Bilingualism opportunity

From generations of English-speaking New Zealanders, I spent at least four years learning French at high school but can’t claim to be bilingual. I was taught by a Rhodes Scholar, but I couldn’t converse with anyone I met on a trip to France.

Luckily for me, the French people I met were all bilingual, as they had grown up able to speak both languages from an early age.

We already have a growing bilingual community and many Mā ori and Samoan children are bilingual.

Who is missing out? The ones whose only language is English.

We especially should be right behind every effort to give children with a purely English heritage the opportunity to become bilingual from an early age. Let’s use an official language to do this!

Marie Woods, Bishopdale