Re: Teaching a child three languages

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

Andrew> I would suggest that's because the parents assume, perhaps
Andrew> without ever thinking it through, that English is
Andrew> important and Tagalog and Thai are a waste of time. To
Andrew> elucidate this, consider the question: does the
Andrew> English-speaking parent make any effort to be competent in
Andrew> Tagalog / Thai?

And if such a family is living in the Philippines or Thailand, would
that English-speaking parent even bother to learn Thai or Tagalog?


Andrew> If not, the children may see no need to do so
Andrew> either. Children aren't silly.

I can't agree more! My 2nd (maybe 3rd or 4th) cousins in San
Francisco cannot speak Cantonese anymore. They used to speak
Toishanese and understand Cantonese before they went to school --
their grandma, speaking Toishanese natively -- was their babysitter.
But after they went to school, they no longer with with grandma. They
live with their parents in the less crowded places in Bay Area. And
they spoke English at home and school. They have essentially unlearnt
Cantonese/Toishanese. (There are 2 exceptions. The eldest uncle
continued to live with his mother. So, his 2 sons can still
understand instructions given to them in Cantonese/Toishanese. But
they are reluctant in speaking those languages.)



--
Lee Sau Dan

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

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