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Bilingual home vs. Bilingual Setting

Lesson 2 from: Raise Bilingual Children

Matthew Youlden

Bilingual home vs. Bilingual Setting

Lesson 2 from: Raise Bilingual Children

Matthew Youlden

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Lesson Info

2. Bilingual home vs. Bilingual Setting

Lesson Info

Bilingual home vs. Bilingual Setting

so I'd like to now go on to the whole similar to talk about the settings on what we mean when we talk about a bilingual home against hours compared to a bilingual setting on these are essentially the two main settings are situations for a bilingual environment toe occur when we talk about bilingual environment we're talking about essentially, how does bilingualism fit into our our old personal lives on? We're going to be describing the scenarios of bilingualism. As I said already, what is a bilingual home will be looking at now on what is a bilingual setting? And if we think about this as a holistic approach, this is more. The focus on this is really about the person teaching, instructing the child we're talking about ourselves we're talking about. Parents were talking about other family members are the people that will be involved in bringing up on helping to raise this child. So if you look at the idea of a bilingual home, a bilingual home is the setting. Is the situation where two l...

anguages are used in a home environment, so an example would be one parent speaks one language on the other parent speaks another language, which is very, very common setting on. We're always talking about two different languages here. So if one's American and one's British and you both speak in English, it doesn't mean that the child is gonna speak American and British English. They probably differentiate between the two word. There's the two varieties, but they're not goingto grow with a transatlantic half English, half American accent. When they speak, it would be until it would be nice. Especially going on going on from the exercises were doing about accents before in the previous class. It would be nice to see if a child was ableto fluctuate between the two, but it doesn't have to be simply a parent setting. You could also be the grand parents that at home, the parents speaking one language and the grand parents speak a different language as well. But in this case would have parents speaking once in a single language on the grandparents speaking a different one. So that's also a standard setting for bilingual home as well. In this case, we're always talking about two family or whole languages. On another scenario would be, for example, if you have a flatmate or you have someone that is crucial and that will be play a huge role in the raising off the child. So there's no reason why a flatmate our best friend couldn't also be included in this scenario. The option ultimately the setting the rial setting on the how the setting evolves is ultimately dance was way could choose what we want and how we what kind of situation we want to be now. This leads unto the second set of While the second situation on this is a bilingual setting on What do we mean by a bilingual setting? Where bilingual setting is slightly different to a bilingual home because of the emphasis on a bilingual setting is in an environment in which one language is used, probably as the family are home language. On another, language is used as a language of wider communication. So, for example, a community language, an educational language where we have, for example, may be here in San Francisco, a child that is being raised in Spanish at home on is sent to a school because at school the child picks in the shop because English is the language of the wider community It could, however, be the other way round. And it could be that the child is speaking English at home, on the child is sent to a school where, for example, what were you saying before Lily that your child is being brought up a school or is being sent to Mandarin Immersion School? And in this case, we can talk about major and minor languages on the major language is also the usually the language of wider, of wider communication, their community language. But he can also be the language which is used more in the home, and this usually always reflect in the language that's spoken outside the home as well as if we have, like a bilingual home setting. We have Chinese in English in San Francisco, in Chinese, no matter how much you speak to the child in Chinese, is always going to be the minor language. If English is used as an option because English with it withers, being unendingly setting is always going to be the major language. If, however, you would think at some point me to Beijing, then the rules would be the language, the roles of the language, their positions of the language would would reverse considerably. So we're talking care about the acquisition of two languages learning two languages in two entirely different settings. Now we've heard about this on this is obviously going to start making us think What is my bilingual status? So I like us now as another quick question or exercise to simply analyse our own situation, our own set up and ask ourselves, What is my particular biding your situation? Or, as they put it, my by then your status. And they'd also love to hear