When I was in 6th grade in California, a girl was in my class that had just moved from Mexico. The teacher assigned me to help her since she spoke no English. That was before the days of mandatory ESL, etc. Her dad was transferred here for a job. Anyway, that same year I started my three mandatory years of Spanish instruction. But working with her, I learned Spanish fast as she learned English.
Years later, living in Alpine, I spoke more Spanish than I did English. After that, I forgot a lot because I didn’t use it a whole lot. But we took the kids to Jaurez once and I ordered in Spanish and talked to storekeepers. My kids were so impressed!
I think kids learn better before ESL. When we were in Corpus Christi my son had a ton of friends that had been an ESL for years and years. Then they had one student from Russia who didn’t speak a word of English. By the end of the first year he was quite proficient. They have a stake in keeping these kids in these classes where they don’t learn much.
Looks like I better not go to Alpine though.