Our bilingal family - introduction

Is this video I talk about:
What is bilingualism?
Our bilingual family background

I also briefly mention language acquisition and language learning.

Bilingual - able to speak two languages with the facility of a native speaker. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bilingual

Language acquisition - the process of learning a native or a second language. The acquisition of native languages is studied primarily by developmental psychologists and psycholinguists. Although how children learn to speak is not perfectly understood, most explanations involve both the observation that children copy what they hear and the inference that human beings have a natural aptitude for understanding grammar. While children usually learn the sounds and vocabulary of their native language through imitation, grammar is seldom taught to them explicitly; that they nonetheless rapidly acquire the ability to speak grammatically supports the theory advanced by Noam Chomsky Chomsky, Noam , 1928--, educator and linguist, b. Philadelphia. Chomsky, who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955, developed a theory of transformational (sometimes called generative or transformational-generative) grammar. ... According to this view, children are able to learn the "superficial" grammar of a particular language because all intelligible languages are founded on a "deep structure" of grammatical rules that are universal and that correspond to an innate capacity of the human brain. Stages in the acquisition of a native language can be measured by the increasing complexity and originality of a child's utterances. Children at first may overgeneralize grammatical rules and say, for example, goed (meaning went), a form they are unlikely to have heard, suggesting that they have intuited or deduced complex grammatical rules (here, how to conjugate regular verbs) and failed only to learn exceptions that cannot be predicted from a knowledge of the grammar alone. The acquisition of second or foreign languages is studied primarily by applied linguists. People learning a second language pass through some of the same stages, including overgeneralization, as do children learning their native language. However, people rarely become as fluent in a second language as in their native tongue. Some linguists see the earliest years of childhood as a critical period, after which the brain loses much of its facility for assimilating new languages. Most traditional methods for learning a second language involve some systematic approach to the analysis and comprehension of grammar as well as to the memorization of vocabulary. The cognitive approach, increasingly favored by experts in language acquisition, emphasizes extemporaneous conversation, immersion, and other techniques intended to simulate the environment in which most people acquire their native language as children. http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/first+language+acquisition

Second language acquisition and learning - learning and acquisition of a second language once the mother tongue or first language acquisition is established. Second language acquisition or SLA is the process of learning other languages in addition to the native language. For instance, a child who speaks Hindi as the mother tongue starts learning English when he starts going to school. English is learned by the process of second language acquisition. In fact, a young child can learn a second language faster than an adult can learn the same language. http://www.brighthub.com/education/languages/articles/70729.aspx

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Tags:

• Our
• bilingal
• family
• introduction
• bilingualism
• first
• language
• acuisition
• acquired
• second
• acquisition
• learned
• English
• German
• teaching
• translation

[722amoregmaeda]

Go for it ms.Robyn!

its a gift we can give to our kids...

I just wished i have that support you are getting.

[xoxazurixox]

@722amoregmaeda You are so sweet and supportive! It is totally up to you to decide how to raise your children and you must do what you think is best given the circumstances. I think often parents think of raising children bilingually and are sat at the botton of this huge mountain (metaphorically of course) and climbing it seems like the biggest, most impossible task. I feel like that at times. You could (if you want!) give your children a little English input e.g. songs, stories and games? xox

[kenayme]

what language dose your child speak?

[xoxazurixox]

@kenayme Well, I wouldn't say he "officially" speaks any language yet, but it's very clear that he understands both English and German now. For example, if I ask him to bring me a specific toy in English he does and the same in German. He's just under 18 months old. We hope he will grow up bilingual in English and German, but time will tell there :)

[alessa36]

First question: How easy\hard was to combine a language-bound professional background with migration? I explain my question: I'm native Portuguese speaker living in a English-speaking country for 13 years, with Bachelor's and postgrad degrees but all the employers seem to be interested only in my language skills :( . Any tips on how not to get 'language-trapped' in a job market when living abroad with your family? Thanks!

[xoxazurixox]

@alessa36 Oh, I wish I knew, because precicely that happened to me! What did you study? Unfortunately we don't have many bi - or multilinguals in English-speaking countries who don't end up in the same position you are - at least that is my experience.

[xoxazurixox]

@alandamandamama Noam Chomsky is a genius! The man writes political science books too! When I look at what people like him have achieved, my life (what I have done, not the fact that I'm alive) seems pretty boring and insignificant. I really do believe that all languages have a "deep grammar". There's a common logic to the way human languages work. I can certainly see it in the few I know. I'm a closet geek, but I love it really :)) So glad you're excited :)))

[alandamandamama]

Salut!! I am SO behind on videos and I was super excited when I saw that you went ahead and did your bilingual videos :) P.S. I LOVE NOAM CHOMSKY and I am glad that you sited him!!