Oh, but the advantages of becoming multilingual at such a young age last a lifetime! It's really the only way to become comfortable learning languages and, in the world he will inherit, being able to speak several languages will be an advantage on many levels.
I hope so, Mike, but I worry about his mother tongue… He used to speak clear and perfect Malayalam till he was three, now it is a mix of everything. I am so reminded of friends I used to laugh at, for their weird, mixed-up accent!!
My brother married a woman from Spain and they'd summer there and spend the rest of the year in the US (he was a teacher at the time). At three, the kids would come back from Spain speaking a hilarious brand of English that contained a few Spanish words, some Spanish structure and some accidentally-translated idioms (like "open the light"). They had the advantage of total immersion to sort things out — they heard little Spanish here and little English there, so, in a few days, they'd be back on the beam. I can only imagine how confusing it must be to a three-year-old to go back and forth within his daily life. Here, it was once more common for little guys to hit school speaking only their home tongue, but I don't know how that works in a multi-lingual society — not just India but places like China and South Africa as well.
hilarious…coudnt stop laughing. Jean- nice one u have there. U might like a post called "thank her why's" on my blog where I do mention few things abt my 6 year old. sushmaspage.blogspot
Oh, but the advantages of becoming multilingual at such a young age last a lifetime! It's really the only way to become comfortable learning languages and, in the world he will inherit, being able to speak several languages will be an advantage on many levels.
I hope so, Mike, but I worry about his mother tongue… He used to speak clear and perfect Malayalam till he was three, now it is a mix of everything. I am so reminded of friends I used to laugh at, for their weird, mixed-up accent!!
My brother married a woman from Spain and they'd summer there and spend the rest of the year in the US (he was a teacher at the time). At three, the kids would come back from Spain speaking a hilarious brand of English that contained a few Spanish words, some Spanish structure and some accidentally-translated idioms (like "open the light"). They had the advantage of total immersion to sort things out — they heard little Spanish here and little English there, so, in a few days, they'd be back on the beam. I can only imagine how confusing it must be to a three-year-old to go back and forth within his daily life. Here, it was once more common for little guys to hit school speaking only their home tongue, but I don't know how that works in a multi-lingual society — not just India but places like China and South Africa as well.
I suppose in my son's case, a little nudge now and then would go a long way in clearing the muddle…
hilarious…coudnt stop laughing. Jean- nice one u have there. U might like a post called "thank her why's" on my blog where I do mention few things abt my 6 year old.
sushmaspage.blogspot