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marinaitaly September 11, 2008

new enrolled italian children need for help

marinaitaly
we are an italian family. last summer we have fallen in love with this beautiful city and have chosen the sunrise park school to enroll our children in. we will move in december 15th.my children 10 and 6 years old don't speak english. any suggestions how to start speaking english even during christmas holidays ? thanks for help
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Parent Answers to "new enrolled italian children need for help"

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healthy11
healthy11 October 18, 2008
Nanoua, Bonjour! I'm not from San Francisco, so I can not tell you exactly how that school district helps new students learn English, but I believe that most young children learn new languages very quickly, when in an "Immersion" situation (being around other people, rather than having formal lessons.)
The fact that your children are young and already know some basic English is an additional advantage...Your children will likely do well in their math classes and other subjects!
Nanoua
Nanoua October 18, 2008
Hi to all of you !

I'm in the same situation. We're moving from France to San Francisco next year. My kids 5 and 6 are currently in Grande section (KG) and CP (1st grade). They can speak basic english, but I was wondering how will they be able to take maths and the rest of the subjects in English, even if they would take supplementary english classes ?

Thanks to all
marinaitaly
marinaitaly September 12, 2008
I will stay intouch with you of course . I've found an english teacher for the moment . I wouldn't like them feel completely stranger in the first weeks so I will start with english lesson three times a week . I hope to be able to find someone even during the christmas holidays in the USA . My children are a little bit older than yours , 10 and 6 . when are you moving to Princeton?
marina
marinaitaly
marinaitaly September 12, 2008
thanks a lot for yr helpful answer . you confirmed what I thought to do before leaving to USA . We will move to Boca Raton Florida , I didn't know that most of public schools have a tutor at disposal. that's great !
I will get in touch with the school to know if someone can give english lessons to my children during the Christmas holidays ....thank you again for yr help
healthy11
healthy11 September 11, 2008
Greetings to both of you. Greatschools is a nationwide U.S. forum, and unfortunately we don't know which cities/states you are each referring to.
I realize that your questions about how to expose your children to English before they begin to attend school isn't dependent on where you live, but I want to point out a couple of things that you might not be aware of.

In the U.S., PUBLIC schools don't charge individual tuition fees, because the expenses for them generally come from taxes that everyone pays. HOWEVER, usually which public school your children would attend is determined by where you live. It will be important, if you want them to attend a specific PUBLIC school (is Sunrise Park public?) that you live in a house or apartment that is within its attendance boundaries. You can contact the school to find out what that is.

In general, since you both write English very well, I would start to expose your children to it now. Perhaps you could begin by putting labels on common household item that are in both Italian/English or German/English, so that they become familar with things like "table, chair, lamp, desk, bed" and similar words. Are there any "picture dictionaries" that they have for children? My son was learning French in school, and I purchased an English/French dictionary that accomplished the same thing as labeling items.

If they don't have ANY exposure to spoken English at all, you might want to consider having them listen to children's television shows (I don't know what is available in the way of U.S. shows, but "Sesame Street," while geared towards younger children, is still useful in teaching basic words.) Are there any U.K. shows that you can listen to while still in Europe, to help the children at least get some exposure to English?

Of course, you can always start to speak English in your home, to help the children learn basic sentences...You might say "Dinner is ready" or "It is time for bed" in your native language, then follow it up with the same phrase in English, so they begin to associate the words with what they already know. They say that children have an amazing ability to learn new languages quickly when "immersed" in it, and I'm sure yours will do very well. I wish you both safe journeys.

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Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of GreatSchools. GreatSchools does not check for accuracy in community posts or verify the contributor’s identity. If you are searching for health-related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Community Guidelines for more details.

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