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Oh la la ... you’re never too young to learn a foreign language and to prove the point one leading school in Bahrain has English-speaking expat toddlers getting their tongues around a Gallic gourmet of words.
The French classes are held at The British Preparatory School by native teacher Floriene Laurent twice-a-week for 45 minutes for children from the age of three. The lessons are packed with fun and feature plenty of rhymes and songs, role playing and games.
Sandra Whitford, who owns and runs the school, said: “I feel it is very important for children to experience a second language as early as possible.
“If you start learning a new language at an early age it becomes quite natural as compared to learning it when you get older, when one gets to become more self-conscious.”
At the end of a term, the school will organise a series of French coffee mornings where the children will display their new-found linguistic skills to their parents.
The school also offers a structured English language programme for non-native English speakers for children as young as 18 months. Mrs Whitford said: “At this age, we are not looking for children to learn the ABC, we are looking for them to communicate.
“It is easy for children to follow instructions and children, as young as 18 months old, can do it – even if it is their second language.
“In the Middle East, there are so many children for whom English is a second language. At first they listen and follow instructions and then learn simple words before full sentences. This way they are able to pick it up very quickly. This is exactly how we organise the French teaching too.”
The school in Saar was opened three years ago by Mrs Whitford, the former infant’s school head teacher of St Christopher’s for 21 years. Her main area of experience is with children aged between two and 11 in teaching and organising English language programmes. The British Preparatory School has grown from 17 pupils to a school roll this term totalling more than 100 students.
