Calandreta

A Calandreta is a bilingual school in Occitania in the South of France where the Occitan language is taught alongside the French language. These schools are based on the same principal as the Diwan schools of Brittany, the "Gaelscoileanna" movement in Ireland, the "Ikastolak" movement in the Basque Country, the "Ysgolion Meithrin" movement in Wales and the schools of Northern Catalonia. [fr icon [http://www.diwanbreizh.org/sections.php4?op=viewarticle&artid=34 L'immersion : une stratégie pour le bilinguisme] ]

Bilinguality from an early age is recommended by many linguists, as it helps children become more adept at learning additional languages. Some studies have shown that bilingual children have advantages over monoglot children in other subjects.cite book
last = Bialystok and Hakuta
title = In Other Words: The Science and Psychology of Second-Language Acquisition
publisher = Basic Books
date = 1994
location = New York
isbn = 0-465-03281-8 ]

The first Calandreta appeared in 1979 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Twenty-six schools exist as of 2008, as well as two colleges comprising about 2100 students in all. The Calandretas are privately run, secular and free of charge. They follow a program approved by the Ministry of National Education. []

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