It is a good read if you can take a few minutes. It talks about raising bilingual children and how researchers are trying to apply some of the ways children learn language to adult learners. Language acquisition is at its best between birth and 7 years...and, if I remember something from graduate school correctly, it peaks at 3.5 years (which makes sense!).
We are very conscious about raising a bilingual baby. Kristoffer speaks to Grace in Danish, yes, but I am also very aware that she is mostly hearing English given that she is always with me! So there are some things that I only say to her in Danish. For example, when it is time to eat I will never ask her, "Grace, are you hungry?" Instead I say in Danish, "Grace, er du sultan?" The same goes for "Grace, are you tired now?" = "Grace, er du traet nu?" I am also working on a few other regulars to help the cause.
Spending all of next week in Barcelona with her Farmor and Hans will certainly help in the Danish department. We are leaving on Saturday morning!
LMW
2 comments:
You must have a great sister!
Hun bliver formentlig aldrig sultan, men i disse ligestillingstider ved man selvfølgelig aldrig... :o)
/Stig
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