We
are now living in a very diversified culture and society. It really is
natural to find people who usually are speaking at least two languages,
are usually bilingual. But there are some multilingual parents or even
those who are not, that are afraid that their coaching their children
two languages would make them confused. Is learning ii languages
beneficial to our kids?
Most of the times, these young children
who have learned two languages find it as a necessity in their
environment and area (Houwer, 1999). There are some cases that kids
would grow up in communities where a lot of people who speak in two
languages on the everyday tasks. This would have impact on how children
would acquire and later on, speak these kinds of languages.
Not
all parents are happy because of their children learning to speak two
'languages'. There are speech therapists who think that learning two
languages could actually bring about language delays. They would say
that children would end up confused. In some circumstances, they would
even suggest that parents make method for the dominant or major
language, as well as drop speaking secondary languages. They believed
that acquiring the main language of the earth will be better if there
are not any other languages to compete with.
On the contrary,
these claims aside speech therapists still remain to be unproved and
without any supporting technological evidence. There are many children
with grown up in bilingual even multilingual family and community, and
they didn't develop any language disorders or gaps.
Some
linguists and child development specialists would even recommend
children to be tutored with foreign language between birth and also age
7. There are studies showing that young children can say about 50 words,
whether they are monolingual or maybe bilingual, by the time they get
to 18 months. Apparently, according to Italian researches, a baby or
child that learns how to communicate in two languages could actually
make the brain more flexible. Experts also discovered that this ability
of children to acquire vocabulary easily would decline when they reach
puberty.
If you are a parent who wants to have a bilingual child then there are something you can do.
o
You can make your kids exposed as much as possible towards language you
would like them to hear. But be sure that they would be given time to
hear equally language. You could start reading these books. Tapes and
CDs will besides help in language learning. Children are often very
enthusiastic with music, so try vocal range too. Watching television,
video tapes as well as DVDs are also great ways flying insects them to
the language. Some mother and father would even enroll or encourage
their children to be a part of language programs like language camps.
o
Remember that languages are strongly linked to emotions and identity.
There are many children who develop a sort of trauma whenever their
mother and father would stop responding to them just simply because use a
different language. So be conscious whenever talking to your children
too. Do not use language exclusive with just one child, the others may
feel excluded as well as later on develop problems with their behavior.
o
Some parents tend to always be too strict when teaching their kids to
learn other languages. Do not punish, humiliate and rebuke you kids just
for using a different language when talking to you or to other people.
If you're feeling that you kid is not catching up with the speech
milestones a child should meet, then do certainly not hesitate to
consult professionals. Sometimes it might be hearing-related issue.
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