Bringing up baby bilingual

[maeveenroute]

(Title shamelessly stolen from, well, everywhere.)

From the Des Moines Register, 20 May 2005: "Kids soak up foreign-language skills"A number of programs in the Des Moines area (and elsewhere, but this isn't what this particular article is about) are offering early, intensive exposure to foreign languages, most often Spanish, but also "Chinese" (no

Comments

[madcaptenor]

I would guess "Chinese" means Mandarin.

[waffler]

Thanks for the thoughtful and informative entry. Gives me some things to think about.

And I agree, the Chinese "alphabet" part was a bit...I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.

[beowabbit]

I honestly wonder how much of that language exposure these kids will remember by the time they get to a secondary-school classroom.
I bet they won’t remember much of it on a conscious level, but I bet it will still be a huge help. Third languages are a lot easier to learn than second languages, and I bet that even if the kids don’t remember a word of the language they were immersed in in preschool by high school, they will still have more foreign-language proficiency than kids who weren’t exposed to a second language.And can we please also tell them that "Chinese" isn't one language?
I take your point, but I think you’ll be fighting an uphill battle with U.S. newspaper reporters and preschool teachers until you can get the Chinese government on board - the Mandarin speakers with an army. (I’m guessing that by “Chinese alphabet” the article meant Pīnyīn.)Hey, Mommy and Daddy, today in school we started learning "Romance"
Actually, I’ve often wished there were college courses in “Romance” or “Germanic” or “Slavic” like that, where in

[unopeneddoor]

*blinks in confusion* How did I end up here? Gotta love the random-ness of the Internet. :)

Anyway, I may be showing off my ignorance here . . . but don't kiddies that have an early exposure to a second language have more path thingers in their brain, thus making it easier to learn a language later?

Although, I agree it's a little silly to teach Munchkins then let them forget all over again.

Ah, on another note . . .

I was at a SF/Fantasy convention a couple months ago (my favorite author was the guest of honor, had to go). Anyway, there was a workshop on Mandarin Chinese. The rationale? If friendly aliens ever contact earth they will probably speak a language with a lot of native speakers. So you'd better learn Mandarin now, so you can pass the time of day with them.

[maeveenroute]

*blinks in return confusion* How indeed? (Do I perchance know you IRL? have any mutual friends? Or is this actually the result of a perfectly random clickthrough? I'm always pleasantly surprised to find people reading me who are under no personal obligation to do so. *smile

[unopeneddoor]

I think I got to your LJ from Clevergirl's somehow. But I dunno really. I was just bored and randomly surfing. You seemed like you had some interesting things to say, so I commented