A Personal Message to Kinderlingua Parents

Dear Parent:

As a parent, educator and the founder of Kinderlingua, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a few of my thoughts regarding the importance of foreign language acquisition for young children.

Having been born in to a multi-lingual and multi-cultural home, my earliest memories of childhood have always been associated with the sonorous melodies of different languages, each language, accompanied by its own traditions, customs and culture. It was not until age 5, when I was mainstreamed into an American Kindergarten, that I realized that my personal reality was vastly different from the majority of my peers. Beginning at an early age, I had been given the necessary tools to enable me to navigate between different languages and cultures. This facility enhanced my ability to experience, appreciate and respect the subtle and unique nuances that exist between languages, their people and their respective culture. I will always be grateful to my parents for having had the foresight to bestow this invaluable “gift” upon me.

Today, as an adult, educator and parent I am keenly aware of how early exposure to language and culture can affect a child’s ability to meet the future challenges of our ever-evolving global community. One of Kinderlingua’s educational objectives is to provide Kinderlingua students with experiences and insights that will inevitably help shape their future. Upon the birth of my own children, I was determined to transmit all the benefits associated with foreign language study to them. This determination became the blueprint for Kinderlingua.

If, as a parent, you would like to enrich your child’s education with the ability to understand and communicate in a foreign language, broaden your child’s horizon by providing them with an experience that will enhance their understanding of the different languages and cultures of this world, or prepare them to meet the challenges of the new millennium, I feel certain that your child’s Kinderlingua experience will prove invaluable. In the meantime, whether it is a Spanish poem, Chinese song, or a French comptines that captures your child’s imagination, it is my sincere hope that your child’s Kinderlingua memories will forever be associated with the romance of their childhood.

Sincerely,
Dominique F. Edrei-Reiff, M.Ed.
Founder, Kinderlingua