So, I just got off the phone with a parent who spoke fluent English.
Shocking, I know.
She wanted to sign up her four year old to play soccer.
Shocking, I know.
The kicker, he doesn't speak one lick of English. He doesn't understand it either.
My question, "What language does he speak?"
"He speaks Arabic."
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So, let's talk....
How do you feel about raising children in a singular language environment that is not the singular language of the area you live in?
Because I have my own opinion....just curious as to yours.....
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Let's talk...
Posted by Ashlee Liddell at 3:11 PM
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6 comments:
Arabic? I know some bad words in Arabic. Freddy's 1/2 Lebanese, ya know...
If more of us knew how to speak more languages, would we have a bigger world view? Would we be more likely to say 'yes' to God's prompting to.... 1) form relationships with people from other cultures/speak language other than English and 2) travel or more to other locations...all for the sake of helping others know God's love? I just wonder what excuses we would use, if, like in many European cultures, we Americans knew how to fluently speak something more than just English.
Not sure if that really answers your question, but it is my opinion about languages.
Oh Cara...bad words!!! ;)
Susan, I would agree with you completely that knowing more than one language is beneficial not only in the Kingdom, but also in a wide variety of opportunities it would present you with.
However, my concern is about parents who deliberately deny their children access to the language of the culture they live in. It is a mentality that says, "You are better than those around you because you speak fluent ________ not English."
So there goes my attempt at remaining neutral.... :)
That's a strange situation. I've never heard of a parent who *does* know English but the child doesn't. It would be most beneficial for the parent to teach the kid both/all languages they know. Lots of studies show that kids have a greater capacity to learn languages, especially young- elementary school and below- than adults do. So, if the kid is going to stay in an English speaking area and want to learn it later anyway, it would be easiest for the kid to learn it when they are young. I don't see any advantages to keeping him limited to one language, unless they aren't going to stay in the English speaking area(?).
hmmm...that's just odd. i'm just wondering why the mom isn't doing the dual language thing (like Lisa was saying).
maybe the dad insists only on the child speaking arabic.
the child will be very frustrated the older he gets if he continues to be denied learning the english language and also plans on living in the states for the remainder of his life.
odd, i tell you.
well, let the woman who is living in an arabic speaking country say some things :) first, did you ask the woman WHY her child didn't speak english? i would be interested to know! second, he is only 4!! i happen to have a 4 year old at the moment who lives in a culture where he can't speak the language :) my hearts desire is that our children will grow up speaking arabic...however, that all takes time. maybe the mom is hoping signing him up for soccer will help him learn english. that is one of my plans for helping our kids learn language. right now though, we aren't around it alot and it is really hard to be around it alot when you are a stay at home mom with no car (but that will all change now b/c we got a car!! :) ) anyways, just saying, don't be too hard on the mom :) it's kinda of scary to allow your child to into something that is confusing and can be very very frustrating. just some thoughts.
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