Valeriy Demidov: Multilingual School

At the present time, many young people leave their native countries to receive an international education and experience, and many families immigrate to developed countries. Therefore the importance of multilingual schools, colleges and universities increases. As all social institutes, the multilingual schools have both advantages and disadvantages.

Multilingual schools have several important benefits. Students with different backgrounds learn an international language together and help each other to understand its vocabulary and expressions. For example, some words in Russian have the roots in English, and many English words are cognizable in Spanish; it permits to classmates from Russia and Spain to work together usefully. So at cooperative studies all students gain valuable experience in collaboration and socialization. At the some time, they learn about various cultures, traditions and history of nations from their classmates and friends. Sometimes it is difficult to find information about some ethnic cultures and traditions, facts of contemporary history, but it is easy to know about them from people of these cultures.

Of course multilingual schools have some disadvantages too. For instance, the limited skills in an international language put obstacles in rapid and deep assimilation of subjects, especially in natural sciences. After improving their language skills students can learn all subjects effectively. Another problem that may appear in multilingual classes is inter-racial conflicts which may be the result of ignorance or antagonism with other cultures and traditions. Often someone offends other person not purposely, but through ignorance of the culture of the person. The students should have sufficient tolerance to other nations and races.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the advantages of multilingual schools outweigh the disadvantages. During the education in this kind of schools and dealing with problems that appear in international groups, students learn socialization skills and become better prepared for their future lives.