BilingualWiki - Recent changes [en]

Special:Log/delete

Christine.jernigan — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:35:26 GMT

deleted "[[Suggestions for Patricia Fontg]]": she dosn't want her name on th page

Parent exposing many languages and cultures

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:07:19 GMT

Spanish, French Portuguese in Montreal

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:06:08 GMT

Suggestions for Pat. F.

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:05:02 GMT

New page

Your case is just fascinating. Kudos to you for exposing your children to so many languages and cultures. Their lives will be forever enriched.

So many parents have been told my their physicians, their children’s teachers, and by people who have good intentions but who don’t know the research that two languages is the limit.

I feel certain that the number of languages you are exposing them to are not too many. Your children’s brains have amazing capacities.

We do not yet know the limits of the human mind. We need to remember that even the mind is a sponge analogy can be limiting if we take it too far, because a sponge can fill up to the point where it holds no more liquid. The brain, however, can be filled more the more you fill it. See My Child Will Be Confused. (Please know, I am in no way criticizing Montessori Methodology in its use of the Absorvent Mind analogy.)

The best comparison I can make is with love. If any of you have more than one child, you are familiar with wondering, “How will love this next one as much?” We are accustomed to finite amounts. Yet after the birth of that second child, you realize that the more you have to love, the more you love. I cannot explain why that works, just like brain researchers, despite all the energy and funding they expend, do not understand how the mind operates. It is amazing! We must guard against limiting ourselves and our children with the idea that we are going to “overload” them by teaching them another language or two.

You mentioned that your son was having some trouble adapting language-wise. This is often the case with boys more than girls- their brain chemistry does not link the two sides of the brain in the same manner females' do. Boys in general tend to learn languages more slowly than girls. A recent study (so recent it hasn't been published yet) given at the ACTFL (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages) described a longitudinal study of 35 children from elementary to high school. It appeared that the addition of extra languages did not negatively affect the child's ability with the language used in school and that it appeared instead that there was a non-causal relationship between their language growth in the "first language" and their capacity for multilingual learning. This study will probably be published in ACTFL's journal within the next 6 months.

Similar studies have advised against the typical and misadvised speech pathologists' tendency to wait on teaching another language if a child shows any irregularities in learning the first language. In fact, the second language could aid in so many other ways (and at the same time not hinder the first language learning) that one should strongly consider keeping the multiple languages.

You found it important to learn Spanish first, then Portuguese.

Some give what I see as an arbitrary number, as no reputable, completely relevant, research has been done on the subject. But for a different perspective see Bilingualbabies.org

As far as teaching the language of the school first, I think this will just happen due to children's motivation to socialize. It is a basic instinct to communicate. Your children will succeed in doing so in a variety of settings, using a variety of modes. Proceed with confidence.

Spanish, French Portuguese in Montreal

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:04:49 GMT

Suggestions for Multilingual families

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:02:12 GMT

New page

Multilingual families.

In response to Pat. F's comments

Your case is just fascinating. Kudos to you for exposing your children to so many languages and cultures. Their lives will be forever enriched.

So many parents have been told my their physicians, their children’s teachers, and by people who have good intentions but who don’t know the research that two languages is the limit.

I feel certain that the number of languages you are exposing them to are not too many. Your children’s brains have amazing capacities.

We do not yet know the limits of the human mind. We need to remember that even the mind is a sponge analogy can be limiting if we take it too far, because a sponge can fill up to the point where it holds no more liquid. The brain, however, can be filled more the more you fill it. See My Child Will Be Confused. (Please know, I am in no way criticizing Montessori Methodology in its use of the Absorvent Mind analogy.)

The best comparison I can make is with love. If any of you have more than one child, you are familiar with wondering, “How will love this next one as much?” We are accustomed to finite amounts. Yet after the birth of that second child, you realize that the more you have to love, the more you love. I cannot explain why that works, just like brain researchers, despite all the energy and funding they expend, do not understand how the mind operates. It is amazing! We must guard against limiting ourselves and our children with the idea that we are going to “overload” them by teaching them another language or two.

You mentioned that your son was having some trouble adapting language-wise. This is often the case with boys more than girls- their brain chemistry does not link the two sides of the brain in the same manner females' do. Boys in general tend to learn languages more slowly than girls. A recent study (so recent it hasn't been published yet) given at the ACTFL (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages) described a longitudinal study of 35 children from elementary to high school. It appeared that the addition of extra languages did not negatively affect the child's ability with the language used in school and that it appeared instead that there was a non-causal relationship between their language growth in the "first language" and their capacity for multilingual learning. This study will probably be published in ACTFL's journal within the next 6 months.

Similar studies have advised against the typical and misadvised speech pathologists' tendency to wait on teaching another language if a child shows any irregularities in learning the first language. In fact, the second language could aid in so many other ways (and at the same time not hinder the first language learning) that one should strongly consider keeping the multiple languages.

You found it important to learn Spanish first, then Portuguese.

Some give what I see as an arbitrary number, as no reputable, completely relevant, research has been done on the subject. But for a different perspective see Bilingualbabies.org

As far as teaching the language of the school first, I think this will just happen due to children's motivation to socialize. It is a basic instinct to communicate. Your children will succeed in doing so in a variety of settings, using a variety of modes. Proceed with confidence.

Question from a Parent with many languages living in several countries

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:01:29 GMT

Parent exposing many languages and cultures

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:58:36 GMT

Question from a Parent with many languages living in several countries

Christine.jernigan — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:55:51 GMT

-Patricia Fontg's story and question:
+Pat. F.'s story and question:
 <br>
 <br>

 <br>
 <br>
-'''Note:'''  See [[Suggestions for Patricia Fontg]]
+'''Note:'''  See [[Suggestions for Pat. F.]]
 Now or later
 <br>
 <br>
 <br>
-[[Suggestions for Patricia Fontg]]
+See "Suggestions for multilingual families"

Revision as of 22:01, 7 May 2013		Current revision
Line 30:		Line 30:


-	[[Suggestions for Patricia Fontg]]	+	[[Suggestions for Multilingual families]]

 [[Spanish, French Portuguese in Montreal]]
-Patricia Fontg's story and question:
+Pat F.'s story and question:
 <br>
 <br>
-'''Note:'''  See [[Suggestions for Patricia Fontg]] now or later
+'''Note:'''  See [[Suggestions for Pat F.]] now or later
 <br>
 <br>

-Patricia Fontg's story and question:
+Pat F's story and question:
 <br>
 <br>