AndreCarla Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hi All,We are new to the forum and we are about to submit our expression of interest letter and all of a sudden all these questions that we've been holding back on are bubbling to the surface. By God's grace we will hopefully land by end 2015.I'm worried about my eldest who is in grade 4 this year. Would any of you recommend extra English lessons prior to our departure? Or any extra classes to assist with the conversion from Afrikaans to English schooling? Please share any of your experiences?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnYellowBrickRd Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Ek sou nie te veel bekommer as ek jy was nie. Jy sal absoluut stomgeslaan wees hoe vinnig jou kleinding dit optel. Myne het binne 3 maande Engels met ' n Aussie aksent begin praat. Aan die begin sal dit bietjie met rukke en stote gaan. Gee net baie ondersteuning, maar kinders word van kleins af in Suid - Afrika aan Engels blootgestel. Daar is ook gespesialiseerde hulp in skole hier vir leerlinge vanuit die buiteland. As hy/sy sukkel sal daar iemand wees om te help. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreCarla Posted April 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hello OnyellowbrickrdBaie dankie, dit help baie. Ek is nie so bekommerd oor die Engels praat nie, maar meer oor al die akademiese konsepte in Engels, maar die gespesialiseerde hulp in skole sal hopelik daarmee help. Weet jy of die hulp in publieke skole beskikbaar is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnYellowBrickRd Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 For the sake of the English speaking forumites:Yes. There are teacher's helpers in state (public) schools too. In RSA I was in an Afrikaans school from grade 1 to grade 5 and then I went to an English school for 3 years. I quickly picked up the terminology. I then went back to an Afrikaans school (private schooling became too expensive). I didn't have any academic issues. To be honest (and I know most people won't believe me when I say this), if you move to Aus with an open mind you will be fine. If you have the opportunity to do so and you don't. ..you're being stupid.We've been here 2 years and, apart from missing family, we're so happy that we have moved. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreCarla Posted April 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Great, thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Just thought I would add, if anybody still did not know, kids are absolute, astonishing sponges. Some of you will know that we have Aussie born kiddies who we have never spoken English to. It quite amazing to listen to them talk to a stranger about a intricate concept in English while "gooi-ing" big words that have never come out of my mouth. Mr 5 is now in kindy (first year of school) and I had my parent/teacher meeting yesterday. At the end of a glowing report I mentioned something about him being bilingual and the poor woman almost fell off her chair. She would never have guessed. Dont stress the language thing too much. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwerty Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 My daughter is also in kindy and they have an ESL (English Second Language) teacher that comes into their class on a weekly basis and works with them on additional topics (while they are covering the same topics as the rest of the class). My daughter is doing really well and in the parent/teacher meeting her teacher had absolutely now concerns about her progress thus far. She arrived in Aus at the end of June 2014. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshB Posted April 2, 2015 Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 My experience of Australia after 1 year of being here South Africans still speak better english than most Aussies in general, so mate don't go through the stress your kids will be fine. Just get here and drive a big Holden.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted April 2, 2015 Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 My experience of Australia after 1 year of being here South Africans still speak better english than most Aussies in general, so mate don't go through the stress your kids will be fine. Just get here and drive a big Holden....Driving a big holden does't improve your English 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreCarla Posted April 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 Thanks for all the input! AshB, I'm a Toyota fan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanniewagnie Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Here in WA there are schools for kids that do not understand english - they follow the normal curriculum and as soon as they feel the child is ready (a term or a year) you can move the child to your catchment school. School bus free of charge as far as I know. (There may be costs involved if you are not on PR). Google intensive English Centre to see what school with this service might be in your area.We chose to send our kids (gr 3 &5) straight from Afr school to Public Primary school. They are there for 2 weeks already and I have to admit, it is a huge shock to them. They will be evaluated to see if they are up to standard. We hoped the 'evaluation' would be done by the time next term started, but because it was the swimming carnaval, not much work was done in the classrooms the past 2 weeks and they will finish the evaluation in the first few weeks of the 2nd term. I am really worried about my youngest, because he struggled a bit in SA, so I keep a close eye on him. My oldest have to skip Gr 5 and do Gr 6 which implies that she will be in high school next year, which I also do not feel comfortable with... I trust all will work out in the end, but one cannot help to worry!FYI: Here in our school, they have French as a 2nd language. They start in Year 2 already. The French teacher asked us to do online french lessons for things like counting from 1 a 20, days of the week, days of the month, family tree (grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, cousin etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Here in WA there are schools for kids that do not understand english - they follow the normal curriculum and as soon as they feel the child is ready (a term or a year) you can move the child to your catchment school. School bus free of charge as far as I know. (There may be costs involved if you are not on PR). Google intensive English Centre to see what school with this service might be in your area.We chose to send our kids (gr 3 &5) straight from Afr school to Public Primary school. They are there for 2 weeks already and I have to admit, it is a huge shock to them. They will be evaluated to see if they are up to standard. We hoped the 'evaluation' would be done by the time next term started, but because it was the swimming carnaval, not much work was done in the classrooms the past 2 weeks and they will finish the evaluation in the first few weeks of the 2nd term. I am really worried about my youngest, because he struggled a bit in SA, so I keep a close eye on him. My oldest have to skip Gr 5 and do Gr 6 which implies that she will be in high school next year, which I also do not feel comfortable with... I trust all will work out in the end, but one cannot help to worry!FYI: Here in our school, they have French as a 2nd language. They start in Year 2 already. The French teacher asked us to do online french lessons for things like counting from 1 a 20, days of the week, days of the month, family tree (grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, cousin etc).Kanniewaggie, hope this comes out right. I have never heard of this in Aus, had to google it. Although this is fine and well, I get the feeling that this will be primarily for refugee children and others from a non "western" back ground who has a bigger leap to make. I have honestly never heard of a Afrikaans kid struggling for more than a month or two to get their heads around learning the language and schooling in Eng. Normally there is help available in state schools and their teachers will give them extra support and will cut them slack with catching up on work. I would steer clear of a system where they would be placed outside the norm and then have to transition to regular school in any case. Take it easy, support them, give praise with reaching little goals and have some fun. Invite kids in their class to meet you in the park for a play over the holidays. Tell your kids how amazing their brains are for making this transformation. Its only early days, a lot can still happen. You are doing a great job, take it easy on yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ERG Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Perfectly said, rozellem! The Afrikaans kids pick it up quickly, relax and watch your kids change into Aussies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legallyblond Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Kanniewaggie, in which school is your children? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanniewagnie Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Tx, I signed up with the library and they also have e-books, which my oldest likes. They have to read a bit every day. My youngest have to read out loud while sitting with me, because what he reads is not necessarily what's in the book...They are in Duncraig Primary. I asked the teachers and head master to keep my daughter in Gr 5, 'cause I don't want her to skip a grade, but they don't seem very willing.My son's teacher admits he seems more on a Year 2 level and that he can see that my son is struggling to keep up. This breaks my heart and I noticed them both being a bit 'distant', even tearful before school starts in the mornings. I explained to them that we understand how difficult this must be and that they must now focus on adapting and making friends, finding that 'happy place' again, then we'll gradually catch up with the academics again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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