Babies Learning Languages

[matto]

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Hai! This is my first post to the pediatrics board...

I just watched this TED talk about recent neuroscience breakthroughs in analyzing how babies learn languages so well and I thought you all might get a kick out of it. Shouldn't doctors encourage the parents of young babies to subject their children to many different kinds of languages, or at least inform them that doing so could potentially lead to better (or more diverse) language abilities later in life?

I think it is important for pediatricians to be made aware of these knowledge developments.

 

[BigRedBeta]

Interesting stuff, would fascinated to see what long term outcomes are.

I definitely encourage my parents in my continuity clinic to talk to their babies.

I also find it interesting to compare this information to my practical experience with my bilingual families. Frequently, it seems like those kiddos lag behind slightly during the 12-24 month period. At best, when words in both languages are combined they have enough words to meet milestones, but more often I find they are closer to only having half of the number they are supposed to have. Of course, once they do start talking around their 2nd birthday, they are fluent in both languages and never stop talking!

 

[AntiHouseMD]

From my point of view, that can be detrimental in having the child learn his/her primary language. For example, if an American child was subjected to both English and French, his English may be more fragmented than another who only listened to English.

I think, from a non-medical standpoint, speaking two different languages at the same time can be too difficult for a child to effectively learn either.

 

[Stitch]

From my point of view, that can be detrimental in having the child learn his/her primary language. For example, if an American child was subjected to both English and French, his English may be more fragmented than another who only listened to English.

I think, from a non-medical standpoint, speaking two different languages at the same time can be too difficult for a child to effectively learn either.

This is just completely incorrect and has been studied. Children who are brought up in bilingual households learn both languages quite well. As BigRedBeta pointed out if you combine the total number of words in both languages, they meed their mile stones, even if they seem to lag initially. Parents who speak two languages ought to be encouraged to speak both languages to the child and that child will grow up being bilingual. Of course, if the parents' grammar is poor or if they use a lot of slang, then the child will learn that way as well. But that's true of a child learning in a single language household.

 

[McGillGrad]

This is just completely incorrect and has been studied. Children who are brought up in bilingual households learn both languages quite well. As BigRedBeta pointed out if you combine the total number of words in both languages, they meed their mile stones, even if they seem to lag initially. Parents who speak two languages ought to be encouraged to speak both languages to the child and that child will grow up being bilingual. Of course, if the parents' grammar is poor or if they use a lot of slang, then the child will learn that way as well. But that's true of a child learning in a single language household.

Agreed.

The proof is in the pudding. Look at Montreal, where the vast majority is bilingual and a significant minority is trilingual. Not only are children exposed to different languages at home, they are taught at least two languages in school.

Other examples would be Sweden and Denmark. Sometimes I meet people in Sweden who I swear could be North American because of their excellent neutral English.