Can I have some guidance regarding multiple foreign languages? I am clueless

[dorothythomas]

My DS, 9, has been studying Latin for 2 years. He loves it. Next year, he wants to add Greek (which would really just be the alphabet), Spanish, and Chinese. :huh: I am considering drawing the line at Chinese. After all there are only so many hours in a day and I feel COMPLETELY out of my depth with Chinese and only MOSTLY out of my depth with the others (I actually took Greek in college so maybe it will come back to me? Here's hoping :lol: ).

 

But he wants to just keep adding and adding. He's been talking about this for year. My 7YO DD, taking after he brother, has no real interest in Latin, but also REALLY wants to learn Chinese and Spanish too.

 

Any suggestions for managing this foreign language hunger well while keeping it perspective educationally? I would love any advice at all.

[Laura Corin]

Multiple languages are doable, but I do think that sticking to familiar languages is easier if you want to do several. My boys studied Latin (which I did for about four years at school), French (I have a degree in French) and Chinese (I spent many years in Chinese Asia and am reasonably fluent, but we used a tutor). We started languages one at a time and added another when the previous one was starting to feel secure. We had lessons in each language twice a week (on average) but the boys worked on grammar/vocab memorisation every day.

 

I do think that it is much more valuable to do one or two languages well than to skim several. Our situation was particular because we were living in China when we started home educating, Latin was an educational goal of mine, and they both had to learn French to enter school.

 

FWIW, it's very common in European schools to learn two or three foreign languages at school. Calvin is pursuing Latin and French as part of the International Baccalaureate; Hobbes is currently learning Latin and French at school, as well as being given a taster of Spanish and German. Next year he will choose two of these four to study in more depth. Both are continuing their studies of Chinese outside of school.

 

Laura

[katilac]

3 Foreign languages is the minimum here (STEM track)

 

 

Can I ask what being on a STEM track has to do with multiple foreign languages? I've never heard of that emphasis for a STEM student, and every working scientist I've spoken with has said that English is the standard language internationally. In particular, I asked at our gravitational wave observatory, which has an international crew. I was hoping to motivate my kids, lol, but they were adamant that English was THE language, no matter where in the world you might be working.

[dorothythomas]

Can I ask what being on a STEM track has to do with multiple foreign languages? I've never heard of that emphasis for a STEM student, and every working scientist I've spoken with has said that English is the standard language internationally. In particular, I asked at our gravitational wave observatory, which has an international crew. I was hoping to motivate my kids, lol, but they were adamant that English was THE language, no matter where in the world you might be working.

 

 

I understood her to mean that in Belgium even kids who are focused on STEM related learning are required to learn 3 languages. Other focuses would mean more languages. She can correct me if I'm wrong. As for why Belgium requires that for STEM, you'd probably have to ask their government. :laugh:

[SarahW]

Can I ask what being on a STEM track has to do with multiple foreign languages? I've never heard of that emphasis for a STEM student, and every working scientist I've spoken with has said that English is the standard language internationally. In particular, I asked at our gravitational wave observatory, which has an international crew. I was hoping to motivate my kids, lol, but they were adamant that English was THE language, no matter where in the world you might be working.

 

 

I expect that in Belgium English is one of those foreign languages. But German is also very useful. I have read complaints recently about American scientists not keeping up with German research because they don't know German. The third may depend on what area you are going in to and what language the major researchers in it speak.

 

OP. my kid is, well, he used to be bilingual. From what I gathered from those who ran multiple languages in the home, the trick to preventing confusion is to "compartmentalize" the different languages somehow. The difference between learning an ancient language and a modern spoken language is already a good differentiation. But for multiple ancients or moderns you may want to think about taking a different approach between them (different publisher or format) and learning them in different parts of the house.

 

Some people are just gifted in languages. I know someone who knows at least seven languages, and is able to just sit down with a new language and start picking out parts of speech and vocabulary. I think it's weird, but who knows, you may have a kid that likes doing that.

[8filltheheart]

My 8th grade dd is the same way. I am only letting her add 1 at a time.

 

She started French in 3rd, Latin in 6th, 1 semester of Russian in 8th (and will be continuing self-studying over the summer and start with a tutor in Aug), and wants to add in Arabic. (With Arabic, we are going to register her through CTY. She had originally wanted Chinese.) She also wants to study German!! We have had to put the reins on just how much she wants to do b/c there are only so many hrs in the day and she has lots of other courses she has to take!

