Re: Is there an optimal sequence for language acquisition?

>>>>> "Andrew" == Andrew Dalby <akdalby@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Andrew> If 'students' are aged 1 to 8 or so, just let them learn
Andrew> all possible languages spoken around them. Imagine the
Andrew> stupidity of parents who employ an au pair/nanny who
Andrew> speaks a foreign language, and don't take advantage of
Andrew> that fact to let their children learn the language!

Many families in Hong Kong employ domestic workers from the
Philippines (and recently also from Indonesia and Thailand). However,
I have seldom heard children in these family learn the language of the
maid. Neither do their parents encourage their children (and the
maid) to do that. Maybe, parents do not consider the languages
Tagalog, Thai and Indonesian to be prestigious enough to worth
learning. (Communication between these domestic workers and the
family is mainly in English, although the workers will gradually pick
up Cantonese during the employment.)

I agree with you. It's a shame not to exploit this opportunity. And
this means the children will lose some opportunities later in their
life. If they can speak Malay-Indonesian, for instance, they may be
able to seek employment in Malaysia and Singapore, IN ADDITION to Hong
Kong. If they do business, they may be able to extend their market to
those countries, too.


--
Lee Sau Dan 李守敦 ~{@nJX6X~}

E-mail: danlee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee
.

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