[observer53]

Originally Posted by mntonv

Found an interesting article. My Unbelievable Journey of Chinese Language Learning and Teaching | www.mandarininstitute.org Seems a couple high schools have started offering Mandarin.

I've had no issues with the public school system so far. I've found if your kids are motivated and you are involved, they will do great in many different environments and schools.

Good luck with your school search!

This raises the question of why your child needs to learn these languages now, or can wait until high school or later. First, the earlier question of whether this is what they want to do, or what you want them to do. Then, the question why now. Your child will learn Mandarin or French or whatever just as well at a somewhat later time, if they want to learn it. If they don't, I don't see forcing it. If they don't keep using whatever language they learn (and they have to want to use it to do that) they will lose the proficiency anyway. Thanks to a small private elementary school that taught Spanish mainly through immersion two hours per day, and high school and college courses, I used to be so fluent in Spanish that I dreamed in Spanish, and could watch Spanish language movies without subtitles. While my reading comprehension is still fairly good, the grammar and the vocabulary for spoken Spanish gets lost fairly quickly. I'd like to get it back, when I can find time to get back in the classroom to do it.

If they really want to do it, you should be able to find some help through UNLV as suggested.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by observer53

This raises the question of why your child needs to learn these languages now, or can wait until high school or later. First, the earlier question of whether this is what they want to do, or what you want them to do. Then, the question why now. Your child will learn Mandarin or French or whatever just as well at a somewhat later time, if they want to learn it.

That isn't the case. It is far easier to learn languages when one is young. The more languages learned at a young age, the easier it is for someone to pick up new languages.

I'm of the mind that speaking a few foreign languages and knowing how to play a musical instrument is basically an insurance policy against a boring life. (And music is interchangeable with math, and language is the foundation of the liberal arts. Makes for a well-rounded person.)

[observer53]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

That isn't the case. It is far easier to learn languages when one is young. The more languages learned at a young age, the easier it is for someone to pick up new languages.

I'm of the mind that speaking a few foreign languages and knowing how to play a musical instrument is basically an insurance policy against a boring life. (And music is interchangeable with math, and language is the foundation of the liberal arts. Makes for a well-rounded person.)

Actually, that's most true for the VERY young, younger than this child is, but it isn't as if high school is too late. And I agree with you that it makes for a more well-rounded person to study another language. But, if there's some intent that the person actually be able to USE the language, it requires more than just going to class and learning it and using it in class and doing homework. If you don't continue to work with it regularly, it won't stay with you long-- particularly something as complex as Mandarin, which doesn't offer easy every day opportunities to be exposed to it like, for instance, Spanish. Depends on why the OP is looking for this, and why (and if) the child really wants to do it.

[von949]

Originally Posted by observer53

Actually, that's most true for the VERY young, younger than this child is, but it isn't as if high school is too late. And I agree with you that it makes for a more well-rounded person to study another language. But, if there's some intent that the person actually be able to USE the language, it requires more than just going to class and learning it and using it in class and doing homework. If you don't continue to work with it regularly, it won't stay with you long-- particularly something as complex as Mandarin, which doesn't offer easy every day opportunities to be exposed to it like, for instance, Spanish. Depends on why the OP is looking for this, and why (and if) the child really wants to do it.

Exactly! My 8 year old daughter speaks three languages fluently(Basque, Spanish, English) only because her family members have been speaking these languages to her since birth. The second her grandparents stop speaking basque with her, then I'm sure she will start to lose the grasp of the language which seems to be very uncommon and difficult to learn.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by von949

Exactly! My 8 year old daughter speaks three languages fluently(Basque, Spanish, English) only because her family members have been speaking these languages to her since birth. The second her grandparents stop speaking basque with her, then I'm sure she will start to lose the grasp of the language which seems to be very uncommon and difficult to learn.

But the neural pathways have already been created. It's like someone who is fit, gets fat, and then gets fit again quickly because he or she once had muscle mass.

Even if she forgets her Basque, she'll pick it right back up again after a couple months in Spain. It's much, much, much easier to relearn a language than it is to learn it. But it requires the kind of fluency that two (or even four) years of crap high school language instruction is not going to provide. Conjugating verbs isn't the same as fluency. (But conjugation is all high school teachers seem to care about.)

[Everdeen]

I think Las Vegas Academy has a pretty good language program, relatively speaking, but it is high school and a magnet, so your child would have apply and be accepted. It is, however, a public school.

I think your best bet would be to hire a tutor or search for a private school that offers what you want.