Recent studies show that “multilingual exposure improves not only children’s cognitive skills but also their social abilities” (“The Superior Social Skills of Bilinguals”, The New York Times, March 11, 2016). Whilst I’m wary of sound bites that may mistakenly encourage us to think that people are ‘superior’ simply by virtue of speaking more than one …
The Social Advantages of Exposure to Other Languages Read More »
It’s generally recognized that most people across the globe are bilingual or multilingual and use 2 or more languages or dialects in everyday life. And the diversity of bilinguals within multicultural societies continues to grow. Beyond sharing fascinating facts about how this came to be (Bilingualism’s Best Kept Secret), Prof. Grosjean addresses 11 of the …
1 A child’s brain has a higher number of synapses (compared with an adult brain) and greater plasticity. This means children naturally can learn languages better than adults. 2 A study which assessed math and language scores of 2 groups (1 group studied 30 minutes of Spanish for 1 semester and the other comparable group …
The 3 most common questions asked by parents who want to raise a bilingual child. 1- Isn’t it better to teach the 2nd language after a child properly speaks the first? 2- Do children get confused when they hear 2 different languages at home? 3- What should I do if my child doesn’t want to …
The earlier the better. If you are going to be a mother soon, remember that your child can recognize your voice before he or she is born. And before your child is 6 months old, he or she knows the difference between their main language and other languages. Try OPOL. OPOL means One Parent, One Language. For …
So far there has been quite amount of literature on second language acquisition in bilingual families. In the past there was a widely held belief that learning a second language during very early childhood might cause speech delay or cause some mental impairments. After hundreds of scientific studies these both notions were proved to be …
How to Raise a Bilingual Child: The Key to a Happy Bilingual Family Read More »
According to Kansas University psychologist Michael Vivevitch, bilinguals do not confuse the languages they speak mostly because each language has a unique sound neighboring system. In other words, just like human DNA where A, T, G, C have an identifying order, the sounds that follow each other in Spanish and English are different. Thus, bilinguals …
What to do when children reject to speak in the 2nd language (e.g. Spanish) Cases that worked (from Bilingual Edge p. 244-245) “• Anna (mother of Javier, age five): “We’ve had the most success using reverse psychology. Javier is super strong-willed and it’s actually helped at times to say to him something like ‘Spanish is …
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TYPES OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION “Maintenance bilingual education: These programs are to help children become both and biliterate. In the United States, students in such programs typically speak a language other than English at home. Transitional bilingual education: These programs aim to help children transition from their native language for example, Spanish, Cambodian, Portuguese, Arabic) to …
1 A child’s brain has a higher number of synapses (compared with an adult brain) and greater plasticity. This means children naturally can learn languages better than adults. 2 A study which assessed math and language scores of 2 groups (1 group studied 30 minutes of Spanish for 1 semester and the other comparable group …