 

FWIW, she believes she wants to be a linguist or a translator . :)

[Laura Corin]

 

OP. my kid is, well, he used to be bilingual. From what I gathered from those who ran multiple languages in the home, the trick to preventing confusion is to "compartmentalize" the different languages somehow. The difference between learning an ancient language and a modern spoken language is already a good differentiation. But for multiple ancients or moderns you may want to think about taking a different approach between them (different publisher or format) and learning them in different parts of the house.

 

 

 

People who learn by immersion in bi/trilingual households do better, I believe, if the languages are compartmentalised by person (Daddy speaks Hungarian, Mummy speaks English, Aunty speaks Chinese). My experience of teaching languages at home has been, by contrast, that deliberately juxtaposing languages helps to build fluency and good switching. Once the boys had been learning a new language for a year or so, I would deliberately mix it up: speak French with them on the way to Chinese class or switch languages in mid-sentence. They don't seem to have the kind of confusion that I used to have: I learned French then dropped it and learned Chinese, then found I could no longer speak French without throwing some Chinese into each sentence.

 

I don't know if these methods would be best for all children, but they worked for mine, who are extremely verbal and language-oriented.

 

Laura

[Jane in NC]

Can I ask what being on a STEM track has to do with multiple foreign languages? I've never heard of that emphasis for a STEM student, and every working scientist I've spoken with has said that English is the standard language internationally. In particular, I asked at our gravitational wave observatory, which has an international crew. I was hoping to motivate my kids, lol, but they were adamant that English was THE language, no matter where in the world you might be working.

 

 

One of my family members is an engineer for a large appliance firm here in the US. In his job, he regularly travels to Italy, Brazil, Mexico, etc. to meet with other team members. Because of this, he wants his newly born child to begin foreign language immersion early. He doesn't necessarily need to speak Portuguese or Italian in his meetings, but because he is in these countries for a week or two at a time, he needs to have a vocabulary of basic language for restaurants, transportation, etc. Sometimes he is invited to have meals with the families of engineers. Whatever communication he can do in the native language is welcomed with open arms.

 

So while English may be THE language in direct professional contact, having the facility to master informal language basics may help one become a more respected team player.

[Embassy]

We are working on multiple foreign languages and have been doing so for many years now. We make slow and steady progress. Progress would be quicker if we only did one or two, but I started early. We are currently doing Mandarin, Arabic, ancient Greek, and French. We may add another although I don't know where I would fit it in. I would only add it because we would be living in a country that speaks the language. I started Mandarin, Arabic, and Greek in Kindergarten and some of my kids had exposure before that. I started French in grade 5. My kids have never confused the languages we are learning.

 

Our main focus early on was to get an ear for the language so we could have correct pronunciation (not ancient Greek though). Learning to read and write with a different alphabet has been time consuming too. Mandarin is packed with memorization which is good for us since we don't do much memorization in our other subjects.

 

My kids have requested to learn others, but I'm at my limit so I leave it to them to learn independently or they can take up a new language in college.

 

I didn't know any of these languages. I took 2 years of Spanish in high school and a semester of German in college. We are learning together and one of my kids is far beyond my skill level. I guide his studies and it is working for us. I use materials made for college students because they usually have more English explanations of things like grammar and more listening activities built-in. I work with each child individually since they are on different levels and learn quite differently. It didn't work well to try to teach them together.

[happypamama]

Does your library offer Mango? If so, that's a free way to try out some different languages. My DD has studied Latin for a couple of years and will continue to do so. She did a bit of French but didn't love it, so next year, she's going to try something else. She's expressed interest in both Italian and Chinese, so I'm going to have her play with Mango to see if either (or both) of them click; she does seem to pick up languages fairly easily. My son, who is 8, will start Latin this year, and probably one other language (he's also interested in Italian -- I think they like the way I, who took some Italian in college and loved it, pronounce the words), via Mango. If Italian doesn't click, I may suggest Spanish. I would love them to learn Greek and Hebrew, but I'm going to have to leave those for them to pursue on their own free time, as I want them to do Latin and one modern language, at the very least, because I think that is important in today's world.