Program gives students taste of world languages

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Prospect Elementary School students use Rosetta Stone to study French Nov. 10 during an afterschool enrichment program. Region 16 started the five-week program to introduce elementary school students to Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI
Prospect Elementary School students use Rosetta Stone to study French Nov. 10 during an afterschool enrichment program. Region 16 started the five-week program to introduce elementary school students to Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

REGION 16 — A world language program in the elementary schools has been on the Region 16 Board of Education’s wish list for several years now. That wish hasn’t quite been granted, but the school district has taken a small step to expose young students to different languages.

The region, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, started a five-week afterschool enrichment world language program in late October at Laurel Ledge Elementary School and Prospect Elementary School. The program is for students in third, fourth and fifth grade.

“It’s amazing how well received it was from the community,” said Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin about the program.

There are a little more than 50 students in the program, which runs on Thursdays through Dec. 8, and there was a waiting list to get into the program, Yamin said.

The program introduces students to the romance languages — Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. It focuses on teaching students the basics, such as numbers and colors, through a mix of classroom instruction and independent learning with Rosetta Stone software.

Loren Luddy, the region’s world language department head, oversaw the development of the program and teaches the program at Prospect Elementary.

On a recent Thursday afternoon, Luddy was taking the students through their introduction to French when she asked for the translation of a French sentence. One student, much to Luddy’s surprise, responded not in English but in Spanish, which they learned the prior two weeks.

“So they are practicing and they are learning and doing a nice job,” Luddy said.

Luddy said it’s important for children to start learning another language at a young age because they are able to pronounce and repeat the words correctly. The vocal chords of students who start in high school are already developed, she said, and older students may also be embarrassed to say it wrong in class.

Loren Luddy, Region 16’s world language department head, teaches French to students at Prospect Elementary School Nov. 10 during an afterschool enrichment program. Region 16 started the five-week program to introduce elementary school students to Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI
Loren Luddy, Region 16’s world language department head, teaches French to students at Prospect Elementary School Nov. 10 during an afterschool enrichment program. Region 16 started the five-week program to introduce elementary school students to Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

“They start now they’ll have no trouble with pronunciation,” she said.

The program extends beyond five sessions after school. Through Rosetta Stone and Schoology, a learning management computer program for K-12 schools, students are able to practice at home. Once the program ends, Luddy added, students can pick one language to continue with and will have access to keep studying it at home.

“I hope they want to keep doing it,” Luddy said. “I hope they think learning language is fun.”

The program isn’t a substitute for a full-fledged world language program at the elementary schools, but school board Chair Sheryl Feducia said it does afford students an opportunity to start learning a language at a young age.

“We realize how important it is to start the kids at a young age,” she said.

The response to the program led officials to schedule another five-week session for the spring, but whether a world language curriculum is ever incorporated into the school day at the elementary level remains to be seen.

Though officials support the idea, Feducia and Yamin both said the decision will come down to weighing the financial impact versus other needs in the region.

“It’s always on our agenda but it becomes an issue of what are your priorities and how are you going to pay for it,” Yamin said.