Torture Uncovered in US Schools

[Mulboyne]

[YT]Fpy-IQOLFlE[/YT]

WRAL: Language-immersion program boosts cognitive skills
Project Education: Edutopia, a partnership between WRAL-TV and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, profiles Oregon schools that prove that the younger children start learning a language, the easier it is. The sights and sounds of Japan are part of a unique language program in the public schools of Portland, Oregon. Students are immersed in Japanese from the first day of kindergarten. "The whole idea of an immersion education is that you're surrounded in the language," Japanese resource teacher Deanne Blazer said...In Richmond Elementary School's Japanese-language magnet program, students follow the Oregon state curriculum. They study their core subjects in Japanese for half the day and in English for the other half. In middle school, they use Japanese for a third of their day, and in high school, Japanese is offered as an advanced language class. Students can also take after-school classes, such as karate and calligraphy, that give them another way to learn the language. The challenge of learning another language helps children become better learners across the board, teachers said...more...

[den4]

Yeah, I can kind of see the torture aspect...as kids are forced to comply with monster parents' need for social status by putting their kids into classes whether they like it or not.....having heard of some of the cookie cutter patterned monster parents going to the Richmond school from contacts there, it's also torture dealing with the moronic parents...gotta hand it to DePortland to get into the F'dgaijin posting on such a regular basis.....

[Kanchou]

Starting kids with a second language early I definitely understand.

But the fact that they chose Japanese makes zero sense.

Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, French, sure... but Japanese? This isn't the 80's. Japan will probably cease to exist in 100 years. Chinese has 10 times the population and probably 50 times the number of speakers in the US.

[Greji]

".....Yeah, I can kind of see the torture aspect.....

"Kinda of"? You have obviously not been in an immersion course. It is not far removed to anything practiced during the inquisitions. I did six hours a day for a year in Japanese and was also required to engage in extra curricular cultural activities (in the language) that would have given McTojo a stiffy. I have vowed that if I ever return to that school again, it will be at the controls of a B-52 bomber.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I know someone who teaches in that program who says that the kids are generally into it during elementary school but by junior high a lot of them resent that they've been forced to study there and show little or no interest in the language and generally don't master it.

I think it's generally a good idea to try to raise children who are at least functional in a second language but I don't know how you do it without forcing them to study.

[AML]

If they have some Jp heritage (parent or ancestor) then fair enough, but some of those kids obviously have none whatsoever.

Why would they put them in that school?

[Samurai_Jerk]

If they have some Jp heritage (parent or ancestor) then fair enough, but some of those kids obviously have none whatsoever.

Why would they put them in that school?

Because they want their kids to learn a second language. I'm sure in most cases it's because the parents have some interested in Japan but my guess is a lot of them would choose a different language or give their kids a choice if there were other such programs around.

But seriously, going back to my point before, if you come from a family that only speaks English and want your kid to learn another languager from a young age, how do you get that to happend without forcing them?

[Kanchou]

Just make them watch Chinese Sesame Street from three until eight. If they aren't at least conversant...well, f*ck it.

[AML]

Because they want their kids to learn a second language. I'm sure in most cases it's because the parents have some interested in Japan but my guess is a lot of them would choose a different language or give their kids a choice if there were other such programs around.

But seriously, going back to my point before, if you come from a family that only speaks English and want your kid to learn another languager from a young age, how do you get that to happend without forcing them?

In my experience, unless you actually use that second language you will forget everything you have learned. I used to speak near fluent German (lived there for 4 years from 4 to 8yo) and now only remember some of my time there and a few words of German.

So even if you could find a way for your kids to learn a second language, whats the point?

Having said that I still speak my first language (which is Spanish) and English (my 3rd language) and now decent Jp.

BUT i am starting to loose my Spanish since i never use it in Japan.

So again, use it or loose it. And if your not gonna use it then dont bother wasting time and money learning it.

[Coligny]

I have vowed that if I ever return to that school again, it will be at the controls of a B-52 bomber.

Am i zee only one surprised that Greiji don't believe war are still fought with Sopwith Camels anymoar ? kinda ruin the "elder one" personna...

Cthullu ftagn!

[Yokohammer]

Am i zee only one surprised that Greiji don't believe war are still fought with Sopwith Camels anymoar ? kinda ruin the "elder one" personna...

Cthullu ftagn!

Yeah, the B52 even has them newfangled jet engines!

The Sopwith Camel might be pushing things a bit though (wrong country too). I just assumed that he must have messed up the alphanumerics and typed "B52" when he actually meant "P51". That gets us back as far as around 1944. Hmm ... still kinda recent eh?

[SIZE="1"]Amazing fact that I just learned: The B52 started active service in 1955 and ... the damn things are still flying! That's some serious longevity there.[/SIZE]

[Bucky]

Below is a quote from a news report on the immersion school in Portland. There is also an immersion school in Seattle for Japanese and another in the Seattle area that offers Spanish immersion that I know of.

I do think that Chinese would be valuable alternative to Japanese.

In both Seattle and Portland there are Japanese Saturday schools that offer full a curriculum in Japanese. These schools are mostly meant for Japanese kids that will be returning to Japan to finish their schooling.

However, over the past two decades, because of fewer expatriate kids coming to the US with their families for a father's posting abroad, the local Saturday schools have had to allow anyone who can pass a language test to enroll. Bucky Jr. went from K thru grade 12 and graduated from the Seattle Japanese Saturday School.

"Their performance in cognitive assessments are higher. Their ability to see from multiple perspectives, academic performance, standardized testing, their ability to pick up a third or fourth language is higher," immersion education coordinator Michael Bacon said.

Parents said the immersion program also gives their children a better perspective on the world.

"If you can take a child at the age of five and throw them into that cultural and language mix, and let them know that English is not the only language, that America is not the only culture, they develop a really broad tolerance of things that are different," said mother Denise Van Leuven

[plaid_knight]

Those kids are really lucky to be able to learn Japanese in school at such an early age. I had to wait until I was in college to study it.

I also doubt that in 100 years or even 1000 that Japan will be gone. DNA has a will to survive. And studying a foreign language isn't only about making money or business. I've been really fortunate to have the friends in Japan I made as a result of learning the language.

[maraboutslim]

FWIW, my daughter has gone to the saturday school mentioned by Bucky (but here in San Francisco) since she was in 1st grade and she's in 6th now and despite Japanese being her first language and technically being our "home" language as well, her Japanese just isn't all that great. She probably reads better than I do (since i haven't had any need to read/write japanese for over ten years), but her vocabulary and overall fluency isn't anywhere near what I was able to pick up on the streets back in the day and maintain despite being back here for over 10 years already.

I've come to believe that there school's main purpose is to give all the Japanese mom's something to do together. I will say that the freakin' undou-kai is getting really boring at this point...

As we all probably agree, learning a language in a school setting, when the world around it speaks another language, just doesn't really work. So I really doubt the actual language benefits of a bunch of gaijin learning japanese in a school setting when they don't even have the benefit of their parents speaking it at home to reinforce it a few hours a day.

[den4]

"Kinda of"? You have obviously not been in an immersion course. It is not far removed to anything practiced during the inquisitions. I did six hours a day for a year in Japanese and was also required to engage in extra curricular cultural activities (in the language) that would have given McTojo a stiffy. I have vowed that if I ever return to that school again, it will be at the controls of a B-52 bomber.

When I landed in J-land back in the '80's with my limited Nihongrish from the daigaku, it was enough of an immersion course for me, sank you velly much....