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Giving the gift of a language

15 Apr 2006

Annalisa Barbieri answered a question from parents about introducing a second language to a two-year-old child in an article in The Guardian. Following are some extracts from the article.

The question posed: Our child is two and we'd really like to introduce a second language but are not sure what the 'best' way to do this is. Are we being too pushy, and will it all be too confusing for him? My wife and I don't speak another language as a mother tongue so we're not really sure if we're wise to do this, or not.

The advice: It's funny what we fear might be pushy: I too used to think introducing a second language (where the parents didn't speak one) was rather over-keen. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Exposing your child to a second - or even more - language is a wonderful gift to give them.

The thing about learning languages very young is that, just as they learn their mother tongue easily by being surrounded by it, they can pick up another in the same way: it becomes almost like one big language to them. It's not the difficult process it becomes after about the age of 10 or 12. Research has shown that after this age the brain handles language differently because until then it is constantly making neurological connections - after this age the hard-wiring slows down.

As children we process language in the frontal lobe of the brain. But if we learn a language as a teenager or adult, the brain has to 'scramble' to find storage space somewhere else. So in simple terms, learn languages as a child and the brain absorbs them readily, but after that it has to actively find space in its filing system and it becomes much harder work. Learning two or more languages can also help a child's development in their mother tongue.

So it's a great idea to introduce a second language and you're not being pushy at all. As to the best way: well, just do it. Pick a language you all fancy learning and learn together. Replace some of the books/DVDs your son watches with the foreign-language one and try to make it a part of your everyday lives: exposure is key. If you make it too much like hard work, none of you will want to do it.

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A few final tips from Foufou Savitzky, the head of the family learning division and an assistant director at LLU+, London Southbank University, who was brought up multilingual: don't give up if your child doesn't seem to want to speak in the other language, they will still be reaping the benefits; don't worry if you slip from one language to another when speaking to them, sometimes the foreign word just won't come to you. If an older child seems shy of speaking in the foreign language (some are because they are afraid of making mistakes) then try using puppets as then they can talk through them and it's the puppets that make the mistakes, not them. And finally, just keep going.

(Extracted from an article by Annalisa Barbieri in The Guardian, 15 April 2006)

Tags: Talk To Your Baby