Unraveling how children become bilingual so easily

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 75 Total Comments Show All

whitepocky at 05:44 PM JST - 22nd July

I know that it's the dad who is working and there is little other English input. The wealthier have international schools etc. to help them along of course, so getting bilingual kids is easier for them.

Reading is the key here, not DVD's or TV programmes. TV is mind numbing. Use your time wisely and interact properly with your tykes for maximum exposure. Get a book and spend lots of quality time together. You should be aiming to spend at least an hour every night with your little ones. I get through three or four books a night personally, and not only does the little tykes vocabulary grow, it's a great introduction to reading. After a while you will find that they will be able to finish the entire sentence through memorisation. Alternatively, you should use picture books and get them to explain to you what is happening in the picture. You can fill in the blanks and assist where need be.

I know an acquaintance who grew up in Moscow, Russia until the age of 18, who then went onto university in the UK. He now speaks with a well spoken British accent. Granted his parents were both English, however the fact his mum and dad had a large library from which they encouraged him to read was the key to his development. He said so himself. Given the motivation and tools to develop, they will, end of!!
smithinjapan at 06:53 PM JST - 22nd July

sarcasm: "Reading this discussion on the importance of second and third languages makes me really wonder why so many of the (Western) foreigners around me have a Japanese language ability that will barely allow them to buy a stamp at the post office."

BS! You are obviously choosing to hang out at the foreign pubs and simply surmising that those people are poor at English... or else you've chosen foreign 'friends' for the fact that they can't speak much Japanese. Anyone I know who's made the SLIGHTEST effort to learn Japanese is more than functional, and I know plenty of people who are more than fluent (they often know more Kanji than your average Japanese does). If you are choosing friends who teach ESL, fine, but don't play daft and pretend no one can speak the target language here.

"Do your friends read novels in Japanese?"

Do you know children under 10 who read novels in English AND Japanese (Soseki, Murakami, Shakespeare)? Why are you comparing the fluency of adults with children here anyway? And yes, I know plenty of foreigners who read Japanese novels (I wonder if you take into account Chinese and Koreans... or if you think foreigners are simply whites and blacks).
cleo at 06:57 PM JST - 22nd July

To add to what whitepocky says, young parents today have it easy! Virtually anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, a new book for Junior is no more than a couple of mouse clicks away. Back in the days when I was reading to my kids, there was no Amazon, and only a very poor selection of children's books in English in the local (ie Tokyo, hours away) bookshops. I had to rely on family sending me stuff from England, subscription to a book club, etc. Cost me a bomb.

Don't skimp on books for the kiddies.
papasmurfinjapan at 07:08 PM JST - 22nd July

True, DVDs will soon be forgotten, but good books are a great investment.

My 3yr old is hooked on Mr Men...

Now he is running around saying "drat and bother" from the Mr Mean book, and calling his mum a "meany"...
smithinjapan at 07:52 PM JST - 22nd July

I still love to by books when it comes to studying another language, because I like holding pen (or pencil) to paper and producing the language as such. With Kanji, Chinese, Korean, and the like it also helps acquire writing skills (strokes, etc. Hangul characters are merely phonetic, but they still need to be written clearly). BUT, a computer is a WONDERFUL resource full of audio clips, quizzes with instant results, chances to chat via skype or what have you, see movies... you name it. And it's all 'free'.
Pukey2 at 09:11 PM JST - 22nd July

sarcasm:

Do they know what 皆既日食 means when it suddenly comes up in a conversation? I would be VERY surprized if they did.

Why do you see yourself fit to criticize other people on their linguistic abilities when your own English stinks? Surprized (SIC)? what, as in sarcazm, or ztoopid?

smith:

BUT, a computer is a WONDERFUL resource full of audio clips, quizzes with instant results, chances to chat via skype or what have you, see movies... you name it. And it's all 'free'.

Yes, with the internet now, there is so much material and resources out there. I can find loads of stuff for Korean and Japanese.

So what if some people confuse L and R? I myself can't tell the difference between d and dh in many of the Indian languages. The poster who says he can tell the difference between any 2 sounds in any language is talking BS.
smithinjapan at 09:27 PM JST - 22nd July

Pukey: Agreed... and then you ALSO have to take into account that 'any two sounds' does not necessarily even include inflection and intonation and how important those are in distinguishing meaning (most Asian languages outside Japanese and Korean).
Cliffy at 09:45 PM JST - 22nd July

To societymike, congratulations on your twins.

If I have to do it again, YES, I will let both of my boys learn different languages since birth again. They do have strange ascents and you can tell that they are from overseas but that does not really matter because they can communicate with others without issues. I also notice that they do not have enough vocabulary, but they could pick up more over time.

The bright side is they can always work as a translators :)
Pukey2 at 10:58 PM JST - 22nd July

abromofo:

Disillusioned: Mmmm yes, those word pairs are distinctly different to me. I'm fairly fluent in Japanese. I'm also talking about languages I've never heard before. I'm willing to bet that if a native speaker of any spoke two distinct but similar sounding words, I'd be able to hear the difference. That's why it baffles me that Japanese people just "can't distinguish" between R and L.

