An Israeli in Silicon Valley

Raluca Abrahami,
February 25, 1998.

I would like to express my support for the English for Children initiative. Based on my personal experience, I know for a fact that teaching the immigrant children to speak, read and write English is in their best interest.

Ten years ago my husband was relocated to the US from Israel. At that time, our 8 years old daughter did not know any English and didn't even know the Latin alphabet. When we arrived to the US, she was in third grade, close to the end of the school year. Walking into the classroom for the first time was frightening for her. Due to the fact that she wanted to communicate with other children, she was forced to learn English fast and her vocabulary increased day by day. My husband and I gave her all the support she needed in preparing her daily homework and buying her books to read in English. At school she was enrolled in an ESL (English Secondary Language) program and the teachers were very supportive.

The school's principal was the only person who didn't realize that children, especially at young ages, are capable of learning and assimilating very fast other languages. He decided, without consulting her teachers, that our daughter had to repeat the third grade in order to have time to learn English without concentrating her efforts towards new subjects. I tried to explain to him that we come from a country were thousands of immigrant children come from around the world, and by only going to school and attending the classes and interacting daily with other kids, they learn Hebrew within an year. The system was proven as working. Because we didn't want her to repeat the year, in fourth grade we moved our daughter to another school. By the end of the school year, she caught up in all her studies and she mastered the English language. In order to return to her old school, she had to undergo an English test. Passing successfully that test was a rewarding experience for her. Basically, within one year she was able to read, write and talk almost fluently in English. In fifth grade, besides her regular school schedule, she continued with the ESL program that helped her enormously.

My experience tells me that money, time and effort should be invested to bring more English teachers to schools to spend time with kids in ESL type of programs. Besides, the majority of immigrant children are eager, happy and willing to learn English as fast as possible in order to integrate and communicate with their friends and peers.

Starting with the definition of a nation as a stable community of people with a territory, history, culture and language in common, I strongly believe that we should support and encourage the immigrant children to master the English language in order to become an integral part of this nation.