On Apr. 11, the Norwin Global Scholars Teaching program at Stewartsville Elementary School wrapped up. The program took place over the last six weeks after school. During the program, students taught groups of first through fourth graders French, Spanish, and German.
Mrs. Danielle Llerena has been organizing this program for just over 10 years.
“The Teaching of World Languages Internship was created to provide students with the opportunity to gain authentic working experiences that may even become a future career,” said Llerena. “It also helps students develop job-related skills and interact with adults and children in a professional setting. It also gives students an opportunity to gain community service hours for NHS, Global Scholars, and college applications. The elementary students love it and I also think the high school students secretly do as well!”
“The elementary students benefit greatly from the program by allowing them early exposure and fosters a passion for learning a foreign language,” said Norwin Global Scholar and senior Arnav Bedekar. “I believe that it helps break down any fears or uncertainty they might have about learning about a new language, by presenting learning a language in a fun and engaging way.”
According to tessais.org, “Because of the brain’s elasticity and rapid neural formation that babies and young children are able to learn languages at a faster rate.” Furthermore, according to pewresearch.org, “Across Europe, students typically begin studying their first foreign language as a required school subject between the ages of 6 and 9.” This means children benefit from learning a foreign language when they learn it at a young age.
“As someone whose foreign language is English, being exposed to speaking a different language from an early age was crucial for me to have a solid grasp on it,” said Bedekar, whose native language is Marathi. “I feel that same principle comes into play, as kids are more enthusiastic and more willing to learn new and exciting things. As the world becomes more globally connected, it is crucial that we have multilingual speakers to be able to communicate with others across the globe, and the only way that is possible is through kids being able to pick up another language early and be able to apply it as soon as possible.”
Through this program, students have the opportunity to experience the basics and fundamentals of a foreign language and gain interest in it. In addition to the elementary school students, high school students benefit from the program as well.
”As a language learner, the program forces you to think about more than just what you have learned in your class, as the elementary kid’s curiosity isn’t limited to just what you learn on a day-to-day basis,” Bedekar said.
Elementary students often ask questions that both engage and inform students in the foreign language.
“Students ask questions such as, ‘How do you say hippo in German?’ This lets you learn something new about your language that you otherwise wouldn’t have thought of,” explained Bedekar.
Through this program, both elementary school students and high school students have the opportunity to learn and advance in a foreign language.
