Kids Are Sponges: Natural Foreign Language Acquisition in Children

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Kids Are Foreign Language Sponges

While playing at the park this evening, my five year old surprised me by spontaneously counting the numbers 15-19 in French:  quinze, seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf!  He’s had the numbers 1-10 mastered for quite some time.  Since I always seem to be teaching him along with other children who are French newbies, he hears those basics over and over.  

But 11-20 are brand spankin’ new.  Twice this week, we counted numbers on a calendar.  Just like that, he’s got it!  Then after French at the park, both of my boys piped up with a few words of Swahili for the ride home in the car.  

As a mommy, I must say that my children are brilliant, charming, and cool beyond their years.  But it seems that every day when I step into the daycare where I teach, equally brilliant kids are blurting out French words or phrases.  Parents are telling me stories of the French they are hearing pop up at home.  Am I an incredibly talented and amazing teacher?  Well, maybe . . . but the truth is that children are at a natural stage of language development.

I know this.  I’ve studied this.  I’ve preached this.  One day soon I’ll post fascinating facts and findings about brain research and open windows of readiness.  But still, it’s cool to personally experience just how kids–especially my own kids–are foreign language sponges.  Remember, I’m not raising my children in a bilingual home.  Some days we have long blocks of immersion French, but mostly I’m just having a blast exposing them to as many new sounds, languages, and cultures as I can in a natural, no pressure way.  Every day, I am in awe.

My regular teaching gig at the moment is at a high school.  Adolescents . . . gotta love ‘em.  And I do, and they accomplish wonderful things.  But most of my typical American teenage students are learning a second language for the very first time, and it can be a struggle sometimes.  Sponges?  Not any more.  That window is closed.  They can and will become proficient in foreign languages, but never with the ease of young children.

Some people think I push my children with foreign language “study”.  Nah . . . we’re just having fun by doing what comes naturally.  

Feel free to leave a comment bragging about how your brilliant little sponges are soaking up language and culture, too.  

Photo Credit:  by sideshowmom http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=54667&

Counting in Swahili: We All Went on Safari

 

Jambo!  Introduce your kids to Swahili with We All Went on Safari:  A Counting Journey Through Tanzania (Barefoot Books, 2003).  This little treasure of a picture book is written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Julia Cairns.  If you have a 3 to 8 year old, this book belongs on your bookshelf.  

I must admit, I’m a bit of a picture book snob.  Unlike some of the poorly written and horrendously rhyming children’s books I am compelled to read over and over and over again,  We All Went on Safari is fun to read out loud–even over and over again.  I have a blast pronouncing the African names weaved throughout Kreb’s rich language and rhythm–names like Mwambe and Arusha.  Oh, and my kids like it, too!

We All Went on Safari is a nice springboard for learning Swahili.  Here are the numbers you and your kids will encounter on safari:

moja – one
mbili – two
tatu – three
nne – four
tano – five
sita – six
saba – seven
nane – eight
tisa – nine
kumi – ten 

Krebs’ picture book also includes a nice reference page about some of the Swahili names of animals from Tanzania.  My little guys have mastered simba (lion), twiga (giraffe), and tembo (elephant.)  Go here on the Mwamba Simba website for more animal vocabulary in Swahili.  I don’t know what it is, but Swahili is just so much fun to say!  Go ahead, try some more:  mamba (crocodile), nyoka (snake), and popo (bat.)  After you read We All Went on Safari, play animal and number vocabulary games, color and label animal pictures, and listen to Swahili songs online.

Kwaheri! (Goodbye!)

Acacia Tree in Tanzania

“We all went on safari, Past an old acacia tree.

Nearby giraffes were grazing, So Tumpe counted three.”

(verse by Laurie Krebs, We All Went on Safari)

Photo Credit: by John Storr http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Acacia_At_Dusk.jpg (public domain)

National Holidays Around the World: July

Francophile that I am, it’s going to be an effort not be too France-centered in this blog.  So, oui, July 14 is Bastille Day–France’s Independence Day.  But there are other countries celebrating national holidays besides the American 4th and le quatorze juillet.  I got this list of national holidays in July from the U.S. Department of State website.  I added the languages spoken in each country from infoplease.com.  I pledge to learn a new word or two in honor of some holidays.  Are you in?

 

July 1:  Burundi (Kirundi, French, Swahili)

July 1:  Canada (French, English)

July 1:  Rwanda (Kinyarwanda, French, English, Kiswahili)

July 3:  Belarus (Belorussian/White Russian, Russian)

July 5:  Cape Verde (Portuguese, Criuolo)

July 5:  Venezuela (Spanish, et al)

July 6:  Comoros (Arabic, French, Shikomoro–Swahili/Arabic blend)

July 6:  Malawi (Chichewa, Chinyanja, Chiyao, Chitumbuka, Chisena, Chilomwe, Chitonga)  All new to me!

July 7:  Solomon Islands (1-2% English–official language!?, Melanesian pidgin, 120 indigenous languages)

July 10:  Bahamas (English, Creole)

July 11:  Mongolia (Mongolian, Turkish, Russian)

July 14:  France (French)

July 20:  Colombia (Spanish)

July 21:  Belgium (Dutch/Flemish, French, German less than 1% but still one of official languages)

July 23:  Egypt (Arabic official, French and English widely spoken)

July 26:  Liberia  (20% English–official language, 20 ethnic-group languages)

July 28:  Peru  (Spanish, Quéchua (both official); Aymara; many minor Amazonian languages)

Photo Credit:  Kevin Rosseel  http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=207440&