Canada excels not only in studies in the English language, but is also a world leader in bilingual education.
Bilingual education is the use of two different languages in the classroom instruction of academic content. At Maple Bear, students study all academic subjects in either their native language or English, depending on the subject and grade level.
Students don’t just memorize vocabulary in a Maple Bear classroom. This is a key difference between the programs offered at Maple Bear and the ESL training offered at other schools claiming to offer a bilingual education.
Furthermore, at Maple Bear, students begin learning English in pre-school using a student-focussed English immersion learning system based on Canadian educational pedagogy and best practices.
There have been concerns that teaching children two languages at once only confuses them. Fortunately, there has been much research—much of it conducted by Canadians—which shows that far from handicapping children, bilingual education can offer benefits from infancy to old age.
So, what are the benefits of bilingual education for young learners?
For a start, it’s very good for English-language development, a goal of many of our parents who chose Maple Bear for their children.
Young learners have also been shown to have:
· better concentration, analytical skills and multi-tasking capabilities;
· they learn to read sooner than monolingual students;
· they have an increased sense of self-worth and identity;
· they have the ability to live abroad and learn other foreign languages later in life;
· enjoy exposure to more than one culture which leads to a global perspective.
Numerous studies have confirmed that being bilingual actually makes a person smarter as it has a profound effect on the brain, improving cognitive skills and sharpening memory.