The School Choice lottery is open through Friday, Dec. 5. Learn more about the World Language and Language Immersion programs as well as all the district’s choice programs here. 

 

South Mecklenburg High School senior Marilyn Tobar said it just recently clicked for her how unique of an experience she had participating in a dual language immersion program. 

Looking back at her time at Collinswood Language Academy, she remembered being in a classroom full of students and teachers of different backgrounds but they were all there with one common goal — to learn Spanish.

“The program in itself is so beneficial,” said Tobar. “Not even to Hispanics, but to other cultures as well because not everybody gets the chance to grow up, get used to the language and have an environment of everyone around you speaking Spanish. It adjusts your brain to actually balance out both of the languages, so you’re getting the best of both worlds.”

Lisa Bebonga Ilunga, a native French speaker from the Congo and a senior at North Mecklenburg High School, moved to the states when she was 8 years old and attended Highland Renaissance Academy and Briarwood Academy before joining the French immersion program at Waddell Language Academy, now the South Academy of International Languages (SAIL), in the sixth grade.

“I was extremely surprised at how other kids that didn’t originally speak French were able to communicate in the language,” she said. “The teachers were understanding, the environment was cool and everybody was willing to learn. It was good.”

 

Language programs promote high academic achievement and cultural awareness

The goal of the World Language (non-immersion) and Language Immersion programs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is to promote high academic achievement in literacy and proficiency in dual languages while enhancing the level of cultural awareness among students. Languages offered in the immersion and non-immersion programs include Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. 

Starting in kindergarten, students in the Language Immersion program become familiar with the language as lessons are conducted in the target language for all or part of the instructional day. In the non-immersion program, students can select a language as early as the sixth grade. 

“A world language is only going to benefit a child in the long term,” said Ross Smith, Spanish teacher at North Mecklenburg High School and part-time World Language magnet coordinator. “Regardless of whether they pursue it as a career or they just take it in high school, it’s going to deepen their understanding of the world and not just the subject area.”

And through the programs, students find connections not just through learning a new language, but also with each other. 

Trilce Veckruise, senior at South Mecklenburg High School, said she found community in her peers in the German immersion program at Waddell Language Academy and is still in class with students she knew since kindergarten. 

“I believe all the Waddell students have a sort of connection through the German language and culture. We’re connected in our German-ness,” said Veckruise. “We never really noticed that we were all so different in that way because we came together. They’re like my family.”

Tobar, Veckruise and Bebonga Ilunga are in different clubs for Spanish, French and German where they participate in different cultural activities and spread awareness in their schools and communities. And through their respective programs, Tobar and Veckruise were able to travel abroad. This past summer, Veckruise visited the University of Rostock in Germany for two weeks where she was able to attend seminars and classes. Tobar visited Spain and France with EF Educational Tours for 10 days and explored several cities, museums and other tourist attractions.

“It was really exciting being able to take the German we learned in the classroom and use it in the real world,” said Veckruise. “They understood me and I understood them. It was super exciting.”

“It was my first time traveling, and it was really cool being able to speak Spanish in a foreign country,” said Tobar. 

 

Thinking about what’s next

Tobar, Veckruise and Bebonga Ilunga all plan to continue studying their language in some capacity in college. Tobar loves helping and connecting with people and is interested in studying Sociology, Veckruise wants to attend school in Germany and Bebonga Ilunga wants to study accounting at North Carolina State University with hopes of traveling to Belgium or another European or French-speaking country.

“There’s a huge advantage that comes with learning a new language,” said Bebonga Ilunga. “Even in the job market now, I feel like there’s a greater chance of you getting hired if you speak multiple languages.”

“I’m really passionate about international relations and politics, and I feel like the main reason I was even drawn to international relations is because I want to keep using my languages in some way,” said Veckruise. “I never want to lose the skill of knowing three languages. It’s special and I want to be able to keep that skill.”

And if Tobar could go back in time, reflecting on her experiences in the program, she said she wouldn’t change a thing.

“Thinking of everybody I’ve helped these years, I feel like I wouldn’t be the same person without Spanish,” said Tobar. “I’m very passionate about helping people, and I get so happy when I’m out and about and can help a stranger or someone new to the country or a little kid having to help their mom translate, cause I was there once. I feel like without actually academically learning the language, I wouldn’t be the same person or have the same opportunities.”