[Grovenet] Federal Court Ruling Prods Texas on ELLs

[Greg & Cindy Gritton]

Tom asked:

At 07:44 PM 7/30/2008 +0000, you wrote:
>I wonder how it is done in Europe. Here in ESL classes we take students 
>form other lands and teach them our predominant language. I wonder if the 
>Germans teach German to the Gastarbeiters from Turkey and Africa. I think 
>that the language skills that the Europeans have is from a foreign 
>language while in their home country. Anybody know how the Europeans do it?
>Tom Alexander

I can't say for certain how it is in all the countries, but in Finland 
(where they have two official languages--Finnish and Swedish) 
kindergarteners start learning the language not spoken at home.  Then, 
about 3 years later, they  choose from English, French, or German (and may 
be one or two others).  Two years after that (if I'm remembering correctly) 
they can choose a third language (the offerings increase at this point to 
include languages like Russian, Italian, etc.)  So, basically, all students 
are expected to learn at least two foreign languages during their regular 
schooling and if they are continuing on to college, they need to pick up a 
third.

Of course, they also provide their students with alternative school 
choices.  For example, after 8th or 9th grade they will either be going on 
to high school for college preparation, or to a trade school for 
non-college job preparation.

Hope this helps. :-)

Cindy Gritton