Language Immersion - The Where

In a follow up to Tamara's piece of a few days ago, Language Immersion – The What, Why and When, we've created a list of the various language immersion options in the Portland area.  They include true immersion schooling programs and also after school or weekend classes.  Since PPS seems to be shuffling around their language immersion programs at the upper levels, we have only listed what is currently in place according to their schools’ websites. Also note that we didn’t list separate preschool immersion programs (although there are plenty out there).

If you’ve heard of any programs not on our list, please leave a comment with information.  All schools or programs listed below are in Portland, unless otherwise noted:

Click to read more ...

The International School - profile

The International School is an independent preK-5^th grade International Baccalaureate school which is also full immersion in 3 separate language tracks: Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, and Spanish. Located in close-in SW Portland, it draws students from all over the metro area whose parents value 2^nd language development for their children.  We talked with a few parents in the different language tracks and sum up their take on the school:

The Scoop Half-Full:

The International School (TIS) calls it “True Immersion” -- that is, for the elementary school, 65% of all learning is done fully in the target language (one of 3 languages, chosen early on), and taught by native speakers.  And while it’s not necessarily obvious at first, your child will no doubt reach proficiency by the end of the first or second year (and full fluency by the time they graduate).  Students’ language experience culminates in the 5^th grade with their Capstone trip, where they spend 2 weeks traveling in a country of their language of study.  Paid for by tuition, the Capstone trip is a mix of cultural immersion with native families and touring the sites – certainly an incredible experience after several years of study.

Click to read more ...