New language program would benefit students | Letter

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The Mercer Island School District has been carefully studying the initiation of a new language program in elementary schools for over two years.

Superintendent Gary Plano has developed a proposal to teach world language in kindergarten through fifth grade in every school on the Island. This would involve conversational Spanish, without homework for the students. The classes would each be 40 minutes long, averaging about 13 minutes per day. It might be argued that 13 minutes per day is not enough time to effectively teach language. But many school districts have done this for over 50 years, and achieve great success. By fifth grade, most of the students understand Spanish and can speak it to some degree. Spanish was chosen to get started, but other languages can readily be incorporated into a continuing program, with Chinese, Russian and Arabic often mentioned.

Why teach language at such an early age? Language is one of the few academic topics that science has definitively shown is hard-wired into the human brain. The younger the brain, the easier it is to make sounds and learn grammar. There is no doubt whatsoever that earlier is better. A kindergartner can learn language more efficiently than a first grader. A first grader can learn language more efficiently than a second grader, etc. And being bilingual, rather than being confusing, makes for more effective learning of both languages. This is a starkly different process than learning science or social studies, in which large gains can be made at later ages.

The Mercer Island School Board voiced strong support and endorsed the K-5 language initiative at its Feb. 11 meeting, with a unanimous vote. A previous survey of Mercer Island parents showed strong support. I believe that the implementation of the program will be a great benefit to our students, and hope the citizens of Mercer Island agree.

Dave Myerson

MISD board member