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vlmagee · 11-07-2003, 09:31 AM

Just a comment on a favorite topic of mine, "Raising Baby Bilingual" a book I read when my son was a baby. Children raised speaking multiple languages will speak both without a trace of an accent with no effort on their part. Just wait another year or so, and that little girl will sound like a native speaker of English too. This is generally true for any child who is introduced to a second (or third or fourth) language while he is young, generally until around puberty (best language acquisition is from birth to age 6).

Interestingly, language acquisition skills begin to decline noticeably around puberty - which just happens to be when we (in the US) first start a foreign language in school. Smart, huh?

I sent my son to a French-American school from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Most of the children had at least one French parent; about half had two - families who were here on assignment for a period of a few years. Children would often start the school year not speaking a word of English; by Thanksgiving they were speaking it easily with an accent; by the end of the school year, the younger children sounded "like American kids" ... this is a combination of early exposure to the second language and the powers of immersion. They not only speak it without an accent (by which I mean foreign accent, not regional which we all have to an extent), but they think in both languages too. You can learn that when you are older, but it is much harder.

In my son's case, once he switched to an American school and took his French AP in 9th grade, he stopped taking any French at school. However, whenever he has an opportunity to speak it with a native, it takes him only about 15 minutes to regain most of his fluency. And he sounds French, with the Parisian accent of his grade school teachers. I, having started French in 7th grade like most American children, have to struggle to think in French and that is after years of working on it. My accent is very good though because, although my mother didn't speak French with me when I was little, she did speak it with her mother and spoke English with a French accent. When I was 3, I too spoke English with a French accent! My mother quickly sent me off to nursery school to fix that.

And then there is the whole ESL folly in the US ...

Sorry for the soapbox, but for anyone with young children and a love for foreign languages, think about starting your children out early. You can do it yourself, speaking the language to your child even if you are not fluent yourself. My son didn't appreciate it in his middle school or early high school years, but somewhere around 16 or so he began to appreciate the fact that he had a second language. And, if you speak two languages, learning a third is that much easier. Anyone can give their child the gift of a second language.

------------------
Valerie Magee

Visit my GL web site at gordonlightfoot.com and Cathy Cowette's site at cathycowette.com

[This message has been edited by vlmagee (edited November 07, 2003).]

11-07-2003, 09:31 AM	#13
vlmagee Senior Member Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Ballston Spa, NY Posts: 724	Just a comment on a favorite topic of mine, "Raising Baby Bilingual" a book I read when my son was a baby. Children raised speaking multiple languages will speak both without a trace of an accent with no effort on their part. Just wait another year or so, and that little girl will sound like a native speaker of English too. This is generally true for any child who is introduced to a second (or third or fourth) language while he is young, generally until around puberty (best language acquisition is from birth to age 6). Interestingly, language acquisition skills begin to decline noticeably around puberty - which just happens to be when we (in the US) first start a foreign language in school. Smart, huh? I sent my son to a French-American school from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Most of the children had at least one French parent; about half had two - families who were here on assignment for a period of a few years. Children would often start the school year not speaking a word of English; by Thanksgiving they were speaking it easily with an accent; by the end of the school year, the younger children sounded "like American kids" ... this is a combination of early exposure to the second language and the powers of immersion. They not only speak it without an accent (by which I mean foreign accent, not regional which we all have to an extent), but they think in both languages too. You can learn that when you are older, but it is much harder. In my son's case, once he switched to an American school and took his French AP in 9th grade, he stopped taking any French at school. However, whenever he has an opportunity to speak it with a native, it takes him only about 15 minutes to regain most of his fluency. And he sounds French, with the Parisian accent of his grade school teachers. I, having started French in 7th grade like most American children, have to struggle to think in French and that is after years of working on it. My accent is very good though because, although my mother didn't speak French with me when I was little, she did speak it with her mother and spoke English with a French accent. When I was 3, I too spoke English with a French accent! My mother quickly sent me off to nursery school to fix that. And then there is the whole ESL folly in the US ... Sorry for the soapbox, but for anyone with young children and a love for foreign languages, think about starting your children out early. You can do it yourself, speaking the language to your child even if you are not fluent yourself. My son didn't appreciate it in his middle school or early high school years, but somewhere around 16 or so he began to appreciate the fact that he had a second language. And, if you speak two languages, learning a third is that much easier. Anyone can give their child the gift of a second language. ------------------ Valerie Magee Visit my GL web site at gordonlightfoot.com and Cathy Cowette's site at cathycowette.com [This message has been edited by vlmagee (edited November 07, 2003).]