So it was you! I'm willing to bet you're going to have trouble distinguishing the tones in Chinese. And I'm not talking about Mandarin, which is easy compared to the southern dialects. Or perhaps some of the Indian languages?
OhioDonna at 11:28 PM JST - 22nd July

Children are amazing. I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant and overheard the owner's young son and niece talking. At times they would be speaking English but would lapse into Chinese with ease. Sometimes they would speak both languages in the same sentence. They appeared to be about 5-6 years old. Beautiful, I wish I could do that.
whitepocky at 11:50 PM JST - 22nd July

I had to rely on family sending me stuff from England, subscription to a book club, etc. Cost me a bomb.

Exactly the same as what I do now. Research the books online and get my brother to buy them from the shops and post them over. Most books here are American English. They usually come with a CD too, with some twit attempting to narrate it. In order to access good books, best order direct. Costs me a bomb too, ordering in bulk every six months keeps costs down, it's well worth it!
sarcasm123 at 09:31 AM JST - 23rd July

Pukey, my dear...

Thank you so much for making fun of my poor English, which is - I have to admit - not my first language, but my third.

Yes, I agree! My English is sooo bad, and you were very right to point out this huge mistake of mine, writing "surprized" instead of "surpirsed", a mistake native English speakers would never make... What was I thinking!

I am sure that your foreign friends here in Japan would never make such a mistake in Japanese. For example, making mistakes between 2 very similar Kanji, using "ga" when it should be "ha", or "ga" when it should be "wo". No, such big mistakes, they never make them!!

No, you were absolutely write to criticise (wait, should that be "criticize"?) me for such a big mistake, and pointing out that I am in no position to criticize people who live in Japan yet wouldn't be able to make a 3 word sentence in Japanese without failing horribly.

And smitty, my friend

Why are you comparing the fluency of adults with children here anyway?

Because I presume you are an adult and most other posters here are also adults. There seem to be many here who think learning Japanese is very easy, all kids should be at least bilingual, etc... BUT! The cold reality is that most of the Western foreigners here (yes, you seemed to have missed "Western" in my previous post, but I forgive you) speak Japanese at a kindergarten level.

Hence, my conclusion: I have a feeling there might be quite a large gap between what is posted here and the reality.
AndyG2009 at 12:35 PM JST - 23rd July

I grew up in Japan and moved to the US in my mid 20’s about 20 years ago. Now I’m a Japanese American who can speak fluent enough English to live and work. I started to go to language schools at the age of 16 and passed step test 1st class (Eiken ikkyu) at age 20.

Previously, I didn’t believe what brain scientists say (they say that after puberty there is no way to be able to speak a foreign language as well as native speakers). Since I came to the US, I spoke in English at work and at home almost 100% of time. My wife studied in Japan for a while and she can speak Japanese, but at home we talk in English. After 3 decades of studying English, my listening skills in English are as good as in Japanese. I still have a bit of a Japanese accent, but it doesn’t get in a way of communication with others.

Until recently, I strongly believed that one can be fluent in any language at any age. I met with people who came to America in their high school age and can speak English almost as well as native speakers. However, after I read this news article about “how children become bilingual”, I changed my mind.

I remembered two things in my childhood that I had forgotten. When I was 7 years old, an American family lived near my house and I played with their son. Since I was 5, my big sister who was crazy about American music played American songs and American radio shows in a small room I shared with her (I tolerated FEN shows at age 5). If I believe the scientists, these conditions in my childhood were indeed the most important English learning in my life and my years of learning merely enhanced what my brain already learned. It may be that my early exposure to English made me feel like studying English hard. Come to think of it, the people I know who became exceptionally fluent in English have parents who do international business and seem to have early exposure to English. Now I think these scientists may be right.
majimeaussie at 05:55 PM JST - 23rd July

The idea that kids can't/shouldn't learn another language until they've mastered 'their own' is bogus.

I think that like most sayings / old wives tales there is some truth to the matter. FWIW My wife and I are both talking to our baby (in Japan) in our native languages at home and between us we generally talk English (for my wife's and baby's English abilities).

Back to the issue of mastering their own language first. We have Chinese friends in Australia and with their 2 sons, the first learnt English and Chinese at the same time. The second however, had a lot of learning difficulties with both languages through primary school. After lots of attempts to discover and fix the problem, on the advice of language experts they cut out Chinese and all communication was in English. Within a year or so his English ability improved to the same level as his peers. He was then also able to learn Chinese.

I believe his case is the exception to the rule but it does explain how the saying could have started.
womanforwomen at 07:11 PM JST - 23rd July

sarcasm123, I agree with what you are saying. Sometimes, native speakers of English from the different countries have a problem undertsnading each other, but when a non-native speaker says somethings, the remarks are quite rude. I totally ignore that because I wonder how many can speak more than 2 or 3 languages like in Asia? But one thing I find very true is that due to the language structure and the culture, I find that Asians to a great extent can easily be misunderstood and misunderstand the native speakers. So I do not favor English being taught by Asians.

I can relate to what majimeaussie is saying too. Many such experiences among my friends. I really do not believe in many of these theories. I learnt Russian when I was in my twenties and I am able to conduct meetings in Russian. I cannot understand how the brain works, but I am able to switch between 5 languages. But the most painful part is there are moments when the brain stops working and I cannot say a word in any language. So I recommend that the children be allowed to learn the language naturally without any coercion.