from people back at home with your ideas on what you consider yourselves your situation on what you consider your status to be as well. Because, as I said, there are so many different reasons for learning for raising a child by then. You really on there so many different settings. I mean, we usually have these two general settings, but every set up is different for anyone else is the choice of the language the choice of the the the instruction, the There are so many different ways on so many different factors we have to take into a consideration here. So, Lily, for example, you were saying that your status is if I understood this correctly, that home you speak English, you and your husband on with your child as well? Mostly. Sometimes I speak Chinese. Okay, My all my grant. My grandmother, my son's grandmother. My mother. She speaks Chinese to him, sometimes to me. So there's mostly English going on at home. But there's also, I don't know, 30% Chinese or 20% Chinese. Okay, on outside the child is Has all of your son has all of his classes at school in Mandarin, right? Well, it's interesting in met with matter, an immersion because it's a K through eight school. So the first I would say k through well, starts in like a through third. Maybe it's 80% Mandarin, 20% English and then because they also do English class. And then as you moved into eighth grade, so from like maybe 5th 8th it starts flipping to 20%. Imagine an 80%. Okay, so they do this flip later in the in the school in their school career, but they spent then five years doing mainly Mandarin, always a gradual progression from 80 to 20 and 22 80. Some pie go 50 50? I think so. I think it's It's a slow progression, but in the beginning, right now it's 80 20. So he's speaking 80% in Mandarin and 20% English. I'm guessing English in the English language class, right? Yes, yes. And, you know, in the beginning, he would. He has mattered, wasn't so. They have a preschool also. So their, um a lot of the kids that were there, he didn't go to that preschools. A lot of the kids that were in that preschool they're Mandarin was always already at a certain level, but he so he had a catch up a little bit. In the beginning, he the teachers sometimes spoke to him in English and also he I asked him, and I was worried about the transition. And I said, You know, how is the matter of going And he goes, Oh, you know, if I understand, I just watch what the other kids dio. Kids are amazing, like, really, just do whatever. They're always gonna surprise you with everything. That's great. That's lovely. Thank you, Phyllis. My grandkids, they have both the home and the school because, uh, the grand parents to live in the home, and they all speak the Spanish to him. They have the mother speaking Spanish. My son and some of the others speak the English. They sent him to ah, Spanish Immersion School and threw up to fifth grade for them. They started off 90 and worked up to 50 50. Okay, 90 being the Spanish. And now there are completely balanced division of half. Okay, but they have both situations for them. And does your son speak Spanish to you? Little speaks, but think you can understand. Okay, a lot. But he doesn't speak. Okay, great. Thank you, Murray. Well, my daughters, only 10 months old, so I'm not sure what we'll do Kind of down the road terms of what her input will look like. But both my husband and I are native speakers of English. Uhm, I'm proficient in Spanish, but it's not my It's not my native language, and I guess I believe that. And what I do, I I see sometimes the effects of people using they're not there, providing an example of the less complex form of language because they are using their language of lesser proficiency with their child. So for me, my own personal take as I speak English with my daughter. Okay, Um, we have a lovely child care provider who speaks Spanish with her, and I speak Spanish with that provider, so she's getting that input. That way we'll see where it goes. But you know, at this point, she's definitely getting much greater input in English and in Spanish. Was there a reason, for example, why you decided not to speak to your child in Spanish? It was because it's because it's not my lady greatest prophet. And it's simply this that I, I wonder, I guess my mantra is Speak to your child in the language of Give your child the best example of language you can, Um, that's out of, I'm sure my tilt in my profession. But that's why I decided that. I mean, it is definitely a valid argument because there's some people that maybe don't feel comfortable enough that they understand a lot of the language, but they don't feel as comfortable as to be able to do everything in that language. And so maybe even as well think that Well, okay, I speak another language in my case, I speak German, but I would ask myself what I want to give Children where they want to give Joe German to my Children. I have German as one of their native languages. I think I could easily, at some 10.1 toe them to speak German. But the question is where they want to raise them in German because even if I speak it fluently, it's no my languages. I mean, I feel when I speak German, I speak like a German, but I don't I don't identify is not, regardless of the level of the language is something that I would maybe think. It would be weird to speak to me on my own