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DEL.ICIO.USMaking choices on language learning
Speak only English or learn heritage language too?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My Filipino mother-in-law came to the United States fluent in four languages – Tagalog (the official Filipino language), her village’s dialect, Chinese and English. My father-in-law was fluent in two – Italian and English.
Is my husband an amazing linguist able to speak in multiple tongues? No, but he can cuss in several languages.
Michael’s parents believed when you came to America – you assimilated. You only spoke English. They also believed it would be confusing for their children to try to learn two languages at once. Sadly, all of their rich languages and much of their cultures were lost to my husband and his brother.
Thirty-five years later it seemed to me these attitudes had shifted.
In our neighborhood and preschool community, it is en vogue for children to be bilingual (even if the parents were English speaking). The parents valued their heritage, or native, language and wanted their children to cherish it too. These parents also seemed to understand children have the capacity to learn more than one language without delaying their speech.
For example, our 6-year-old neighbor Mary Seol is at the top of her class at our local elementary school. She is a great reader in English, plus she speaks and writes in Korean. Mary’s parents, Helen and JQ. They emigrated from South Korea to the United States in the ’80s. They learned English in middle school in Korea but perfected speaking it here. It was a priority for them to be fluent in English, but they knew they wanted their child to retain their heritage language. For the first two years of Mary’s life, her mother stayed home with her and spoke almost exclusively Korean.
But not all families share this attitude toward their heritage language. Mariana Achugar, a second-language acquisition expert at Carnegie Mellon University, says a family’s ’ socio-economic background often dictates whether the language is passed along.
She says for working-class families the belief that assimilating is best is still very much alive. She says these families think English is the most important thing to succeed in American society. Bilingualism is not considered an asset.
But for middle and upper class families, Achugar says teaching bilingualism is viewed as an investment in the future. Many want their children to retain their culture, but also know that in a global economy, speaking more than one language will be an advantage. She calls it “elite bilingualism.”
Challenges and joy of bilingualism at home
Joyce and Alejandro Naumis, of Lawrenceville, had many reasons why they wanted their son Peter, 4, to speak Spanish and English. Alejandro emigrated from Uruguay and while he knows English, he’s much more comfortable speaking Spanish. Joyce was born here, but has a master’s degree in Spanish literature and is fluent. They often spoke Spanish at home even before their son was born.
They adopted Peter, 4, from Guatemala when he was almost 2. His orphanage spoke only Spanish.
“My plan was to speak Spanish almost exclusively at first,” says Joyce. “He didn’t really speak anything at all other than a few words in Spanish. We wanted to make him feel comfortable.” Gradually Joyce started using more English during the daytime but then spoke Spanish at night when her husband came home.
“I do want him to retain his heritage language,” she says. “Peter understands 90 to 95 percent? in Spanish. He just answers in English, which is pretty typical of immigrant children.”
Plus, if Peter wants to have an easy conversation with his father, Joyce says he’ll do much better to speak with him in Spanish.
Although Joyce is fluent in Spanish, she struggled for some of the words she needed to care for a baby. While teaching high school, Joyce never used the Spanish word for bottle or pak’n’play. Also differences between Hispanic countries made it tough to decide which word she should be using. She also says in emergency situations, she immediately switched to English – like “Don’t touch. Hot!” Helen and JQ felt that speaking Korean was important for Mary to understand who she is and where she came from. The rest of their family still lives in Korea so it is also important for Mary to able to communicate with her grandparents and other relatives. Mary’s parents say the other benefits of speaking and writing two languages will be a bonus.
What happens wwhen kids head to school
In 2005 – 2006, 46,064 children out of 144,634 in the Gwinnett County School System spoke a primary home language other than English. The school system calls them PHLOTE students. Some will become bilingual. Some will lose their heritage language, and others may never achieve fluency in English.
The number one minority-language group in the Gwinnett County schools last year was Spanish, reported at 27,856. The second largest was Korean at 3,364, followed by Vietnamese at 2,561 and Chinese at 1,272 students.
Achugar says it’s common that when children are put in dy care or start school that English becomes their dominant language.
Mary’s mother saw it hppening. “As soon as she went to the day care she forgot Korean. She just learned English.” Helen’s friends told her, “As soon as they go to school or get friends they don’t want to speak Korean. They advised me keep teaching it. When they grow up, they will regret not doing it when they were young.”
To reinforce what Mary is learning at home, she attends Korean school in Norcross on Saturdays with more than 300 other Korean children. Not only does she study reading, writing and speaking Korean, she is learning about traditional dances and music.
Although learning English quickly helps the children succeed in school, it can cause problems at home.
Achugar says when the children become proficient in English and their parents are not, the balance of power can shift. She says sometimes the children tend not to respect the parents as much, and they can feel they don’t have adult advocates.
Achugar says often by the third generation, the heritage language is lost.
Way to retain your heritage language
Becoming bilingual is a lifetime process, according to Achugar. She says a child’s vocabulary will develop depending on where and how they use their heritage language. For example, she says her professional life is in English. Her Spanish vocabulary is more focused on home, family and everyday things.
