B6 - The Tertace Standard, Wednesday, April 13, 1994 1 OO -—2 ees 1st Graduating Class | From French Immersion Program | _ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS MOST COMMONLY ASKED ABOUT FRENCH IMMERSION Carl Lana Jennifer Goodall Geier Zucchiatti 1. WHAT IS FRENCH IMMERSION? French Immersion is a program where students receive all or most of the classroom instruction in French. This program is designed specifically for children whose first language is nat French and enable these children to become as fluently bilingual! as is possible in predominantly English speaking communities, 2, Wi IS EARL ERSION? Early Immersion begins in kindergarten or grade 1 with 100% of the instruction in French. English instruction is then intraduced, usually in grades 3 or 4. By grade 6, approximately 30-40% of teaching time is in French with the rest being in English. 3, WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR FRENCH IMMERSION? Any child normally eligible for English kindergarten or grade 1 is eligible for French Immersion. Prior knowledge of French is not a requirement, Second language learning is nat dependent on a high !Q level. It is not a program for Natasha Young Robin Koelh “bright” children only, Michelle Rutherford 9 Certified teachers who are bilingual, fluent in French, are hired by the local school district. 5, DOES IT MATTER IF NO ONE AT HOME SPEAKS FRENCH? No. This program was designed for children of non-French speaking families. Teachers are aware of this when they send home notices or assign homework. Reporting is in English. J ? Because English is not taught until grades 3 or 4, children will lag behind their English counterparts for a time, but once English ts intraduced, Immersion children usually catch up quickly. By the end of grades 5 or 6, Immersion children often perform better when tested than their counterparts in English programs. Erin Daniel Konrad Parr Coderre Grueger CHILD LE SAM GS _AS = Yes. The French immersion program follows the English curriculum as closely as possible. 81S THERE BUSSING FOR IMMERSION STUDENTS? Immersion students at the present time may utilize the existing school bus services as well as the public bus service. However, transportation is not guaranteed for Immersion programs. As you have chosen to put your child in a program outside of your school area, the responsibility for transportation lies with the parents. DISTRICT OR PROVINCE? French Immersion is available in most urban centres of Canada. CPF has lists of programs throughout the country. Children transferring out of Immersion very early before English language arts have been introduced may experience a brief lag. Consultation with the new teacher and some work at home usually overcome this problem very quickly. ( IN TODAY'S WORLD... the child who is bilingual or trilingual has a big advantage FRENCH IMMERSION Interested in French Pre-School call Lisa 635-4974 or Kim 635-4005 For more information call Sue Trombley 635-4691 S “IMMERSION IN FINLAND > A SUCCESSFUL CANADIAN EXPORT! by Kathryn Manzer in the mid-1980's, | became aware of a group of teachers, researchers and parents who were planning a Canadian-insplired early total immersion program in Vaasa, Finland, with Swedish, Finland's second official language, as the immersion tongue, When | heard that six of the researchers and educators were taking an immersion-related trip to Toronto in October, 1988,1 wrote to suggest that they meet CPF parents during their visit. We al! enjoyed the exchange of ideas and information. The Vaasa contingent’'s enthusiasm for their new program led me to follow with interest the development of immersion in Finland and to take pleasure in acting as an occasional conduit of CPF information to Vaasa parents and researchers. This May, | had the opportunity to explore Vaasa and its program first hand as aninvited participant in a two day immersion seminar. Prior to the seminar, | met with the University of Vaasa research group, observed immersion classes, and talked to parents at a Vaasa Immersion Society picnic. It was fascinating to see the Canadian connections in all these areas - in the research directions, in the ambience and methedology of classrooms, and in the interest, objectives and concerns of parents. During the seminar, parents enthusiastically discussed the possibility of establishing a national support group in the near future. If this comes to pass, CPF can feel at least a little proprietary pride: Vaasa, the driving force behind immersion in Finland, has held an organizational membership in CPF since the very early days of its program. Kalhryn Manzer is past National President of CPF. - Some Thoughts on French Immersion The following text is a transiation of Natasha Young's speech for Concours d'art oratoire (Public-speaking contest}. This annual event, sponsored by CPF, was held at the Caledonia lecture theatre, March 16, 1994. My name is Natasha and | am a grade 12 student in the pilot class