child in German, especially outside of Germany. If they were being raised in Germany, then then it probably wouldn't feel so weird. But then, when it's this also and the things well, with reasons for doing so, it's always personal. It's always individual, and you have to take in so many factors into account. So, yeah, I would ask myself like this is a way that I'm not ethnically German and I'm not, You know, I don't have anyone in the family that speaks gym, and there's no, in part from any others on. And is this therefore going toe? You know, this thing is of course, it's OK, and it's give you completely feasible. But there's also another factor that you know many people consider as well. So yeah, Marty. Um, well, English is my major language. Um, and I'm quite proficient in Cantonese, but, um, what's interesting is my daughter goes to a Montessori school and she gets a little bit of Spanish immersion there. They have a Spanish segment, and so she's already getting exposure as, uh to multi lingual status. And we also have another friend that is German, and she only speaks German to her daughter. And when they're together, my daughter only gets German from her. Wow, that's great. So there's a lot of interesting languages and one interesting an accident that she's picking up. And for me personally, I'm working on being multi lingual, and so I like it for travel purposes for work purposes. But I think it's great to exposure child to as many different accents as part, most definitely because the sooner they start, their easier is, and it's not difficult. Later, as an adult, but it means that way have this window of opportunity. Let's say where the child is ableto without having to look into grandma ball caught out without having toe t really read up about this where they're able just to simply and it takes. I would say it takes you sometimes longer than in other than it does for an adult, because a child is learning in the most natural way possible. They're just simply absorbing the information on making this language work in their system. But which is adults? That doesn't happen. But, yes, the only problem is, I'm the only person that's Cantonese dinner at home. And so she doesn't get any exposure at school. And, um, I've considered putting her in a school that does Cantonese immersion. But they're not as common as the Mandarin immersion schools in the area. Yeah, all of it challenging. Sure, something will be looking as well in the rest of the class, how we're able to increase how you want to analyze in part on how we're able to increase our own in part and also the exposure that the child is given to the language because this is the key, essentially to ensuring bilingualism, all balanced bilingualism. I was under the impression that having some, like one parent, speak to the child, at least one parent in strictly another language like Cantonese. That would be better than just having your child in a candy school or they're not one better or worse. Um, we would be saying, what with Cantonese and then Mandarin? No, I just doubles. It's an example, like, I'm wondering for some reason, my perception was always that if you had someone at home speaking to that child in another language that was better or more effective than sending your child to undermine No speaking to the child in that language when you're hoped it depends on me simply is a common setting, though I mean, there are many places that do it and many people that do it for for many different reasons. For example, in Ireland, where you have a language, you have two official languages, Irish and English, and where many people don't speak Irish anymore. But for cultural, for historical reasons, for identity reasons, they would really like their Children to grow up speaking Irish but aware of the fact that day themselves were also raised in Irish at school but didn't receive the amount of the right amount of I have language learning in order to become proficient. But they say there are maybe they weren't interested as Children, that they were interested in Irish and now that they're actually a later stage in life, and they realize that they have Children on their biggest wishes for their child to speak Irish, but they don't speak Irish or the understanding tiny bit from what they learned in school on. In this case, you have this situation where the child is being has every single language. Sorry, every single subject at school, in Irish, apart from English, and they go home and they speak to the parents in English. So it is ideally and we'll get onto this later. I ideally envisage on the use of the language in as many different ways as possible if it's not used in the home than it needs to be compensated by something that's not only just in school, but we will be looking at this, Yeah, this in a short while,

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Bonus Video: Reasons for raising a child bilingual
Bonus Video: What is Bilingualism?
Reading and Writing Bilingual Techniques
7 Must-Do Bilingual Activities

Ratings and Reviews

Farah Shams
 

I found this class easy to understand and very relatable. Some very good tips on how to create bilingual environments for your children. I hope I can successfully implement the lessons I have learnt in this class.

Student Work

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