Bon jour. Comment ça va?
Those words are often spoken by middle school student Kiley Sanders, who attends the Language Academy, a K-8 magnet school in San Diego.
After eight years of total French immersion, the Peninsula-area resident recently placed in the top 10th percentile on the Le Grand Coucours, a national French exam for students in grades 7 to 12. It is a competition held in all 50 states and abroad to allow second language learners to compete against each other for awards, honors and prizes.
Sanders, a seventh-grader, finished second overall in San Diego and third nationally. Sanders was one of 35 students at the school who were recognized for their efforts.
This year, the number of participants in Le Grand Concours totaled a record high of over 100,000 students. The San Diego chapter contributed over 800 French language learners from 21 schools from as far north as Pasadena to the south in San Ysidro.
“Learning a second language so young is beneficial because it gives student like Kiley a chance to receive an excellent education in English and French,” said Madame Suzanne Hirsch, a French teacher and the administrator of the Le Grand Coucours test at the Language Academy.
The Language Academy’s French program begins total French immersion in kindergarten.
French is the only language spoken in the classroom until third grade, when formal English instruction is introduced as part of the curriculum.
This enables the second language to become an integral part of a student’s thinking process. It is a natural way to teach children a second language to develop the gift of fluency.
“The advantage of language immersion is present when these kids go to high school because they’re more prepared for higher-level classes,” Hirsch said.
“They also have an edge when applying to colleges because they have more to offer. Being bilingual or trilingual is a great way to rise above peers who do not have these skills. This is also a huge plus when applying for jobs in later life. Employers value people who can communicate in more than one language.”