Why French Exposure Is Crucial During Your Child’s 9-Week Summer Break

French campers smiling

 

In as little as 2 months, the last school bell of the year will ring and students will flood out of the doors excited to kick off their summer break. And like most parents, you might have already started planning how to help your child make the most of the summer.

But this planning phase can be especially challenging for your French learning students. Anyone learning a second language knows that continued practice is crucial to ongoing success. So how do you help your child keep practicing French over the summer break? And is it really that important?

One of the most important aspects of learning a second language is confidence. Confidence can help your child push through the discomfort of speaking French even when he or she isn’t sure that their vocabulary and grammar is entirely correct. It will help them quickly get over embarrassing or awkward moments when they aren’t understood or say the wrong thing. Confidence is what often separates fully fluent French speakers from intermediate-level speakers who never feel fully comfortable having real, in-depth conversations with native French speakers.

How To Keep Confidence High

Like most skills, confidence is built through continued practice. That’s why it’s so important for your child to maintain French communication during the long, 9-week summer break. When your child takes too long a break from language-learning, they can quickly lose their momentum and starting back up again when school restarts can be a daunting and frustrating experience. They may even feel disengaged with their  second language learning journey and thoughts of leaving French immersion may start to sprout as their return to French classes in September is “harder” than their friend’s experience in the english stream.

You see, learning a second language isn’t like riding a bike, driving a car or going for a swim. If you didn’t touch a bike for 10 years, you could probably get back on it again and ride it as well as you did when you were a child. Consistent reinforcement is needed to stay sharp when learning any foreign language and to facilitate a more spontaneous vocabulary-recall when trying to speak or have a conversation.

Tweet this: “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice” @CampTournesol

What You Can Do To Help Reinforce French During Breaks

Luckily, there are many ways you can help your child reinforce their French during summer break. It can be as simple as listening to French music, watching French TV and movies, reading French books, scheduling French play dates or even hiring a French tutor. Want even more ideas? heck out our previous blog post on “How To Help Your Child To Maintain Their French Over The Summer”.

School's out

But if you’re looking for more structure and a real immersion experience, you might want to consider sending your child on a French exchange program or enrolling them in a French Day Camp or French Overnight Camp. Check out our previous blog post on “The Power Of Speaking French 24/7”. At our French day camp, campers come back year after year to have fun while speaking French. We believe learning a language doesn’t have to be a chore or “homework”, so our campers get to enjoy activities, sports, drama and crafts – all while speaking French. It increases their confidence and their likelihood of sticking with their bilingualism journey. They are also so busy having fun that they don’t even realize that they’re learning!

It’s astounding the impact this language practice and increased confidence can have on a child when they return in September. Their self-esteem will raise as they notice their increased spontaneity and more fluent ability than their peer who may have been at the same level or better than them. This will all serve to make them feel good about themselves and their willingness to take risks with learning the language. As an added benefit, this increased self-esteem and confidence will likely flow through their other academic topics and subjects.

 

Do you think it’s important for your child to practice French this summer?

 

Share your thoughts, experiences and plans with our community in the comments below!

 

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