Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
dona
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 571554" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>I think you misunderstood, SuZir. When I referred to the dominant language, that generally is the one they're more exposed to. For those of us on this site, that is generally English. But not in every case. We have a few kids, for example, who live in French-speaking communities. Certainly, you should allow a child to learn the dominant language of the area in which they live. It would be seriously problematic to do otherwise.</p><p></p><p>One thing I do recall from our travel in New Zealand - in my opinion they treat their indigenous people better than we do in Australia (although I do think Australia is lifting its game). In NZ there are immersion schools for the Maori kids, where the school is on a sort of commune (called a marai) where they live in community and learn in community, and their native language only is spoken. Since a lot of the older adults have actually lost their Maori language (through a government policy in their childhood to eliminate the Maori language) the kids in the marai would be exposed to some level of English. However, for a lot of the young children, they only learn Maori, it is their first language. At school they are taught only in Maori until about age 12 when English is introduced formally. I met a couple of young Maori adults who had grown up on a Maori-speaking marai and gone to university studying Maori. Their English was excellent, but they preferred to speak Maori. I met one little girl who was being raised this way. A three-year-old at the time, she was on holiday with her grandparents who had lost their Maori language and deeply regretted it. The little girl apparently only spoke Maori to the casual observer, but she seemed to understand that her grandparents needed English. The little girl would speak Maori, but switch to English if her grandmother needed to understand more. Grandmother was actually a teacher at a very high level in their education system and was trying, late in life, to learn Maori again. A struggle. We learned a lot from that family in the few days we spent together. I didn't directly ask, but I think that allowing the little girl to have a regular holiday with her English-speaking Maori grandparents was the parents' way to ensure that she grew up bilingual. The little girl's parents (we met them) were fully bilingual but only spoke Maori on the marai.</p><p></p><p>I'm going to ask my speech pathologist friend for help with this one. I need to know for myself now, what the experts really say (rather than what our Prime Minister says).</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 571554, member: 1991"] I think you misunderstood, SuZir. When I referred to the dominant language, that generally is the one they're more exposed to. For those of us on this site, that is generally English. But not in every case. We have a few kids, for example, who live in French-speaking communities. Certainly, you should allow a child to learn the dominant language of the area in which they live. It would be seriously problematic to do otherwise. One thing I do recall from our travel in New Zealand - in my opinion they treat their indigenous people better than we do in Australia (although I do think Australia is lifting its game). In NZ there are immersion schools for the Maori kids, where the school is on a sort of commune (called a marai) where they live in community and learn in community, and their native language only is spoken. Since a lot of the older adults have actually lost their Maori language (through a government policy in their childhood to eliminate the Maori language) the kids in the marai would be exposed to some level of English. However, for a lot of the young children, they only learn Maori, it is their first language. At school they are taught only in Maori until about age 12 when English is introduced formally. I met a couple of young Maori adults who had grown up on a Maori-speaking marai and gone to university studying Maori. Their English was excellent, but they preferred to speak Maori. I met one little girl who was being raised this way. A three-year-old at the time, she was on holiday with her grandparents who had lost their Maori language and deeply regretted it. The little girl apparently only spoke Maori to the casual observer, but she seemed to understand that her grandparents needed English. The little girl would speak Maori, but switch to English if her grandmother needed to understand more. Grandmother was actually a teacher at a very high level in their education system and was trying, late in life, to learn Maori again. A struggle. We learned a lot from that family in the few days we spent together. I didn't directly ask, but I think that allowing the little girl to have a regular holiday with her English-speaking Maori grandparents was the parents' way to ensure that she grew up bilingual. The little girl's parents (we met them) were fully bilingual but only spoke Maori on the marai. I'm going to ask my speech pathologist friend for help with this one. I need to know for myself now, what the experts really say (rather than what our Prime Minister says). Marg [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
dona
Top