What is a bilingual education? A bilingual education is when typical school subjects such as Maths, Geography and Science are also taught through an additional language, other than the mother tongue. Some school subjects are also taught in both languages which is an added bonus!

The sooner you can expose your child to speaking more than one language the better as they are more confident to speak freely in both languages, and less likely to develop an accent. As a child, there are less limitations around a fixed mindset on being anxious about making mistakes. In this blog post, I am exploring the benefits and drawbacks of a bilingual education and whether it is accessible to all families.

Reasons for picking a bilingual school Families will often pick the language of instruction based on either personal preference I.e. to support language spoken in the home if either parent is bilingual, for religious reasons or for professional advancement. For example, in the states, Spanish would be a common second language, due to the close proximity of South America and usefulness for career progression.

Where can you attend a bilingual school? Expats usually send their offspring to international schools if working for companies overseas, where they would like to still follow an American or British curriculum. There are bilingual pre-schools, nurseries and secondary schools in most large cities. In the UK, London has the monopoly on the highly regarded bilingual schools. For example, the Charles De Gaulle French school is one of the most prestigious bilingual schools in the capital. Often, there are bilingual schools in neighbourhoods where certain communities settle. For example, South Kensington is known as ‘Little France’ and there are approximately 300,000 French citizens living in this area, according to the French consultate. Other than Anglo-French schools, there are a plethora of faith schools which teach Arabic and Hebrew in addition to English, as well as Mandarin and Russian instruction in schools.

What are the benefits of a bilingual education? The primary benefit of a bilingual education is to enhance cognitive development. It has been scientifically proven that bilinguals who can easily switch between two languages are better equipped to be able to focus attention and hone in on relevant information more succinctly. Overall, bilingualism is good training and discipline for the brain and we are more able to distinguish sounds in a crowded space as our ears are more attuned to drowning out the noise. The majority of the positives around bilingualism surround brain development and function as language learning can also keep the brain stimulated well into old age and ward off early signs of dementia. There is fascinating scientific research in this field. Aside from science, the promotion of increased cultural understanding and tolerance is highly pertinent in an ever global and multicultural age. When we are surrounded by difference, we start to view it as a normal entity and focus on the positives rather than the negatives to positively assimilate. One of the best associations I can recommend for further learning on bilingualism is Bilingualism Matters.

What are the drawbacks of a bilingual education? Academic rigour is often cited as the main disadvantage of a bilingual or international school choice. As with faith schools, the same criticism can apply in regards to the priority of certain subjects. Bilingual schools may be seem to favour language learning over traditional academic subjects such as Maths and Science. Also, there may be duplication in terms of teaching content if taught across both languages. Bilingual schools may also just attract the same cultural learner and not be as diverse as your standard city or international school, which limits exposure to other backgrounds in the educational setting.

Are bilingual schools accessible to all families? Bilingual schools that are specifically language led tend to be on the whole incur high fees which can make them seem inaccessible and elitist to a lot of families. Like a lot of the high performing British public schools, competitive scholarships are available for academically talented youngsters so it is always worth an enquiry. Also, for a lot of expats sometimes companies cover the cost of a child's education so that could also be a popular route. For those who are not eligible for either scholarships or fee remission, there are alternative options that can mitigate for a lack of a bilingual education I.e. language classes, after school clubs, a French-speaking nanny/au pair or home help, or even exploring what’s going on in your local neighbourhood to stay connected with native speakers.

Starting secondary school My thirst for learning languages started in my first year of secondary school as it was never introduced as a subsidiary subject in the primary curriculum back in the early 90s. I was taught French by the same teacher who had taught my mother, aunt and uncle so there was already a connection and familiarity there. Prior to the age of 16, I had never been abroad as foreign holidays just weren’t a thing in my family, so I am still puzzled by my fascination with learning languages and travelling abroad- perhaps it was a curiosity of the unknown and wanting to be different to others around me. Unlike a lot of kids, I went to school with, I never had family holidays in France.

My first trip to France I gently persuaded my grandparents to let me go on a French exchange for one week as they had stressful experiences in the past so it did take a few weeks to convince them. I had to promise to use my pocket money by doing extra chores to show I was committed to saving up for it. I valued my upbringing with my grandparents as they instilled a positive work and money ethic in me to not spend what I don’t have!

My exchange trip at age 13 really was my first adventure, as well as a taste of freedom and something I would always encourage parents to allow. It’s imperative for one’s development to have that first spell of homesickness, and have that first non-family holiday that holds you in good stead for university life.

Language immersion There is no substitute for bringing the culture, language and society alive than in-country immersion and meeting real natives to get a real sense of identity and understand differences. I learnt that I was a visual and auditory learner, and could easily pick up new words when surrounded by native speakers. I remember even back then I would keep a notepad by my bed to jot down any new words and loved making vocabulary lists. I soaked up the food and hospitality and daily adventures and even then, just wanted to speak French when I couldn’t understand everything. The beauty of being a child learner is you have the confidence and lack of self-awareness to not be embarrassed about making mistakes or mispronouncing any words. I still adopt the same approach to learning new languages at a conversational level. Even when I am travelling now across Europe, I still like to make the effort with languages I don’t know by buying basic phrasebooks and learning the basics.