“The most important thing (for parents) is to follow their instincts. Speak in the language that you feel more comfortable,” she says. “And be consistent.”
Achugar says just speaking at home isn’t enough to retain the language. She says the child must be exposed to the language in other places.
She recommends:
Finding programs in your language at churches, libraries and special schools.
Reading books and watching DVDs in your language.
Showing your children reasons to learn and retain their heritage language.
Traveling to countries using your heritage language whenever possible.
If your children respond to you in English, respond back in the heritage language.
Don’t worry if your child mixes languages or invents words. It is normal.
Teen-agers want to fit in and often get embarrassed by their second language. She says it’s bad to force it on them at this point. She says to try to talk about the positives of maintaining the language – such as that it’s a private way for them to communicate with friends and family. Also exploring the pop culture, movies and music of your home country may also make it seem cooler.
Achugar recommends the following reources to help families:
www.multilingualchildren.org – Multilingual Children’s Association is a group dedicated to raising multilingual children. It offers expert advice, resource directories and contact with other parents with the same goals.
www.multilingual-matters.com/ — Multilingual Matters is a publishing house with bilingual books and information for families. Parents can sign up for a quarterly newsletter focused on teaching children multiple languages.
www.cal.org/ — Center for Applied Linguistics offers digests and booklets to help families teach their children other languages.
Comments
By ATICO
October 16, 2006 08:18 AM | Link to this
If a parent of a child speaks more than one language fluently, and does not teach his/her children these languages they are definitely not thinking of their childs future.
Bi-lingual members of any society are more likely to be offered more opportunites than those that are only fluent in their native tongue. How any loving parent would even question the validity of teaching their child a scond language is rather mundane.
Is it troublesome, you bet. Is it worth it, unquestionably.
Factoid: It has taken me many years to learn fairly good Spanish. Has it been worth the effort, you bet. Give your child this great way to express themselves in multiple ways.
By bellamomma
October 16, 2006 08:38 AM | Link to this
this is a great topic. My husband and I are both of Irish decent, with ancestors who immigrated many,many generations ago. But, I think it is very important for children to learn other languages and from early on. We have been kicking around the idea of getting our daughter a spanish tutor now. I took 4 years of spanish in high school but don’t remeber enough to try to teach her. I think it is wonderful when parents teach their children about their heritage and applaud these parents for doing so. No matter of en vogue it is or isn’t.
By Fulton County Mom
October 16, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this
My nephews’ father is from Columbia,South America. His parents speaking very little English. They honestly appreciated my (albeit feeble) attemps to recall Spanish from High School. The nephews’ only speak English at their father’s insistance. I personally think it is a shame. More because he is denying his parents and children the ablity to communicate.
I speak little French and Spanish. My children are learning some Spanish in school. I encourage them both to speak these words and “teach Mom.” They also know no, no, et no is really a scolding and not just a no. They know Caiahe La Bouche (sp?) means to shut-up.
So, yes speaking languages near kids shoudl be done.
However, I agree that English should be encouraged in our immigrants.
By past50mom
October 16, 2006 08:52 AM | Link to this
The more languages the better, and the earlier you start the better. Warning, Standard English needs to be reinforced during the teenage years, when another language altogether is uttered by offspring.
By bellamomma
October 16, 2006 09:00 AM | Link to this
and aparently i can’t even spell in english, so a second language is better left to the pros!
By bellamomma
October 16, 2006 09:02 AM | Link to this
and aparently i can’t even spell in english, so a second language is better left to the pros!
By abc
October 16, 2006 09:13 AM | Link to this
For most people, learning a second or third language isn’t that difficult to do. I’d say that anyone, child or adult, that has an interest or need in learning another language simple do it.
As far as retaining one’s heritage language and culture, I don’t much see the point — would that have benefited European or African immigrants of the past 250 years? Within a couple of generations, the culture retained by the immigrant probably doesn’t resemble the culture as it evolves where they came from. Does one retain a ‘time-capsule culture’? Interesting topic.
By Kerry
October 16, 2006 09:26 AM | Link to this
I wish that I spoke another language. My grandmother is Italian and her parents came over in the 20s. They only spoke Italian, but did not allow my grandmother to speak it. She only learned English. She can understand Italian, but can’t speak it. The only other language I’ve been able to teach my daughter is sign language (she’s 15 months old) and she is picking that up really quick. I do think that is a really good thing to teach children another language, especially if you speak more than one. It definitely can’t hurt.
By southernmommy
October 16, 2006 09:26 AM | Link to this
theresa I am jealous. the only other language my mil speaks is b***. Sorry that was mean. true but mean
By fk
October 16, 2006 09:56 AM | Link to this
My mother and her siblings were first generation Americans. Her parents came to the U.S. from Italy, but separately. My grandfather was a toddler when he went thru Ellis Island. He was fluent in English and Italian, but never completed high school. My grandmother came to the U.S. at 14. I don’t think she attended school in the U.S. She married my grandfather at 16, he was 26. She spoke only Italian. She did not learn English until my uncles started school. Her second oldest child acted as a translator whenever the oldest child got into trouble at school.
