The second-language battle
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- November
- 2
My son was gung-ho to learn Spanish when he was younger. Then, poof. He just kind of rebelled against it. Now he’s 9 and I worry I’m running out of time to get him back on track. Time to get busy.
See, Spanish is my first language, so I have always wanted my son to learn it for that reason. Obviously, there are more practical reasons to learn Spanish now because of the radical demographic changes going on around us. When my son was 3, everything was set up to grant me my wish. He was all over it. Then he just didn’t want to keep learning, probably because it became one of those things that kids just decide they’re going to defy a parent on. After a while, I stopped pushing because I didn’t want to make it a forcible thing, and something that his stubborn nature would shut the door on for good.
Now I’m coming up with ideas to get him going again. I learned English rather quickly at age 7, and I know that there is a limited time left when my son can learn a second language with more ease. There’s quite a bit written on this, including in this basic article on the subject. So, here’s my plan:
• Speak to him only in Spanish when we’re in the car.
• Pull out some of our Spanish-language videotapes and watch Spanish-language TV and cinema at least once a week.
• Pull out some of the Spanish-language children’s books he had as a younger kid.
My girlfriend is anxious to have her 3-year-old learn as well, so maybe we can work it into the regimen for both boys. In the meantime, I’m hoping to jump start the process now that my son’s attitude about learning has changed and he’s anxious to do it. I guess we’ll have to see how it goes. Stay tuned.
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 1:54 pm by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon.
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It’s great for a child to learn a second language when he/she is still young enough to speak it like a native speaker.
Beyond a certain age, you can never get the same ‘feel’ for a second language, no matter how hard you study it. You will always think in your native language and mentally translate, as I do with Spanish and, to a lesser extent, French.
I’m not really sure demographic changes are a good reason to learn Spanish. I expect English will continue to be the principal language used in this country. But I think that it’s always good to know more than one language.
David;
We certainly agree on the value of learning additional languages. I do think Spanish is a key language for kids nowadays, simply because those demographic changes mean our children will be dealing with more and more Spanish-speaking employees/bosses/clients, etc. It has been valuable in my career, certainly.
As for a third language for my son, I’d bet on Mandarin if I had a choice.
I dont agree. I fully agree that a child should learn the language of their heritage. If one solid one exists. For me both my parents were born here but my dad was raised Italian but he never taugh me because it was dialect.
However, This is America and learning a second language because of demographics is ludicrous. How about people helping the demograpgic to learn ENGLISH.
Hey if i am going live or work in another country for a long period of Time I will MOST certainly learn the language out of respect as well as necessity. The fact that the “DEMOGRAPHIC” dont leearn is a sign of their DISRESPECT to us.
This is a very hot and sore subject for me. I feel it unfair to the other people with different languages. we need a single language to bind this country.
yes, learning a second language of ones choice should be done. But having to do so because of what again? oh yeah demographics. No thats not the answer.
Steve;
You’re getting a little bit ahead of my point. I’m well aware of the political implications of this issue. But I’m not expressing an opinion either way on whether or not there should be a large Spanish-speaking population here. Certainly, they teach in English in our schools.
But the reality is that there are a large number of Spanish-speaking people in the country. Whatever my son does with his future, it seems likely he will encounter Spanish-speaking people, be they employees, clients, etc. Anybody in the construction, restaurant or landscaping industries can alreasy attest to this.
So, we agree that a second language is valuable for a child to learn. We may disagree that Spanish is a particularly advantageous one given the demographic changes in the country. But that is where freedom of choice looms as a wonderful thing. As I said, I wouldn’t mind my son learning Mandarin if he’s going to be involved in international business at some point, which seems a relatively large possibility with the way business is globalizing.