At the MIS we firmly believe that learning must be a positive experience for children if they are to lead fulfilling lives. Our bilingual primary school consequently brings together two essential requirements for successful learning: a first class curriculum and concern for the development of the whole student. Our educational philosophy is to identify and nurture students' individual abilities.
The curriculum followed in the bilingual primary school (Classes 1 to 4) complies with the requirements of the internationally recognised Cambridge International Education programme and the Federal State of Hesse:
Studies on bilingualism have shown that children at a relatively early age tend to acquire additional languages with the same ease with which they acquire their native language. Developing two languages simultaneously does not inhibit the learning of either.
Young children possess innate strategies of comprehension that enable them to learn a language quite independently of any rational control mechanism. It is now an accepted fact that multilingualism tends not only to promote all cognitive and creative processes but also leads to improved communicative abilities in one’s own native language.
MIS develops our students’ bilingual potential through Early Language Immersion methods.
Early Language Immersion is a method of teaching a second language, in this case, English. MIS students begin their Language Immersion at a very early age, usually by the age of six.
Unlike a more traditional language course, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool, surrounding, or "immersing" students in the second language. In-class subjects and activities, such as math, social studies and history, and those outside of the class, such as meals, recess, or everyday tasks, are conducted in the second language.
Children of today will more than likely need to be bilingual or even trilingual to be successful in the global society and economy of their adulthood. Today two languages are useful - tomorrow they will be required, and a third language will be desired.
An optimal time to learn languages is prior to age eleven. Research on brain development in recent decades supports this claim, with wide discussion in the popular media. Our brains are wired to produce all sounds, but if we don't learn to make certain sounds, we can lose that ability.
Children learn language by listening and repeating, and don't have any fear of a "foreign" language. Children learn their second language the same way they learned their first - by speaking and repeating in context.
Could you provide us with some links from reliable sources to learn more about the advantages of multilingualism?
Absolutely! There are many published articles with a lot of useful information on the subject and the ones below are just some we found particularly interesting.