1. When do EAL students whose first language is not German start studying German?
In the Middle School, all EAL students start taking a German class as soon as they join ISH, even those who attend an Intensive class.
In Grades 9 and 10, students may start studying German once they are in the Transition class. Alternatively, they may decide to continue attending an EAL Extra Support class
2. How many students are there in an EAL class?
The number of EAL students does not usually exceed more than 8 students.
3. What English class is appropriate after Gr.10 EAL?
Gr.10 EAL Intermediate students usually choose to study English B (Higher Level or Standard Level) as part of their IB Diploma. Gr.10 EAL Transition students may prefer to choose English A2 (Higher Level or Standard Level).
4. How can you support your child?
- Before your child starts at ISH or during long school holidays, consider enrolling your child in an English course. Ask one of the EAL teachers for advice.
- Encourage your child to make friends with students who don’t all speak the same mother tongue. EAL students often make rapid progress if they also take the opportunity to speak English outside the EAL class.
- When they watch movies originally produced in English, encourage them to watch the movie in English with subtitles in their mother tongue or even in English, if possible. As a lot of students are visual learners, reading the words as they hear them will help them memorise these words.
- Encourage your child to join after-school activities, a sport, an artistic activity. Consult the after-school programme for a full list of activities available at ISH. Being involved in an after-school activity is a great way to meet other students, make new friends and practice English outside of class.
- Make sure to take measures to help your child maintain their mother tongue. Consult the mother tongue programme for a full list of languages taught at ISH.
- Maintaining the mother tongue is essential for the emotional and academic development of every child. Research has also shown that EAL students who have a strong command of their first language and who maintain it while they develop their English are more likely to become better English speaker.
- Moreover, it is particularly important for EAL students to continue studying their first language if they are going to prepare an IB Diploma in Grades 11 and 12 as they will have the opportunity to study their first language as their A1 language.
- Finally, EAL students should continue studying their first language as they are very likely to return to their home country to study at university.
