How to raise a quadrilingual child in a predominantly English environment?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| DC just turned four years old and speaks fluent English, knows some Spanish (DC had a Spanish speaking nanny and also takes Spanish class in preschool), studies Mandarin at an immersion school on the weekends since three, and recently started taking French lessons (as enrichment) at the preschool. DC speaks English at preschool and communicate to us in English at home but I would like DC to know Spanish, French, and Mandarin. Is it better to learn all languages at the same time, or is it better to master one langue before learning another? |
Anonymous
|
O.M.G. - relax for goodness sakes.
And also realize that if you yourself and your DH does not actually speak any other language, that the chances for actual fluency for your child is greatly diminished. |
Anonymous
| Without a true immersion environment (either at school or home, not just a weekend class) it is going to be nearly impossible for your child to acquire true fluency in any other language. There's plenty of second language acquisition research you can read about this if you're skeptical, but if you are really prioritizing raising a bilingual child, you should be looking at a school with that aim for kindergarten. |
Anonymous
| Kids can learn a number of languages at one time but earlier posters are correct that w/o immersion -- they will generally just learn some words and never be able to speak fluently unless they live in a multi-lingual culture. |
Anonymous
| Perhaps you should post this in another forum, as this question doesn't have a lot to do with private/independent schools. |
Anonymous
My thought is that OP's next question will be about what private school is best prepared to continue to foster her daughter's obvious talents!! 
|
Anonymous
| You are going to burn your poor 4 year old out. This is insane! I feel for your child in the future if they are only 4 years old and this is what their life has become. |
Anonymous
|
Sounds a little over the top but since DC seems to have mastered English maybe you and your DH should not use English at home anymore and use your native language (not clear on which one of the 3 that is) for regular communication. Most of the bi and trilingual kids I know speak a language other than English at home.
|
Anonymous
|
It's good for your child, according to all of the linguistic research (but not necessarily what you will hear from DCUM and even from teachers). That said, it is certainly true that you're going to need more backup at school or home to make this really work. Xiao-Lei Wang's book on a linguist raising her children in three languages gives some useful insights:
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Three-Languages-Parents-Teachers/dp/1847691064. You'll like the fact that the languages are the same ones you've selected. Benefits: more dispersal of language capability in the brain (and therefore more of the brain is used - protective against Alzheimer's, among other things). Makes learning other languages later much easier. And of course it's broadening to realize that not everyone views the world the same way. |
Anonymous
| This is impossible unless you communicate with her in a language other than english. If, for some unknown reason, you feel strongly that she should be quadrilingual, you should speak to her exclusively in your native language, your husband should speak to her exclusively in his, and she should attend an immersion school for the fourth language. If you and your husband only speak english, you are absolutely batshit, and I feel for your child. |
Anonymous
I've never heard anyone say that childhood exposure and being raised bilingual is bad for a child. The reactions are to the over the top approach to classes for 3 different languages when it appears that the child is getting only English at home. That's a hyper type A parent approach to their preschooler that is unlikely to result in long term gains. |
Anonymous
|
I've seen trilingual fluency work for kids of this age a fair amount, but I have yet to see quadrilingual work. My DC attends DSW, which is not strictly speaking an immersion school, but all of the instruction takes place in German. She has had a number of classmates who have one German-speaking parent, one parent who speaks another language, and then who speak English socially outside of the classroom, and these children are functionally trilingual - to the degree that anybody in Kindergarten can be proficient in any language, even their native tongue. I have seen research that indicates that one needs at least 6 hours per day every day in a particular language to become proficient. Assuming one sleeps, and assuming a normal child, 3 languages at this age would seem to be a practical ceiling.
Whether it's better to learn languages simultaneously or consecutively is a matter of some debate, but if you're talking about attaining some level of fluency or near fluency, you're likely setting yourself up for disappointment going four at a time. If you're talking about just achieving some level of basic familiarity though, I would say that I have never seen any evidence that studying multiple languages simultaneously has any detrimental effects on kids. Just be sure to keep your expectations in line with practical reality. |
Anonymous
|
I've never seen trilingual fluency work unless two or three languages were spoken in the home and if only two were spoken the child was in an immersion program with the third.
With an English-speaking family, I think OP should get her child into an immersion program and focus on one language, then when her child is older, explore studying a third and possibly fourth language, provided your child is interested! |
Anonymous
| Best thing the OP can do for the child is to put her/him up for adoption and get the child away from those parents ASAP. |
Anonymous
| troll |