Is it too much to be learning 6 languages by age 5? Simultaneously?
That's the situation our elder son is facing.
#1
Age 0-10 months: Finnish, mother tongue
#2 & #3
Age 10 months onwards: Finnish at home, Khmer at home through cleaner and nanny, English at home whenever international friends visit, and both Khmer and English in the surrounding environment (while living in Cambodia).
#4
Age 3.5 yrs: French once a week at kindergarten.
#5 & #6
Next year at age 4.5 yrs: Mandarin Chinese lessons at kindergarten and Cantonese from the surrounding environment when our family moves to Hong Kong.
...oh my...
I'm the first to admit that this is too much though quite awesome if he does manage well with the transitions. My main criteria for judging 'success' in this linguistic whirlwind is that he a) comes to speak his mother tongue fluently (which is getting there but all the time there's a risk of delayed learning) b) manages in English.
I thought I was quite the whizkid when I struggled and overcame the challenge of learning English in one single semester at age 8. My family moved to Asia for the first time and I started an international school only speaking 2 words of English ('yes' and 'no'). Even at that age when kids supposedly sponge up any odd language they're exposed to I found the prospect seriously daunting. It was a struggle that involved some bitter tears, to be honest. But, after those first hard months it was already worth it, and soon developed into something like a piece of cake. Delicious but when in excess, punishing.
So no, this is not a regimen of language learning I would recommend to anyone. Dealing with this cacophony of languages is just a part of expat life. Some languages you'll pick up and take with you. Others only become familiar to the extent of classification ability, being able to pick out which language it is (e.g., Cantonese as opposed to Mandarin).
I'm not stressing too much about kindergarten French or Mandarin, for that matter. If he picks up some of it, great. If not, fine. Singing songs in French sounds okay though I did initially worry whether there's even harm in his taking on this extra language. C'est cool. After all, Pig Latin, I recall, was quite a blast to master too.
That's the situation our elder son is facing.
#1
Age 0-10 months: Finnish, mother tongue
#2 & #3
Age 10 months onwards: Finnish at home, Khmer at home through cleaner and nanny, English at home whenever international friends visit, and both Khmer and English in the surrounding environment (while living in Cambodia).
#4
Age 3.5 yrs: French once a week at kindergarten.
#5 & #6
Next year at age 4.5 yrs: Mandarin Chinese lessons at kindergarten and Cantonese from the surrounding environment when our family moves to Hong Kong.
...oh my...
I'm the first to admit that this is too much though quite awesome if he does manage well with the transitions. My main criteria for judging 'success' in this linguistic whirlwind is that he a) comes to speak his mother tongue fluently (which is getting there but all the time there's a risk of delayed learning) b) manages in English.
I thought I was quite the whizkid when I struggled and overcame the challenge of learning English in one single semester at age 8. My family moved to Asia for the first time and I started an international school only speaking 2 words of English ('yes' and 'no'). Even at that age when kids supposedly sponge up any odd language they're exposed to I found the prospect seriously daunting. It was a struggle that involved some bitter tears, to be honest. But, after those first hard months it was already worth it, and soon developed into something like a piece of cake. Delicious but when in excess, punishing.
So no, this is not a regimen of language learning I would recommend to anyone. Dealing with this cacophony of languages is just a part of expat life. Some languages you'll pick up and take with you. Others only become familiar to the extent of classification ability, being able to pick out which language it is (e.g., Cantonese as opposed to Mandarin).
I'm not stressing too much about kindergarten French or Mandarin, for that matter. If he picks up some of it, great. If not, fine. Singing songs in French sounds okay though I did initially worry whether there's even harm in his taking on this extra language. C'est cool. After all, Pig Latin, I recall, was quite a blast to master too.
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