A trilingual school

Arboretum College offers excellent language development for English, French and Dutch, with a focus on effective communication and functionality. All students will be supported in developing mastery of their predominant language as a solid base for extending their abilities in the other languages.

It has been scientifically proven that learning a second language is very beneficial for overall cognitive development, facilitating the acquisition of further languages and slowing the damage caused by neurological diseases.

The first cycle will offer a bilingual Dutch-French programme, complemented by 4 hours of intensive English instruction, grouped by ability rather than age. Starting in the second cycle, 3rd year students will follow science and maths in English.

All teachers will teach in their mother tongue. While everyone (including teachers) will be encouraged to speak all three languages, the majority of written work will be presented in each person’s native language for greater effectiveness.

During discussions and meetings as well as in all correspondence, each will be able to express him or herself in one of the three languages used at the school. The website is trilingual. The focal point is to encourage trilingualism, even if perfect trilingualism is a myth!