My mother is the youngest of eight. She and my aunt had six older brothers. The brothers all spoke Italian and worked in my grandfather’s butcher shop at some point. My grandmother insisted that her children be American. They did not live in an “Italian neighborhood”. They spoke English at home. My grandmother, until the day she died, wanted to master English so that she could read the newspapers without help. Not one of my mother’s siblings married anyone of Italian heritage. I think that is interesting.
Although the language was not passed down from generation to generation, food customs have. We do the traditional Christmas Eve seafood dinner and celebrate St. Joseph’s Day and Columbus Day with spaghetti & meatballs. I took both Spanish and Italian in high school, then continued Italian in college. It was not the same as passing customs and culture from generation to generation. My son has been taking Spanish since the 4th grade.
My husband’s mother is first generation here, too. Her family came to the U.S. from Germany. She grew up in a German neighborhood just on the Brooklyn-Queens line. She, too, spoke only German until she went to school. She wanted to be American, and as soon as she was old enough, changed her first name to the English translation. None of her six children speak a word of German. Her children were never really interested in carrying on the traditions. I think it’s sad.
By Advice please!
October 16, 2006 10:09 AM | Link to this
This is not the age of our grand parents. We cannot expect to simply survive on the harvest/family store/and speak only English. Americans…..just like the immigrants trying to make a better life here….must learn to assimilate. There is just no other option. These days…regardless of how you may feel about it….Spanish is just as imperative as English. They are now joined at the hip. The novelty of speaking Spanish was cast aside long ago. The fact of the matter is this…..unless your children graduate with fulency in at least 2 languages, their chances of landing that job just aren’t as good. The ones who can speak at least conversational Spanish/French/Italian/Japanese..what have you… will be hired or promoted over the ones that do not. And these days, there is no excuse for children not learning something other than English. So many community centers offer them for little or no money.
As far as holding onto family heritage….I personally think it is so very important. My background is Italian/Irish. More Irish than anything else. Our Irish family( who are still in Ireland) have taught us many traditions, including language. My husband’s family is Romanian and Spanish. But they are also Jewish. So there are all kinds of words flying around our home! It would be terribly sad if our children weren’t privy to the beautiful heritage and traditions of our family. It is possible to assimilate without losing the essence of who you are.
By By Me
October 16, 2006 10:35 AM | Link to this
I am Lithuanian and my husband is Polish. I speak/write 3 languages: English, Lithuanian and Russian. My husband speaks/writes Polish, English and German.
We both started to learn foreign languages in 1st grade (standard to all schools with a choice of 1st language in 1st grade and 2 nd language in 5th grade). In high school i had 8 hours of native language and 4 hours of foreign languages a week, so i have been fortunate to walk out of high school with advanced knowledge in 2 foreign languages.
I view learning of a foreign language more as a necessary ingredient in child’s development then passing heritage. I recognize that by choosing to live in this country we already gave up a part of heritage/culture forever. 2 out of 3 children speak native languages. All 3 know traditions and history. But it is just knowledge. They developed “American” personalities, character and views to life. They love to celebrate American holidays and tend to follow American traditions because the biggest part of their life is/was spent in this country.
I do not see a big value in teaching my children to speak my native language. I come from a country of 3.7 mill people. It is a very small country and the chance is that my children will forget Lithuanian language as soon as they walk out of my house. I just wish i concentrated more on Spanish, French or German. It would have given them much greater advantage in life.
By Tina
October 16, 2006 11:34 AM | Link to this
@By Me: I think there is some value in teaching your children the Lithuanian language if only for the discipline involved in learning the language. What a gift to give.
I learned English in my household, took French for part of high school from someone who was from France, took Latin for two years because my French was lacking, and took one semester of Spanish in college because I had to. I don’t have a gift for the languages and so wish that I did.
I want my sons to appreciate other languages at the very least. I get Spanish children’s books out of the library and read them to my three year old. I sometimes mangle the words, but my pronounciation is getting better over time, and my own comprehension is getting better. One of my best friends is from Uruguay and I love listening when she speaks in Spanish.
By HL
October 16, 2006 04:07 PM | Link to this
I have a friend who both her and her husband speak different languages as their native tongue other than English. Their children speak to them in their native language and English at school or around other people. This way the do not speak any of the three languages with an accent. They will not learn bad English from their parents or bad Spanish or whatever from the other parent or school.
I have other friends who will have French and English as the two languages. So, the husband and wife will communicate in English because she doesn’t know French and children will speak to Dad in only French and to mom in only English.
By N
October 16, 2006 04:20 PM | Link to this
With so many companies becoming “international companies” our children need to learn other languages. Though we cannot see it now, but when our children are grown and get jobs with “international companies”, they may be required to travel the world and being able to speak several languages will help so much. We should adopt what so many countries of the world do on how they teach the their kids different languages. In the end, it will make them better adapted to where business is going - worldwide. All this can be done without leaving English behind…