I would tend to agree. Most educated Europeans I know are fluent in several languages, and they begin learning them in elementary school, rather than waiting until high school as we do.
I don't see the problem with this - it's voluntary, so parents who don't like the program don't have to have their children participate, and since they are using a lottery system, they apparently anticipate more people wanting to participate than they currently have room for.
It seems to me to be a great idea. Particularly since it appears to be totally voluntary.....
They have to be. They live in a fragmented area of the world - much like Africa.
>Most educated Europeans I know are fluent in several languages
Most educated Europeans I know are total socialist assclowns.
The Europeans don’t start the second language usually until 4th grade - after the native language is firmly established.
I don’t think kids have learned enough English skills - reading, spelling, grammar - to start with 90% Spanish in K-1. It seems tilted towards kids who live in Spanish-speaking households.
My kid has a friend whose father was Brazilian-American and spoke Portugese and English, and whose mother was Brazilian-Italian and spoke Italian, Portugese and English. The kid is verbally fluent in all 3 languages, but only reads and write very well in one - English. The family spoke Portugese at home, English with their friends and at school, and the mother took the kid to Italy for 6 weeks every summer to visit relatives.