By THERESA WINSLOW, Staff Writer

For Rachel Flores, the ticket to success in college and career may well be written in another language.

At 10, the Gibson Island Country School student has already been studying French for years, and said knowing a second language should translate into an edge on the competition when she’s older.

There are major advantages,” Rachel said a few minutes before French class began earlier this week. “A lot of jobs (require) more than one language. I’m getting a head start.”

So are a lot of other students.

Many private schools in the area offer foreign language instruction, usually Spanish, in the elementary grades, with some beginning even earlier. Although county schools don’t offer a formal foreign language program until middle school, some parents are taking it upon themselves to teach their young children one or even two languages. In an increasingly global economy, children are tackling everything from Hebrew to Samoan.

“It’s easier when they’re younger,” said Roberta Wentworth of Arnold, who is from Italy and teaching her two children Italian. “It’s more natural. The grammar ... becomes natural.”

Teachers agreed, saying there really isn’t any downside to starting children on a second language in elementary school, even though they’re still honing their English skills. Children are like sponges, they said, and pick up two words for the same object easily. Lessons are often in the form of songs and games, which the children enjoy.

“Your language is still developing at that age,” said Laura Harman, who teaches Spanish at St. Martin’s Lutheran School in Annapolis, starting in prekindergarten. “As an adult, you’re so programmed to English that it’s hard to accept another language.”

Ms. Harman starts her students with just vocabulary, getting them familiar with words “that apply to their life,” like family, pets and things around the house, she said.

“They catch on quick,” she said. “They’re so ready to accept these words.”
Ms. Harman and other teachers said learning a second language early provides children with a good foundation for all grammar, makes it easier to pick up even more languages later on, and provides a much-needed multicultural perspective of tolerance and acceptance. Of course, it can also make international travel a bit easier.

“I think in this country, we’re behind the rest of the world,” said Elena Coe, a native of Madrid who teaches Spanish at Montessori International Children’s House in Annapolis, starting with 2½- to 3-year-olds. “In Europe, every school starts a second language in kindergarten. We live in a global world — it’s of the essence, especially in this day and age.”

Never lost in translation

In Galit Mordo’s class, Hebrew is mmm, mmmm good.
Children in Ms. Mordo’s first-grade class at Aleph Bet Jewish Day School in Annapolis were practicing the alphabet earlier this week, sounding out various letters, like “mmm” for “mem.”

Ms. Mordo, who lives in Crofton but is originally from Israel, said learning a second language, any language, “opens the world” to children. “It makes them flexible to all different languages and different cultures, too,” she said.
After the students sang a few songs, again aimed at teaching them the alphabet, they sat down to complete some exercises.

“I like it,” said a smiling Alli Webb, 6. “I like how it’s (right to left). It’s different and cool.”

Nearby, in Hava Shirazi’s class, students were going over the words for parts of the body by playing the Hebrew version of “Simon Says.” Like the students in Ms. Mordo’s class, these children thought learning another language was fun, and for the most part, fairly simple.

“When we sing a song, I have a lot of fun,” said Adam Levin, 6.
It was the same story, but in a different language, at the Montessori school and the Gibson Island school. Students there said they sometimes go home and teach their parents the words they’ve learned, so the language lessons span generations.

“I like learning a new language,” said Katie McMillan, 7, who goes to the Montessori school. “It’s hard, but I’m happy to have a challenge. Sometimes, it comes in handy.”

Ellis McDonald, 5, a prekindergarten student at Gibson Island, said he likes learning the numbers in Spanish as well as pretty much everything he does in Norma Bourdin’s class. “I like all the stuff,” he said emphatically.

For the past 25 years, Ms. Bourdin, known as “Madame” to her students, has been teaching foreign languages at the school. This year, she’s tackling both French and Spanish. The school is phasing out French, though, so in a couple years, she’ll teach only Spanish.

“I don’t think there is any hard concept at this age. Their brains are so open to what’s new and different. They don’t even realize they’re learning a second language,” she said after singing a song to her prekindergarten students in Spanish. “It’s just language. It’s an extension of what they know. When you learn a language and learn it young, you don’t lose it.”

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twinslow@capitalgazette.com

Published 03/02/06, Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.