Goeie zaak, het niveau is al 3 jaar onder niveau dankzij taal-onkunde.
Yes RTBF, it is good that people that have issues with the language of the school, get specific classes to ensure they can catch up on that language.
Slegs vir Walen
Okan class!
Ik heb het artikel ff vertaald voor het te lezen.
While I am generally not really a fan of the N-VA, I have to say, this measure definitely addresses a longstanding issue.
Here in Brussels, the K0 kids on 1 september have never have heard Dutch before. In fact, last year at the basisschool where I worked, the two juffen were *explicitly* granted permission to speak French with the kids since otherwise there’d be a giant language barrier that no three-year-old would be able to cross.
When you don’t get language support at home (as many simply… don’t), you’re starting school with a language deficit of about 2 years.
It’s also extremely telling that the various scholengroeps don’t outright condemn the measure – they talk more about practical problems, where to put these taalzwakke kinderen.
Parents need to understand the implications – financial as well as linguistic – of putting a French-speaking kid in a Dutch-speaking school. This – as well as the obligations the parents have – needs to be explicitly made clear, in *their* language. Add a damn contract too.
If the Dutch doesn’t improve, I’d honestly argue that it’s more harmful to keep the kid there anyway. Transfer the kid to a French-speaking school where there’s no barrier. Parents will quickly get the message.
I’m still not sure it truly is the fault of the children Dutch levels are so bad. Therefore, I’m not sure this solution will actually solve anything.
I approve. I spent all of last year with a Syrian dude in one of my classes who was a smiling, positive young man… who did not understand a single word you said to him. Not a damn thing. Google translate it all to his native language and even that was… tricky. Every hour of classes was a waste of time for him, but Okan insisted he was where he had to be. Add to that the large amount of French-only Muslims and it explains at least three of my seven antidepressants.
I had a 14 year old kid in Brussels ask me if his dutch was okay. He felt like it had deteriorated since he started secondary school (in Dutch) where the kids all speak French, even responding to the teacher in French.
He said in his elementary school that when a new kid arrived who wasn’t fluid in Dutch, everyone would still involve the kid and teach them Dutch.
I do not like forcing languages, even in schools if it can be avoided (eg. On the playground). But having somebody graduate from a dutch speaking school who is not fluent in dutch is unacceptable and steps need to be taken.
Ik ben franstalige en 100% voor dit.
La communauté française devrait faire de même avec les non francophones à condition pour des cours de rattrapage intensifs pour les remettre à niveau .
Pas normal que des gens de la 3e génération ne savent pas encore articuler le français correctement.
This applies to all kids in Flanders with weak Dutch skills, not just the ones that speak French at home. They’re all getting separate remedial Dutch.
This is quite sensible and how both my children learned Dutch in a Flemish school ten years ago. It’s also how non-English speakers are helped to integrate in school in many English speaking countries.
My son arrived in a kleuterklas age 4 speaking zero Dutch and he was given seperate classes. The class teacher also only spoke to him in Dutch. They made picture books for him too so he knew what things were. Yes it was tough for him in the first year (at that time we spoke no Dutch either) but he is now completely bilingual, with native level Dutch. We never stopped speaking our own language at home with him.
My daughter started in Kleuterklas age 2 with zero Dutch and a severe speech delay generally. Also now bilingual. She had logopedie multiple times a week.
My son was 4 when we arrived in Belgium. He is now in his very early 20s and at uni here. He spoke only English when we arrived – we are British – his whole education has been in French. The importance of speaking Dutch is not lost on me. My business partner is Flemish, I witness how important it is every day. I sent my son to the equivalent of a Dutch language boot camp when he was 13. It made all the difference.
13 comments
Goeie zaak, het niveau is al 3 jaar onder niveau dankzij taal-onkunde.
Yes RTBF, it is good that people that have issues with the language of the school, get specific classes to ensure they can catch up on that language.
Slegs vir Walen
Okan class!
Ik heb het artikel ff vertaald voor het te lezen.
While I am generally not really a fan of the N-VA, I have to say, this measure definitely addresses a longstanding issue.
Here in Brussels, the K0 kids on 1 september have never have heard Dutch before. In fact, last year at the basisschool where I worked, the two juffen were *explicitly* granted permission to speak French with the kids since otherwise there’d be a giant language barrier that no three-year-old would be able to cross.
When you don’t get language support at home (as many simply… don’t), you’re starting school with a language deficit of about 2 years.
It’s also extremely telling that the various scholengroeps don’t outright condemn the measure – they talk more about practical problems, where to put these taalzwakke kinderen.
Parents need to understand the implications – financial as well as linguistic – of putting a French-speaking kid in a Dutch-speaking school. This – as well as the obligations the parents have – needs to be explicitly made clear, in *their* language. Add a damn contract too.
If the Dutch doesn’t improve, I’d honestly argue that it’s more harmful to keep the kid there anyway. Transfer the kid to a French-speaking school where there’s no barrier. Parents will quickly get the message.
I’m still not sure it truly is the fault of the children Dutch levels are so bad. Therefore, I’m not sure this solution will actually solve anything.
I approve. I spent all of last year with a Syrian dude in one of my classes who was a smiling, positive young man… who did not understand a single word you said to him. Not a damn thing. Google translate it all to his native language and even that was… tricky. Every hour of classes was a waste of time for him, but Okan insisted he was where he had to be. Add to that the large amount of French-only Muslims and it explains at least three of my seven antidepressants.
I had a 14 year old kid in Brussels ask me if his dutch was okay. He felt like it had deteriorated since he started secondary school (in Dutch) where the kids all speak French, even responding to the teacher in French.
He said in his elementary school that when a new kid arrived who wasn’t fluid in Dutch, everyone would still involve the kid and teach them Dutch.
I do not like forcing languages, even in schools if it can be avoided (eg. On the playground). But having somebody graduate from a dutch speaking school who is not fluent in dutch is unacceptable and steps need to be taken.
Ik ben franstalige en 100% voor dit.
La communauté française devrait faire de même avec les non francophones à condition pour des cours de rattrapage intensifs pour les remettre à niveau .
Pas normal que des gens de la 3e génération ne savent pas encore articuler le français correctement.
This applies to all kids in Flanders with weak Dutch skills, not just the ones that speak French at home. They’re all getting separate remedial Dutch.
This is quite sensible and how both my children learned Dutch in a Flemish school ten years ago. It’s also how non-English speakers are helped to integrate in school in many English speaking countries.
My son arrived in a kleuterklas age 4 speaking zero Dutch and he was given seperate classes. The class teacher also only spoke to him in Dutch. They made picture books for him too so he knew what things were. Yes it was tough for him in the first year (at that time we spoke no Dutch either) but he is now completely bilingual, with native level Dutch. We never stopped speaking our own language at home with him.
My daughter started in Kleuterklas age 2 with zero Dutch and a severe speech delay generally. Also now bilingual. She had logopedie multiple times a week.
My son was 4 when we arrived in Belgium. He is now in his very early 20s and at uni here. He spoke only English when we arrived – we are British – his whole education has been in French. The importance of speaking Dutch is not lost on me. My business partner is Flemish, I witness how important it is every day. I sent my son to the equivalent of a Dutch language boot camp when he was 13. It made all the difference.
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