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Kids learning French


Rob G
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Hi,

We moved from the UK to Normandy in late november, and have two kids

aged 11 and 8 who have just started school in January. I'm entirely

confident that they will be speaking French relatively quickly, but

just wondered whether anyone can say from experience how long it's

likely to be before they start to converse, and ultimately develop some

fluency. I expect it to be quicker for our younger one, but would like

to think our 11-year-old son would make good progress between now and

June to help with the transition from CM2 (primary) to 6eme (secondary).

Thanks,

Rob

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hi rob,

my daughter was eight when we came here and and was speaking french with her friends in school within three months ,now almost eighteen months later she is fluent and doing well in school though we have had to get her private lessons to help her understand her verbs

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Hi There

My 2 boys were 11 and 9 when we moved over here 2 years ago. It really has taken them all this time to become what I would call reasonably fluent - yes, they could chat with their friends before, but their grammar etc wasn't very good (perhaps if I spoke no French I would have thought that they were fluent before now!!). Even now, they are lacking in vocabulary, but are both doing well at school and my eldest son's SVT teacher said that his written French is better than a lot of his classmates because he has learned it ''properly'' from scratch, whereas alot of the French children in his class write as they speak at home ie familial rather than courant. The eldest still also has private lessons once a week to re-inforce things that he has learned in French lessons.
I would say that it is a very good idea for them to have private lessons and to let things progress at their own pace, I used to get really worried that they weren't 'fluent' after 6 months, then stopped worrying when I realised that other peoples definition of fluent wasn't the same as my own!! [:)]

Regards

Chris

 

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Rob

We moved to France in the summer and our kids started school in September.  We have a 12 year old daughter at College retaking 6eme and 2 boys, 1 in CM2 who is 10 and 1 in CP who is 6.  Our daughter has learnt the most French and whilst we have been travelling in France for a number of years, she now translates for myself and my husband.  We have just had parents evening and all of her teachers have expressed how well she has learnt to speak French.  She is now given exacly the same work as her class mates.  Our sons have not progressed as quickly, but its very early days.  Both the college and the primaire have been fantastic.  They have brought in extra staff to help our kids with their French and have been so supportive.  I think that if you have a relaxed attitude and a good suport network you will be pleasantly surprised.

I know I am, also very proud.

Dotty

 

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Thanks for all your comments - it's always reassuring to hear of

others' real-life experiences. I think the replies underline some key

things - (1) each child is different and needs to learn at his/her own

pace, (2) there are different levels of "fluency", and (3) a lot

depends on the school and the attitude of the teachers. Personally we

have been very pleasantly surprised - the teachers have been fantastic

- our kids are the only "foreigners" in the school and have been

welcomed with open arms, and are being given extra support by their

teachers. The school has ordered some French materials just for them,

and are planning to give them extra French tuition during some of their

classmates' English lessons.

I have the advantage of speaking (and writing) fluent French, so hope

to be able to give them some of the required extra support at home.

Rob

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Rob

You are very fortunate in many ways.  Firstly being fluent is such a big plus as it will enable you to help your kids with their homework.  Also, it really does help if your kids are the only'foriegners' as it will speed up the learning process.  My middle child has several English kids in his class and they tend to stick together, hampering is French I think.  However he does play at the local football club and I think it has helped him settle with the local boys more than his English classmates, as they don't.  I would encourage as much after school activity as possible.  To help them intergrate with their peers and it also gives them less time to dwell on what they may be missing in the UK.

All the best

Dotty

 

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[quote user="Dotty0"]

I would encourage as much after school activity as possible.  To help them intergrate with their peers and it also gives them less time to dwell on what they may be missing in the UK.

All the best

Dotty

 

[/quote]

I would agree with this, especially as it doesn't seem to be the norm for kids to go round each others houses after school or even at week-ends. My 2 play Table-tennis in the local team, and one plays the Trumpet in the Junior Orchestra and  the other the Guitar. There are also an increasing amount of children who use MSN messenger and my eldest 'chats' to both his old English friends and his French ones.

Regards

Chris

 

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[quote user="Chrisb"]

....my eldest son's SVT teacher said that his

written French is better than a lot of his classmates because he has

learned it ''properly'' from scratch, whereas alot of the French

children in his class write as they speak at home ie familial rather

than courant.

[/quote]

I find this comment interesting. Our eldest daughter (6) has been in

school in France for three years now. Every Tuesday after school I

drive her and three of her little friends (all French) to a sports

centre about 15km away where they can spend a happy hour or so

attempting to inflict lasting injury on small boys with various heavy

articles of gym equipement. I spend the 20 minutes or so of the drive

earwigging on their conversation. After a few trips it began to dawn on

me that my daughter was speaking quite differently to her friends. For

example, she never drops the "ne" in "je ne sais pas" or "ce n'est

pas." She uses a far wider range of of mood, making far greater use of

the subjunctive. The reason for this is not that she is brighter than

her friends (she may be - six is a bit early to tell, and in any case

her little mob of sociopaths all seem to be as bright a buttons) but

simply because her teacher has been picking her up on every tiny error

she makes and seeking to improve her grammer ever since she entered the

school aged three and she (the teacher) is by far the greatest

influence on our daughter's langague acquisition.

It won't last, of course. Gradually her teacher's influence will wane

and that of her contempories will wax. Its already happening - I had to

stop the car and tell them all off for yelling "'ta gueule!" at the tops

of their voices on the basis that:

a) it would be more correct to yell "ferme ta gueule" and;

b) its not very polite

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What is it with 6 year olds.  My son comes home from school and plays using French words and phrases.  When I asked his big sister to tell me what he was saying, she said Mum I don't think you really want to know, but it is B***dy *ell.

How lovely.

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