In the good old days, which actually weren’t that good, lots of French families lived around South Kensington because of the Lycée. As property prices rose they moved further west getting as far as Barons Court. Aspirational British parents enrolled their children alongside French families to make them bilingual, although it did the little darlings heads’ in learning to speak different languages at home and at school.
It doesn’t seem such a good idea to learn French as a second language these days so how about moving to New Malden where there is a big South Korean community with schools, shops, restaurants and churches to cater for them? Actually I have a better idea, right on my doorstep in London W6. Dalling House in Ravenscourt Park is the first Mandarin Immersion school in Europe. It takes children from three to eleven years old. Until they are five they are taught entirely in Mandarin and thereafter half in Mandarin and half in English.
Unlike the Lycée, Dalling House aims for British children with pushy parents. The fees are about £5,000 a term and, reassuringly, school meals are sourced at Waitrose. Brilliant to have the kids speaking Chinese, after all Mandarin is the most widely-spoken first language in the world (more than English), and it will boost their career prospects and life chances – well that’s what the Dalling House brochure says. Who else thinks this is a great plan?
In 2013 David Cameron urged British students to ditch French and learn Mandarin. To reinforce his message the prime minister quoted Nelson Mandela, who said learning someone else’s language is the best way to their heart. Cameron said: “I want Britain linked up to the world’s fast-growing economies. And that includes our young people learning the languages to seal tomorrow’s business deals.
“By the time the children born today leave school, China is set to be the world’s largest economy. So it’s time to look beyond the traditional focus on French and German and get many more children learning Mandarin.”
Speaking personally, I didn’t get round to learning English until I was four. The idea of my learning Mandarin at three is risible.
He showed potential to be a very good Prime Minister but proved to be a disappointment quick with a show case soundbite as quoted by you. One wonders if he is sending his younger children to Dalling House? I suspect Samantha Cameron is too sensible to countenance such experimental risks.
Well, one needn’t, but if a child has aptitude, why not? Our children go to a French immersion school here in Oregon, but it focuses on an international baccalaureate curriculum, so it is as much to broaden their understanding as to teach them French. Not sure that is as needed in London!
But there are many advantages, cognitive and cultural, to learning another language young (or so my parents told me as I slogged through seven years of Latin and two of Ancient Greek!). Mandarin wouldn’t be my choice, but there is quite a lot of great philosophy and poetry one could read in the original..
Thank you for taking the trouble to give a different perspective. Every point you make is valid but not every child can cope with such immersion so young. More importantly you and your children are international flag bearers for the United States at a time when your great nation is in choppy waters. By the way, Oregon makes wine to rival the French stuff.