Immersion and its effects outside Canada

Canada was the first country to develop and implement the immersion approach. Canadians can also take pride in knowing that other countries around the world have been inspired by this approach. For example, in the United States, the model is used to teach Spanish and French; in Estonia, Estonian is taught as a second language to Russian speakers; and in Germany, the model is used to teach English.  

In immersion programs, French is not only the subject matter, but also the language of instruction and a means of communication. As new subjects are introduced into the curriculum, such as history or geography, French remains the language of instruction.

First introduced in 1966 to a group of 26 kindergarten students at Margaret Pendlebury Elementary School in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, what began as a pilot project has since grown into a mainstream French second-language education program that is delivered to more than 300,000 students across Canada. 

Interestingly, in Canada, the immersion model is also being used to teach other languages, such as Ukrainian in Edmonton, Alberta, and Mohawk in Ontario (Six Nations of the Grand River) and Quebec (Kahnawà:ke).