Kindergarteners at Public School 58 tell their teacher “bonjour” when they arrive and “au revoir” at dismissal – and they speak a lot more French in between.
The Carroll Gardens school is one of the three city public schools that now offer French-English dual language instruction, to the delight of parents and the French Embassy, which had pushed for the program.
The city offers dual-language programs at about 65 schools, though most are taught in Spanish or Chinese. In September, 2007, students P.S. 58 and schools on the upper West Side and in the Bronx became the first to get the opportunity to be taught in French, which is spoken by an estimated 200 million people worldwide.
Chika Osaka visited the 4- and 5-year-old emerging French speakers of P.S. 58.