GCSE & A-Level French I really enjoyed my two-year French course with the same teacher and was put in the higher set which boosted my confidence, as I seemed to show a natural flair for the arts and languages when I was struggling in Maths and Science. The jump to A-level French was quite significant and required more dedication to nailing complex grammar rules and writing mini-essays in French. My A-level journey certainly wasn’t linear as I had initially started studying Sciences as well as French (not sure what possessed me as I had no aptitude in those subjects). My first AS-level year was rather traumatic as I was struggling with my academic limits and didn’t score too well in any of my subjects which made me lose a lot of confidence and knocked me off track. After months of negotiation and parental meetings, I persuaded the Head of Sixth Form to give me a second chance and resit my AS year with new subjects the following September, and take my A-levels over three years rather than the traditional two years sitting. I dropped Biology and Chemistry after I sat my exams and scored a measly D & E grade respectively, and enrolled on A-level Art, French and Religious Studies subjects instead. I was definitely more suited to the humanities subjects and scored high A-level grades which won me my place at Edinburgh.

Edinburgh University to the present day The additional year of French at A-level certainly solidified my grasp of grammar to master the language skills required of me at the undergraduate level. I am more of a creative rather than logical thinker so grammar isn’t a skill that comes naturally to me. I put in the hours of work needed to master the theory but it wasn’t until I studied French in France as part of my year abroad experience, that I began to experience real fluency and competence in having authentic conversations and experiences with natives!

When I was on my year abroad, I was unwell with a severe bout of depression and had to seek medical assistance and have counselling in French. I was located in a rural town where there weren’t many English speakers apart from the expat crowd, so I had no choice but to get my head down and learn how to express myself for my own health. whilst, I wouldn’t recommend this as a way of learning a language, it certainly motivated me to learn quickly so I could accelerate my recovery time. Since graduating in 2010, I haven’t directly used my language skills in my career, other than for the odd bit of tutoring work and socialising with my friends. I am now developing and reviving my languages through founding Learning Languages with Lou and looking to studying for a translation diploma in the next few years which I will align with my virtual assistant business- Libra VA Services! I always knew that my languages degree was never wasted, and it was just a case of needing to align all my personal and professional interests together.

The French language dates back to the 8th Century AD, which makes it even older than English. English is actually derived from French, Germanic languages and Latin. The history of how language develops is an incredibly fascinating topic as a lot depends on historical, social and cultural contexts, as well as migratory influences. We know that the Gauls were significantly influential in Northern France in developing French as a language, as well as later Celtic and Germanic influences.

Why should we be interested in the history of language? Europe is a large continent containing many different countries, borders and languages. Where there have been positive historic relations between countries, we can see more evidence of their influence in the present day, as they haven’t felt the need to erase any part of their history. Learning a language is not simply just about learning some words; it is about understanding an entire civilisation, society, culture and history.

What is behind the meaning of words? Etymology is all about understanding the roots of words. Once we begin to comprehend French verbs, nouns and adjectives, we can begin to grasp their context and grammatical rules, and also form word families for words that have had a similar meaning, prefix or suffix.

Where did French originate from? As we all know, Latin was the foundation of most European languages. We know that French also originated from Latin, but did you know that there is also a fascinating history behind the development of Latin?

• Old Latin
• Classical Latin
• Vulgar Latin
• Old French
• Middle French

Old French (franceis, françois, romanz; Modern French: ancien français) was the language spoken in Northern France from the 8th to the 14th century. The French language originated from the vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all the Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, more specifically in Northern Gaul. Given its Northern France influence, French was also influenced by the Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul such as Gallia Belgica.

The French language is regulated by L’Académie Française, who are fiercely protective of not anglicising the French language. France is split up into regions where there is a strong assertion of regional identity through dialect. Inevitably, French as both a language and society has changed and evolved overtime due to expansion of overseas territories. There are diverse and populous communities who have developed French language in the Carribean islands and Haiti. Over time, we have seen a significant increase in French-Creole languages. There can be a somewhat snobbish attitude between French spoken in metropolitan France (Le Métropole) and countries in the Indian Ocean (La Réunion). Even French spoken in Belgium and Switzerland is different, both in terms of dialect and vocabulary.

What is the future of the French language? There is no doubt that revisions will continue to take place by the academy regarding cultural association, and whether some words are appropriate to use in today’s society. There is fear in the academy that French will be downgraded in the European Union and United Nations as English continues to be the favoured language for business. Words can also disappear from language in response to cultural change. We can see this in the debate around gender. In French, most words are masculine dominant, which obviously raises an interesting question concerning pronouns. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out in the future.

Written by Lou Robinson (Founder of Learning Languages with Lou) 16th August 2021.