of tha French Immersion program in Terrace. We are the first class in northern British Columbia to graduate from the program-and consequently we are very proud. | would like to present the French [mmersion program from a general and personal point of view and to also express our gratitude. I've been enrolisd in French Immersion since kindergarten. In general, the program has brought a number of aspects of French-Canadian society to aur attantlon that an anglophone child could never have appreciated to such an extent. Our increased understanding of the Franch culiure has been a direct tink with our deepreoted feelings of respect. With the help of our ninth-grade language monitor, Louis Mercier, many of us hava become Invoived with the provincial organization, “Le consell jauinesse francophone de la Colombie-Brittanique’. This In turn has permitted us to form relationships with yarlous young francophones from all over British Columbia, and | am prasently the director of the Provincial Executive Committes. Wa have participated In a number cf trips and activitles with this organization, such as the annual Francophone Games and skl camps. While on the subject of trips, | would like to mantion the six-manth exchanges to Québec In which Konrad Grueger and Lana Geier participated during ‘grade ten. This allowed us to meet Francols and Lucie, thelr Québecois partners who In return came to Terrace. Other than cultural and saclal benefits, the ‘piogram offers us all benefits: in our ‘post-secondary decisions. For example, Danlel Is moving to ‘Québec and ‘ Erin is planning to.travel In France, Their capabllitles with — French will greatly facilitate thelr endeavours, For those who wish--to’ work after. graduation, there’are many more - advantages because they are bilingual. Personally,.| know that | would like to-do my postsecondary education In French. | hope thatthe Faculté St, Jean at the University of Alberta accepts me. ‘There, not only al} my sludies will ba In French, but | will be living In a French environment, ” Over the -years, we have done many different activilles together, especially at Skeena with Mr. Gasser. We spent considerable time interacting and helping the primary. and intermediate students of the. program. For the little ones at Kitl-K’ Shan, we acted as language monitors, ran the sports nights each week and assisted with’ the “Carnaval” celebrations, We did similar activities with the students at Cassie Hall. We even created a French newspaper to distribute to the immersion schools in our district, One event that still sticks In my head is our trip to the Nass Valley with Mr, Gasser as part of our Social Stucles . There, we saw the Tseaux River and the lava beds, visited Canyon City and Alyansh and even presented a French play at Alyansh School. Aside from that, we corresponded and twinned with Québec classes, Our class has been together since kindergarten. As a result of this, we have developed very close friendships. We havea become a real family but like all families we have our fair shara of disagreements, However, when the time comes te defend one of our own, watch out, we're all there in full force! All in all, the members of our class are friends for life and this, for me, Is one of the greatest advantages of the ’ French Immersion pragram, At.this time, | would like to thank all those who have shown support since the beginning. Certainly, a thousand thank yous to Canadian Parents for French (CPF). We all know that, without this organizailon, | would nat ba here and you would not be here elther. It's startling but it's true, CPF ’ has worked extremely hard to develop Ideas and transform them into projects and programs. This banefils us, tha students but alsa the new studanis who will bagin tha program in the years to come. The people who. are sometimes forgotten are tha parents. Even with tha uncartainty of the program in its pioneer ysars, they pushed ‘for its continuance; they have cartatnly furnished the mental support, Thank you for having trled to help us with our studies even when you didn’t understand a word of French, To Mr. Brian Phillips and Mr. Geoff Straker, thank you for your fervour, effort and enthusiasm with the pregram., | would also like to thank the teachers, Particularly, Mrs Maria - Orr for her inspiration; she taught us to {lke Franch and school. Mrs. Estelle Mitchell, her effort to Increase our capacity In French and prepare us for the “raal world” is greatly appreciated. Mr, Urs Gasser, what can | say, Without you, the years at Skeana wouldn't have been as interesting. After 3 years of many in-class activities and several extra- curricular, we still got along at the end! Thank you for your Interest, your liveliness, your energy and your patience. Good luck to you and your family, : Ori-behalf of the first graduating class, | would like to thank you all once again for your support of the French immersion program in Terrace. Learning French makes a world of difference