"XOR" wrote in message
om...
I'm not familiar with the dual immersion program for school in the US,
but I am around many bilingual families (in some cases trilingual when
the dcp speaks a 3rd language) and grew up with many bilingual
friends. Also, many of these kids are currently in the local
equivalent of a 'dual imersion' program, just not in the US. My
partner and I each have a different native language and intend to
raise our kids bilingual. (Schooling will depend upon what country we
are living in at the time)

Speaking from this experience and observations, your child *will*
likely be a little behind in each language *at first*. Very quickly he
will catch up. To me, that is far better than trying to learn the
second language later. I would do everything possible to continue his
Spanish education throughout. The *best* time to fully learn a
language is when they are young. Yes, it WILL be somewhat confusing
and perhaps take a little extra time to sort out the two, but in time,
if he continues, he'll be fluent in both.

In many countries, a second language (often English) is introduced in
the earliest grades. However, these aren't usually immersion 50/50
programs. If you are at all concerned, I'd consider a school that
taught in English but had Spanish classes from day 1 (as opposed to
waiting until high school).

Your child is fortunate, IMO. Growing up bilingual (with any language)
is a huge advantage.

I understand the advantage of being bilingual. I was bilingual as a child,
but lost it as I grew up. I just wonder if schooling completely 50/50 is
good. I'd like it better if they had it 80/20 or so throughout grade school
so that his English would be stronger. I just wonder if his fluency in
English reading and writing would be just as strong if it was 50/50. I've
never known anyone who was schooled 50/50, but I know many bilingual
families and was raised in one myself. When I was young, we had our native
language taught once a week on the weekends. That was enough to learn basic
reading and writing. It's just the excessive schooling that DH is so
concerned about, and I have some reservations myself after he brought up his
concerns.

DS will always know Spanish, I believe, because it is such a common language
around here, so I'm not afraid that he'll lose it. I'm just wondering how
much formal education he should have in it.