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Teach kids pronunciation of languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Creado Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4570 days ago 9 posts - 14 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 14 21 August 2012 at 10:54pm | IP Logged |
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Hi,
As well as teaching children how to speak other languages, do you think it would be useful to teach children how to pronounce letters and common words in several common languages, like Spanish, French, German, etc? One way to do this would be to insist on teaching basics in various languages before said children select which language they want to study in detail. Edited by Creado on 21 August 2012 at 11:02pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| LaughingChimp Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4699 days ago 346 posts - 594 votes  Speaks: Czech* | Message 2 of 14 22 August 2012 at 10:01am | IP Logged |
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I don't think it would useful.
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| ZombieKing Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4527 days ago 247 posts - 324 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* | Message 3 of 14 28 August 2012 at 7:59am | IP Logged |
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I don't think so either, because unless they are exposed to the language a lot (or have sharp ears), they will get frustrated before they learn the new sounds and give up.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 4 of 14 28 August 2012 at 10:38am | IP Logged |
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Those that want to learn a specific language should get the opportunity to just start it, otherwise their motivation might decrease as they are forced to learn the basics of several other languages.
Some sort of guidance would be a great idea though, getting to sample several languages before choosing one. In fact that's what Language Festivals are for, though they usually attract mostly adult learners. I know in Moscow the language festival guys have also organized at least one smaller event at some school. (And ideally this should be the case for any subjects you get to choose. Kids should, with the help of their parents and teachers, make the right choice depending on their interests&personality; they also should learn to weigh the pro and contra and make decisions, based on facts and (their own) opinions. How many people considering a language beautiful or ugly have really had enough exposure? And how many base their choice on having heard X is easy or Y is difficult? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Zimena Tetraglot Groupie Norway Joined 4592 days ago 75 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish Studies: Czech, Mandarin | Message 5 of 14 28 August 2012 at 11:07am | IP Logged |
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I don't think it would make sense to insist on teaching the basics of various language, as that would just mean that:
1) children who aren't all that interested in language will end up having to learn even more of something that they don't consider interesting, which might kill the interest or motivation to learn ONE other language later. 2) those who ARE interested and would otherwise pick up things by exposure might feel that the knowledge is being forced on them and therefore not pick it up as easily or naturally or with as much interest as they would normally have. In general, I think people who are interested in languages end up gaining a general understanding of what different languages sound like if they're exposed to them. A kid who is interested in languages will pick up the SOUND of a foreign language even if the words don't make sense. Edited by Zimena on 28 August 2012 at 11:08am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 6 of 14 28 August 2012 at 11:35am | IP Logged |
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I mostly meant the cases when it's required to take one of, say, German/French/Spanish. It should be a serious choice, not one based on arguments like "I've heard the French pronunciation is difficult". Also, those presentations are not really lessons but just introductions.
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| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5207 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 14 28 August 2012 at 11:49am | IP Logged |
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I certainly understand the sentiment, since pronunciation definitely seems to be
something that's easier to develop a skill for when you're young. For example I remember a discussion here a couple of months ago where we were saying that adult learners who pick up pronunciation and accents easily tend to be people who were good at imitating sounds and accents when they were children. I'm not sure about the implementation though - if you just isolate the sounds of various languages and teach them on their own, it would be teaching a skill that they have no immediate use for, hence no desire to learn. On a related note however, I wish that more language courses, be them school classes, adult classes, or self-study materials, would teach their students how to correctly pronounce letters and common words in the language, because the vast majority simply don't. They either rely entirely on the student having a very strong ability to listen and imitate (Pimsleur), or use a misleading phonetic script (Assimil) or misleading "a as in father" type guide that encourages incorrect use of similar but not identical sounds from the native language. Edited by garyb on 28 August 2012 at 11:52am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5334 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 8 of 14 28 August 2012 at 1:08pm | IP Logged |
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I am a bit surprised that so many are negative to being exposed to accents early, as I am exposing my kids actively, and have a great deal of faith in it.
My children went to a French school in Belgium and learned a good deal of French when they were 2 and 5. They have since forgotten all but a few words, since that is 10 years ago, but their accent is still really good, whenever they say something in French. In fact it is better than the accent of any of their class mates, who have now done French for three years (mine have not). In that 10 year period, their only exposure to French has been me singing for them, and a few spoken words in the morning now and then (they get to sleep for 5 minutes extra if they tell me that they are tired in French). A few months ago, my oldest daughter and I started watching some series in French. It helps her remember the sounds, and she picks up a few expressions, and it help me get back into the language (to the degree that I spoke French to my husband the other evening. He was sooo not amused...) They have wathced American TV since childhood, and have a close to native accent. They both also have a close to native Spanish accent, partly from some exposure since childhood(me singing and talking, friends talking) and partly from several visits in Jaen (my oldest daughter) and now three months in Almeria (my youngest daughter). I believe that whatever sounds they are exposed to, will help them later on. My daughters heard quite a lot of Russian when we were in Belgium, and when my oldest daughter has wanted to say a few words in Russian, she has no problems pronouncing them. We have also started watching American series in German, but it is too early for any results - we have just watched a few episodes, but I think it will help her to pronounce German better when she starts learning it. In the mean time, nothing is lost. She gets to see shows she like, only in German instead of in English. When she was three, I asked her to look after her baby sister for me a few minutes, and when the three year old started singing an Italian song for her little sister, that I used to sing for her, I was amazed. I cannot say that she had a native accent, because I do not have a native accent in Italian, but she was perfect in imitating my way of singing it. We tend to underestimate children, when children are the most amazing little miracles imaginable when it comes to languages. They should all have learned French, Spanish, English, Russian, Mandarin and Arabic from the kindergarden on. Then they could have got in inn through play and singing, and would not have had to break a sweat in learning it later. So many people hate languages because they start to learn it too late, and it is made into all work and no play. So sad. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 28 August 2012 at 1:12pm 8 persons have voted this message useful |
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