My question about EDUCATION?

TuongKy wrote:

My question:
How do the children in USA or ENGLAND learn English in first grade???
Can Foreigner in another countries study English in that way?
I really want to know it...
Education of primary school in USA
can you help me?

Firstly , they more than likely already have basic speaking skills, ( from parents and siblings ), they will then learn reading and writing, but these days most go to a pre school, or kindergarten and have a good head start.

Sorry cause it's out of the topic.

I'm trying to raise my son to know at least 3 languages (Vietnamese, English, French). He's 5 months old. I talk to him in 2 languages English & Vietnamese. I'm planning for his aunt to speak French with him. All of us are Vietnamese but I'm self confident to use English with him, not French at the moment.

Anybody have Vietnamese wife and his kids can talk 2 or 3 languages can tell me a little bit of their experience?

Scarletvn wrote:

Sorry cause it's out of the topic.

I'm trying to raise my son to know at least 3 languages (Vietnamese, English, French). He's 5 months old. I talk to him in 2 languages English & Vietnamese. I'm planning for his aunt to speak French with him. All of us are Vietnamese but I'm self confident to use English with him, not French at the moment.

Anybody have Vietnamese wife and his kids can talk 2 or 3 languages can tell me a little bit of their experience?

You are joking aren't you?, all you are doing is confusing the poor kid at that age.

The way all children learn is the same in all cultures.

The first word English children learn after Mumma or Papa is NO! In Greek, no is 'Okh'i' pronounced ohi whereas yes is 'nE' pronounced ne - which is easier for someone first learning to speak.

Children allegedly learn whilst they are still in their mother's womb. They also develop a taste for music that they hear whilst in the womb.

Children begin learning their mother tongue from the day they're born. Do you really think that they wait until they begin school? OMG, if only that were true!!! Besides being the parent and primary caregiver of 5 sons and daughters, I'm a teacher with a career spanning over 26 years. Just to think of them being totally silent for the first 5 years of their lives........ wow, the Impossible Dream!!!!!

Many children also learn some basic reading and writing at home even before they start into formal schooling. Once they get into school then they begin to pick up the pace and start learning even more quickly.

It is difficult for anyone in a non-English speaking country to learn English in exactly the same way as children in English speaking countries do, since it involves immersion in the language 24/7. You won't find that in VN.

Start with the basics, and keep on taking classes, practice, practice, practice. Expose yourself to the English language as much as possible, in both the written and spoken forms; read English language magazines, websites, newspapers, listen to music, watch movies on DVD.

When watching a film I recommend you watch the DVD for the first time only with AUDIO in English and NO SUBTITLES. You'll understand much of what's being said simply by the action. Watch a second, third, or however many times you wish with ENGLISH AUDIO AND SUBTITLES.

Never uses Vietnamese subtitles because this will just undo all the hard work you're doing to learn the language.

I asked my friends who has Vietnamese wife. He said he speak to his 2 children in English & his wife speaks to them in Vietnamese. They are 3 & 5. They can speak 3 languages: German, English, Vietnamese.

It seems that we have a certain age to start speaking to them in another languages? So, how did my friend communicate with his kids when it's not the right time?

Scarletvn wrote:

I asked my friends who has Vietnamese wife. He said he speak to his 2 children in English & his wife speaks to them in Vietnamese. They are 3 & 5. They can speak 3 languages: German, English, Vietnamese.

My teen-aged daughter learned English at home, Vietnamese at school and switched languages depending on the facial appearance of her audience. Now, when she is talking to a mixed audience she mixes language in the same sentence.

Presently she speaks English, Vietnamese, and is learning Chinese, programming and writing Apps. And swear words in French and Kmer.

Does it mean I should speak to my son in English right now as I'm doing?

Here's an interesting article from The Japan Times.
Somewhere along the line, can there be a real conflict between pure bilingualism and the sociocultural identity of a child (or young adult), growing up in a more-or-less monolingual society??

@Senwl:

Then adolescence arrived. Leo lost his motivation to study English.

Could this be simply the 'rebellion' stage through which many teenagers pass? Or could it be a reflection of the effort his Father had put in the English part of the sons upbringing?

One thing for sure: the son can't change his Caucasian appearance. Japanese culture seems very hung up on 'purity' of blood lines. Some Koreans, who have lived in Japan for generations, are still treated like 'Foreigners' by the JP government, even if born there.

I have never 'forced' any (polite) language on my daughter, she is completely free to use whatever she chooses. Maybe daughters are less rebellious than sons but it could be the culture.

Since our house basement seems to hold some attraction for my daughter's friends, and appears to be a home-from-home for them,it appears that they share a unique form of Vietnamese that only they understand. And the SMS messages are the same!

I think the main thing is that they can communicate - regardless of what medium/method they use.

bluenz wrote:

Scarletvn wrote:

Sorry cause it's out of the topic.

I'm trying to raise my son to know at least 3 languages (Vietnamese, English, French). He's 5 months old. I talk to him in 2 languages English & Vietnamese. I'm planning for his aunt to speak French with him. All of us are Vietnamese but I'm self confident to use English with him, not French at the moment.

Anybody have Vietnamese wife and his kids can talk 2 or 3 languages can tell me a little bit of their experience?

You are joking aren't you?, all you are doing is confusing the poor kid at that age.

Why not?
I know kids in Malaysia that grow up with four languages, and learn at least two more at school.
In many Malaysian Chinese communities, three or four Chinese languages are normal in their area, and the pick up Malay and English at school.
One young girl I knew could speak 7 languages by the time she was 17.

Why would three be a problem?

My daughter can manage English and Indonesian at the moment, speaks some Mandarin, and can do a little Javanese.
Limits are set by Adults, not the kids' ability.

Scarletvn wrote:

Does it mean I should speak to my son in English right now as I'm doing?

YES!

A human brain goes through two or three developmental stages, I read, where certain unused abilities are curtailed - as in 'don't use it, lose it'. Language learning ability is lost at an earlier stage than other attributes.

The ability to speak more than one language is so useful in today's world. Who would have guessed, twenty years ago, that VN would adopt English as a second language or that British schools would be teaching Japanese?

Yes, there will always be exceptions, helps greatly when the kids WANT to learn .

Limits are set by Adults, not the kids' ability.

If that was only true, I have many students where the VN language is still a challenge, not all kids have the same IQ as their parents. And then there are the medical issues, ADHD comes to mind, 1 out of 10 kids in Aus has it, so how many in VN?, many times I've wanted to tie kids to their chairs. ( and gag them ).