Getting through bilingual school with no english skills?

[anjuta]

Hello everyone,

We live in Espoo and my daughter will start her pre-school (Esikoulu) this autumn in Finnish daycare. She has been in Finnish daycare since she was 1yr and 11 months. So she speaks almost fluent finnish. But she does not speak English though understands some.

Now, we are thinking to apply to Bilingual schools. Do anyone knows if it is possible to get through Bilingual schools without English skills? And how can I prepare her within these short period (test might be around February 2013) for the test? Please share me if anyone had same experience before or anyone have idea on this!

Thanks a lot in advance!

- Anjuta

[Pursuivant]

Well, tehres bilingual schools where they expect you to know English and then the language immersion ones where you don't. At this point I think natural method - English-speaking playmates would do the trick.

[anjuta]

Well, tehres bilingual schools where they expect you to know English and then the language immersion ones where you don't. At this point I think natural method - English-speaking playmates would do the trick.

Thanks Pursuivant!

Could you please tell me more regarding language immersion schools? What is exact finnish words for this kind of schools so that I can search more?

[Rosamunda]

Where do you live in Espoo?

Tähtiniitty koulu in Olari is an immersion school. The children have fairly intensive English in grades 1-2-3 and then gradually do more lessons in Finnish in grades 4-5-6. At a guess I would say that most of the children come from English-speaking day cares (there are several in the area) so they all have some English when they start. I do not know if it is a requirement though. However, to get into the bilingual schools like Komeetta and Postipuu you need fairly fluent English as it is tested in the entrance exam and demand for places far exceeds the availability.

You should be able to find more info on the http://www.espoo.fi webpages.

http://espoo.fi/en-US/Childcare_and_edu ... nstruction

[anjuta]

Thanks Rosamunda for your link! It is very helpful but based on that, I feel that my daughter has less opportunities to get in Yes, primarily they take kids from English day-care it seems.

I thought bilingual schools are mainly for kids who has no English knowledge but with Finnish knowledge. And my assumption was that they will learn with more Finnish first with some English, then change slowly to more English. But seems other way round?

I think, Komeetta and Postipuu are not bilingual schools. They are purely English schools (with one Finnish subject maybe).

We live in Matinkylä.

[Rosamunda]

You're right Komeetta and Postipuu are not really bilingual schools as such but rather dual-stream schools. They both have a Finnish stream and an English stream. Kids in the English stream have 4h of Finnish per week (either mother tongue or second language) none of the other subjects are taught in Finnish and to be honest, when my kids were there, there was not a lot of interaction between the Finnish and the English streams but that may have changed since.

I don't know if Tähtiniitty tests English language skills for entry to first grade. You are right that the school is intended as an immersion for Finnish-speaking children so they SHOULD take children who do not speak English. However, in reality there are so many children in English-speaking daycares around Olari and Matinkyla that there are a huge number who want to go there. The only sure way of getting in is to live in the immediate area of the school. The usual rule for primary school is that children go to the school nearest to their home.

My children spoke no English at all when we moved to Budapest where we put two of them into AISB, an American international school. They were speaking English fairly well within six months and within two years I would say they were fluent for their age (8-10 yrs old).

Even if you put your daughter into a Finnish school, she has a pretty good chance of learning English very quickly and to a high level. My boys have friends in the Matinkyla/Olari area who speak fluent English even though they did not go to an English-speaking school and only speak Finnish at home. But I do think Tähtiniitty is a good choice for a bilingual education and I see no reason why you shouldn't enrol her there, even if she does not speak English now. Have you thought of putting her into an English-speaking esikoulu?

[anjuta]

Hi Rosamunda,

Very good to know about your experience and your boys frens! Really, it relax my mind

Yes, we would like her to enrol to Tähtiniityn koulu but chances looks very low as she is not in English daycare. We will try anyway. And we are not going to put her in English-esikoulu. She didn't get seat in good place and besides, 6 months (test will on beginning of Feb, I think) is short period to compete with other English-speaking kids. Also, we are afraid if she forgot all Finnish again as we do not speak Finnish. Frankly speaking, very confused mind

Lets see how it goes but feel bit relax that she will learn good English in Finnish schools too

Thanks!

[Rosamunda]

If you are planning to stay here permanently and you don't speak Finnish at home, then I think you are right: Finnish daycare is the best solution.

Do you know that when she starts school your daughter will be able to have two lessons per week in her mother tongue language?
More details here: http://www.espoo.fi/en-US/Childcare_and ... her_Tongue

These lessons are usually after normal lessons and the teachers are native speakers of the language. You just need to send off the application form (the link above) and you will be contacted a week or two after term starts to organise the time and place. Not all languages are available and sometimes the lessons might be held in a different school. They are free. I'm not too sure but maybe they are also available in esikoulu.