Hello, I am currently living in USA and planning to return Hyderabad, India next year. I have a 9 years old daughter who speaks only American English. I noticed a dislike and kind a rejection to moving to India in my daughter since she can't speak our mother tongue Telugu or any other Indian languages like Hindi. My biggest concern is about her that what would be the best school in Hyderabad that all the kids and teachers speaks only English. For this what board of education would be suitable if it is related to it. But my priority is the schools that speaks only English and not any other language like Telugu and Hindi Because as far as I know from my recent friends, the best schools kids like DPS and etc also speaks Telugu in class rooms. kids were not restricted by school management to speak only English which is necessary for my daughter. Apart from this, I am trying to teach her our mother tongue Telugu but not sure when she can be fluent with that. I hope I explained better for you to understand my concern... Please answer the below questions as per my above concerns and also any additional recommendations/suggestions are kindly welcome out of your real life experiences as an Indian parent for an Indian American kid. (1)What is the best Indian board of education for a 9 years old American Indian kid who doesn't know any Indian language except the American English? India has primarily 4 boards of school education, namely CBSE, ICSE, State boards and IB. Need a suggestion on which board of school education would fit as the best for a Kid born and studied in America till 9 yrs of age (4th grade) (2)What are the experiences as an Indian Parent moved from USA to India with an Indian American kid aged 8-10 who speaks only American English? Any suggestions would be appreciated out of your experiences or lessons learned.
@Anusri13 , I am also eagerly waiting for responses. I am also just in your situation, planning return to India soon. My daughter understands Telugu but when she speaks only I can understand as it’s not fluent. On top of those questions, would also like to raise what preparation we have to do to cope up with those standard and style of teaching. Hope to hear back IL’s suggestions.
sorry I cant help about the specific questions , but here are my two cents on learning languages. Does your daughter like languages? If so this is a great age to learn a new language. As long as she doesnt have an aversion to Telugu or Hindi, she will pick it up fast. The irony of life is that we are best equipped to learn languages as a child, but we appreciate the beauty of languages much later in life. And language is best learnt by talking. So yes she will need make adjustment and time to settle down, but with your support she can. So instead of searching for a school that is English only, go for one that is academically in English but has a mix of children from different backgrounds.
Current education system is not a healthy as before now everything running behind money better look for a school which gives less stress to the students. If you are relocating to Hyderabad as per my knowledge all the schools speaks English, Telugu commonly and Hindi too. Any CBSE Syllabus school is good rather than state one. Schools like Indus or Oak ridge International schools are good.
As per my suggestion ICSE syllabus should be better since they have a higher level of English.. Good international schools usually give importance only to English..
Hi AnuSri, We are USCs who recently relocated to India (in July) after a long stint of 16+ years in the US. My daughter is in grade 7. We enrolled her into an international school in Bangalore that caters most of the returning OCIs/PIOs. They follow IGCSE syllabus (Cambridge Institute of Education) and it's an IB school too. More than 80% of my daughter's classmates are either PIOs or OCIs. I don't see an issue if you enroll your kid into an IB/IGCSE school. Infact in my apartment I know some friends who returned with their 10 year olds and enrolled them into ICSE in international school. It will take just a good 3 to 6 months time for your daughter to be able to grasp your local language, well she may not be fluent though. The other good thing about going international route is that they offer foreign languages and not force the student to opt Indian language as in some CBSE schools. For us, I researched through lot of programs from CBSE to IB and ended up going with IB as she can enter into all world universities that includes Indian premier schools like IITs and NITs. I hope that gives you a clarity. BTW you can PM me if you need more info. As a final piece of advise, be it Chennai, Bangalore or Hyderabad you will be mostly put up in a society where more than 50% to 75% of the population would NRIs, that's so natural as a returning NRI. So why worry? Cheers, advitha
Why do you think your daughter shouldn't speak or hear your mother tongue while she lives in India? Isn't it great to be able to communicate in your mother tongue at least while living in your home country? In fact, it was a poor decision to teach only English to the kid all these while. You could have taught her your mother tongue and another Indian language alternatively. But it is not too late.. She is very young, so she can pick up Telugu or even another Indian language quickly. Kids have this ability of learning a new language more faster than adults. Don't deprive your kid from this chance. In fact, knowing many language is an asset. Knowing your mother tongue is the biggest asset. Enroll her into a good quality English medium School. Let your kid mingle with other kids who speak native languages. Support her by talking in Telugu as much as you can at home. If possible, send her to some language classes. While mingling with friends in an Indian environment down the line, your kid will learn the local language quickly.
Hi Anusri13 When I was a kid my dad was transferred to Gujarat (I was in year 7 and my sis in year 5). We picked up Gujarathi and Hindi in few months. never had problem making friends due to language. I think your daughter will benefit more if kids in school speak in telugu (if u r happy with the school otherwise). She ll be fine in no time. I think adults need more settling time than kids. She ll surprise you.
please look out for international schools. Some schools i can think of are Oakridge international School, Indus international and Future Kids