching preschool Spanish can be successful. I feel a little every day sets the foundations for learning the language, however depending on your lifestyle as much as you can as often as you can!

Top Tips for Teaching Preschool Kids Spanish

My golden rule to teach kids Spanish is make it fun, fun and more fun!! Make up a colorful chart of Spanish lesson plans, i.e. Monday we will be using flashcards, Tuesday we will be watching a Spanish DVD together Depending on the age of your child, encourage him or her to participate in lesson plans..offer lots of choice. Incorporate many different learning methods such as bilingual books, Spanish nursery rhymes, DVDs, CD's, online dictionaries etc. As early as possible with preschool Spanish introduce basic greetings such as buenos dias, tienes hambre? Buenas noches etc. Place colorfully labeled cards on items of furniture Don't be hung up on correct pronunciations or translations, give the little one time to figure out those for themselves...remember when you were little? Probably not but you were able to learn your native tongue naturally by listening and repeating. Immersion is beneficial in that kids repeat everything they hear. If possible take them to Spanish speaking restaurants. If thinking of holidays then take them to the less tourisy parts of Spanish speaking countries. Finally, enjoy yourself with preschool Spanish. Sing the songs, read the stories, go online, and explore your own learning styles..be a role model for your little one. As I said earlier I thought that to teach my son Spanish then we would have to struggle through grammar books and have a tutor on hand 24/7, not so. It warms my heart when I hear Lachlan telling people 'I know how to say that in Spanish' (with a big cheesy grin on his face). Take a look at fun ways to learn Spanish for kids if you are looking for ideas. I have used all of the recommended ways to keep the fun in our learning.