Do Not Try This At Home

So you have made the commitment to give your children a jump start on learning a second language. The Time Magazine you picked up during all of your free time as a parent of three told you the window of opportunity to learn a second language is between birth and the age of ten or twelve. You even heard a little four year old girl at the preschool your child attends speak to her mom in Spanish yet turn and talk to your daughter in English.

You are determined not to be outdone by the Gomez family who just moved here from Puerto Rico last year so you diligently did your research during loads of laundry, shuffling kids to hither and yon, and now you have purchased the language learning set that you feel best fits the learning style of your family! Now, granted, you have a toddler, a preschooler and an elementary aged child, but you know this language learning program that cost almost as much as your new HDTV is going to do the trick!

Now what? Often, as a mom and educator, I stand by and witness some of the most common mistakes made by well meaning parents or teachers who have decided to make second language learning a part of their daily routine, hoping to give each child a sound foundation for later language learning. I strongly request that you allow reality to hit your adult brain quickly! Your child will NOT be conversationally fluent or biliterate in one year or even two or three.

There is a huge debate among linguistics and experts who study and teach world languages. I refuse to get caught up in something that very much resembles the Palin Biden Debate of this most recent Presidential Campaign! I will tell you, as most of you realize since day one as a teacher and as a parent, all children develop differently. Bottom line is we all know that these little darlings are not going to be running around the house waking the dog up in French, the cat up in English and driving you crazy in fluent Spanish!

Now let us examine some common mistakes made by others that I know none of you will stake claim to! Have you ever seen the parent who insists that her young child speak in only the native tongue of their family? She stands there telling her little three year old that she will not reply to her child unless he speaks in French or Spanish or whatever their native language is in their home.

Just like any other demand you might try to place on your young child, this will result in a refusal to cooperate, and sometimes a true rebellious outbreak takes place! With languages, this can create a lifelong and unwanted result. You end up with a child who refuses to accept his heritage and his language because of the demands placed on him early in life that he directly connects to his native language.

A fun and easy solution a fellow parent shared with me is to have the new language hour and the native language hour. If this is too complicated to track perhaps your family could speak only the native language every other day, with the new language on the alternating days. Only you know what will work for your family, your classroom. Point is, threatening to not give a child something because he speaks only in his new language and not his native is sure to alienate him from the language and sometimes from you.

Many parents stop speaking their native language because a well meaning pediatrician might have advised them to allow the child to hear only English since it will be her new language, and hearing only that will allow her more success. Or perhaps an intervening mother in law gave you that always free advice of not confusing your little darling by speaking Spanish at home still while all she hears in preschool is English.

Ah, the wonderful advice of others! It always comes at us full force when we have young children in our midst does it not? Let me assure you, the children will not be confused. The children will actually begin to emulate what true linguistics do, and that is to code switch. Meaning, the child will speak Spanish with their Spanish speaking family members and switch to speaking English with their new English speaking teacher and friends. It is the start of becoming bilingual.

Keep your language alive! Show your children that you respect and appreciate other cultures and other languages as you allow them to weave into your daily routine. Practice the new language right along with your child, and do not worry about mistakes you might make with pronunciation. It is true that early language learners enjoy the benefit of native or near native pronunciation while we older folks might sound a bit off in our accent!

Be proud and practice what you preach! Walk the walk and talk the talk amigas and amigos. You are the best self esteem builder your child will ever have. Tell him what a terrific job he is doing in his new language learning skills, even when he pronounces something incorrectly. Do not be quick to correct him. Instead, use a situation later that presents itself to help show the correct way to say something in the language.

Invite friends over to cook some of your native food as you weave both native and new language into the experience. Welcome your new language speaking neighbors into your home as you learn about their culture and language, allowing them to learn about yours.

Smiling as you and your child learn this new language together is one of the best things you can do. Yet how many frowning parents have you witnessed this past year as they demanded their child perform in the new language? Sometimes I want to shake them by their shoulders and ask them if THEY recall being five and being asked to recite in front of Grandma their ABCs. Nine times out of ten, children will not perform upon request.

There you have it my fellow parents and teachers and well meaning adults. Sometimes the children are smarter than we are! Allow them to soak up the new language like a happy sponge, not an old dish rag! Smiles, many moments of encouragement and interaction will generate a full speed ahead mentality for the entire family or classroom when it comes to learning a new language.

Related to: teaching children languages , bilingual child , early childhood development , heritage languages

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