In our increasingly global society, it’s pretty likely that your child will need to learn a second language at some point in their lives. But don’t worry – the earlier you start introducing children to a second language, the easier is for them to become fluent.

One way to get your child immersed in a second language this summer is by enrolling them in Bilingual Beginnings, an Eau Claire Area School District summer program for children entering grades one through four. Bilingual Beginnings provides an immersive environment for young students in Mandarin, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish over a two-week session.

Carter Smith, UW-Eau Claire language department chair and director of Bilingual Beginnings, said that being bilingual could benefit children far beyond being able to communicate in more than one language. “There have been multiple studies that show that language studies early on improve math scores. Language and music and arts are intimately connected. Test scores in general improve when a child is bilingual from early on. There are lots of reasons we should be doing this, and we’re really fortunate that we have the opportunity to do this,” Smith said.

Smith added that when children are exposed to a second language at an older age, they often get frustrated about verb conjugations, article usage, and other grammatical aspects of their second language, and embarrassed about pronouncing things wrong in front of their classmates. However, younger children don’t share these concerns. “When a kid’s going into first grade, learning a second language is simply like playing a game. They haven’t developed their own concept, their own self-awareness of their grammar, so they’re not comparing their English with their French, with their Japanese. They’re just accepting that these are new languages, these are new sounds, this is the way we use the language.”

The camps are instructed by UW-Eau Claire teacher education students. Those teaching classes in French, German, and Spanish are education majors within their respective languages, and Mandarin and Japanese classes will be taught by students minoring in TEFL, teaching English as a foreign language. The TEFL minor focuses specifically on second language acquisition, education pedagogy, and assessment.

“It’s been great professional development for our students here, our university students,” Smith said. “They get a chance to be in the classroom, and they get good training from Dr. Ann Hlas, our specialty language educator. She goes through workshops with them and goes out and observes the classrooms as the students are teaching to send them feedback.”

During classes, Bilingual Beginnings students are split into two groups: first and second graders and third and fourth graders. Curriculum for the program has been written specifically for each group of students. This means that students who have attended Bilingual Beginnings in the past are welcome and encouraged to enroll again this summer.

Four two-week camps will be held from June 20-August 19 at the Children’s Nature Academy at The Priory. No campus will be held the week of July Fourth. Worried about the drive? You’re in luck – the Priory shuttle will be running throughout the summer. Students can register for morning sessions from 8:15 a.m.-noon or afternoon sessions from 12:30-4:15 p.m. Parents are encouraged to explore other programming available at the Children’s Nature Academy between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. for their children’s other half of the day.

Tuition for the camp is $235 plus a $10 materials fee, but the Eau Claire Area School District has agreed to cover the cost of the camp for any student living within the district, even if they’re homeschooled or attend private school. As of now, students living outside of the district will owe the camp fee, but Smith hopes that similar partnerships can someday be made with Altoona and Chippewa Falls school districts.

“It’s really fantastic. We’re really fortunate to be able to partner with the ECASD… It’s wonderful, because it’s open to any student, regardless of their socioeconomic background,” Smith said. “It’s such a great opportunity to be immersed in a quality foreign language program for free.”

Interested parents can register their children through the Children’s Nature Academy website. Registration deadlines are June 1 for the camp’s first and second sessions and July 1 for the third and fourth sessions.

Smith added that he’s always impressed by how great the students’ accents are after spending only two weeks with their second languages. I guess in the case of learning a language, it truly is as easy said as it is done.