If you speak another language(s)
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From: In the heart of the USSA!
Rich, I agree fully that American's don't speak enough languages. I also believe that if parents want their kids to succeed here they should speak English first. I also think it's very sad when kids don't learn the parents native language. I think these "fobby" parents you speak of are doing the right thing by trying to teach the kids to speak English in public.
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From: Baltimore
Originally Posted by CG,Jul 8 2008, 06:38 AM
Rich, Scot, and Mindcore, what the hell is wrong with us? We've been hanging out here nearly 8 years!
let's all get together for a 10-year reunion (my kids would be old enough to travel by then without diapers and formulas)
and back to topic: my english is actually better than any others that i know, but i believe it's rather important for my kids to at least learn another, if not a third language for their own sake. now if you play music that's considered another language, so i'll probably accept that if my kids aren't willing to learn japanese and chinese...
since my boys are going to be handsome asian american studs (unlike their old man), i think knowing more languages will just help them land more, ahem, opportunities here and abroad
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From: Wylie, TX
I agree with your point that you should teach your kids other languages if you know them, but in the same regards, I think you would be putting your kids at a disadvantage if you only speak to them in a non-English language. English is the primary language in the US, and in order to be successful, a kid needs to be able to speak it fluently. That should be the focus, where possible. If you want the kid to also speak other languages, then set aside certain times that those languages will be used (maybe do conversations at breakfast in Italian, and conversations at dinner in Japanese), but I believe that English shouldn't be ignored. One of my co-workers speaks Vietnamese, and that's all she will speak in her home. Therefore, when her daughter started to pre-school, she had to learn English from scratch. That's not a good situation to be in, and not a fair situation to put a teacher in, either.
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From: Napa
Has anybody had any experience with Rosetta Stone language teaching?
My wife grew up speaking french at home and english everywhere else. I want to learn french, thought I'd try it. (we've only been married 25 years)
Yes teach your kids another language while they are young. My brain is so atrophied I can barely put my pants on. Maybe trying to learn french will wake it up....
My wife grew up speaking french at home and english everywhere else. I want to learn french, thought I'd try it. (we've only been married 25 years)
Yes teach your kids another language while they are young. My brain is so atrophied I can barely put my pants on. Maybe trying to learn french will wake it up....
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From: Baltimore
Originally Posted by mxt_77,Jul 8 2008, 01:02 PM
I agree with your point that you should teach your kids other languages if you know them, but in the same regards, I think you would be putting your kids at a disadvantage if you only speak to them in a non-English language. English is the primary language in the US, and in order to be successful, a kid needs to be able to speak it fluently. That should be the focus, where possible. If you want the kid to also speak other languages, then set aside certain times that those languages will be used (maybe do conversations at breakfast in Italian, and conversations at dinner in Japanese), but I believe that English shouldn't be ignored. One of my co-workers speaks Vietnamese, and that's all she will speak in her home. Therefore, when her daughter started to pre-school, she had to learn English from scratch. That's not a good situation to be in, and not a fair situation to put a teacher in, either.
my first language was mandarin chinese - i spoke that exclusively until i was 10 years old when my family moved out here. i'm as fluent in english as any other yank on this forum (i even tutored english composition in college at the tutoring center), and my family converses in chinese only at home...so i don't see it as an issue.
i don't think learning english or being fluent in it is an issue - i think it's the societal pressure and the peer pressure to conform in this country (where one language is the norm) that seem to be more destructive or hostile to multi-lingual capabilities. my personal opinion of course - i think the more languages a person knows the better off that person will be in many respects.
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From: NORCAL
Originally Posted by mingster,Jul 7 2008, 04:20 PM
obviously you lived in the more diverse areas of socal...or you're too young to remember when monterey park was the only place where they had decent chinese food? (this is back in the early/mid 80s), and when arcadia was MOSTLY white?
i grew up in oak park (near agoura hills/westlake village/thousand oaks) and i can tell you the ABK/ABJ/ABC in my schools were ALL bananas, the whiter the BETTER.
i grew up in oak park (near agoura hills/westlake village/thousand oaks) and i can tell you the ABK/ABJ/ABC in my schools were ALL bananas, the whiter the BETTER.
u are lucky to have spent 10 years in another country and moved at a perfect time in ur life/development to the USA. had you moved when u were 18, and ur brain more developed and tuned to 1 language it would have been a lot harder for u to pick up multiple languages. a bonus u speak the 2 most important ones.
but lets be real, english > 3 euro languages combined.
i myself am an abc that went to public skool in california. so obviously i can read/write, english and spanish (i can aslo decipher gang tags and esse writing). i can speak mandarin but cant read or write...