Hi, I am new to the forum. We are moving to the Lausanne area in a few months with our children aged 5 and 12. They both will attend public schools. While I am not worried about my younger son, I am concerned about the adaptation of my teenager. He speaks neither French nor German, so I guess he will be enrolled in an integration class (classe d'acceuil) in the first year. Has anyone of you had any experience with this type of classes in the canton of Vaud? Are they effective? Do they really integrate? My son is a fast learner, so I think he will cope with language and school subjects without too much trouble. However, I wonder about the social aspect of our move and the problems of adapting to a new environment. Do you know how many children on average are enrolled in such classes each year? Are the children in one class the same or similar age?
I don’t have personal experience, but I think it would be best if he prepares to drop down a year at school, so the first year he can just focus on solely learning French, then go back in to regular classes.
Yes. I posted a thread about this in education - unfortunately locked due to troll activity. It’s still there with much detail. It’s not Lausanne, but nearby.
Brief version:
1 our nine year old spoke no French before arriving
2 Geneva public school was okay - Vaud has been much better
3 the teachers are super caring and involved
4 there’s no pressure on the elementary school kids to acquire, but rather integration and support
In our experience: Geneva had a large school and there were eight in the class for half the day - and half the day in regular class. The kids in the acquisition class found the other English speakers and played together. Not as helpful.
In VD, she’s the only acquisition kid in her grade, so she gets several hours of one on one. She spends more time in regular class, and during her first month had two partners (English speaking kids) who helped her out. She now sits next to French speaking kids and after two months in VD and six weeks in GE, seems to be getting it. She has ups and downs, but is making definite progress.
Message me if you want more info. Cheers and welcome.
My kids arrived here several years ago with no German ( we are in the German part). Our experience ( and also that of the new students in my grade 5/6 class) is that the first 6 months are rough, after that it gets better. If your 12 yr old knows this and heads into it with an open mind and good attitude it is easier to bare. This is also why it may be a good idea to drop down a grade. There is no stigma to this here and several kids in the class will be a year older because they may have repeated a year somewhere along the line. Plus it will give them an extra year of learning the language before mandatory schooling ends. This can make a big difference at that point. 12 is probably the latest I would recommend switching the school language.