Spyke
We need to expose babies to as many languages as possible
beth avatar
#RandomThoughtsby@beth

We need to expose babies to as many languages as possible

Like how many CAN these guys pick up? What's the worst that can happen?

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rabbitferris avatar
@rabbitferris

Worst that can happen is that they become the first polyglot in the family. Last time I taught in a daycare, a fair few kids had issues, so some of the teachers knew a few basic words in ASL (American Sign Language). We had one boy who we weaned off of using it with him and when I left he was starting to verblize while using ASL at the same time.

Maybe I'm biased, I each English as a foreign language, but in my experience it seems that generally the more languages someone knows the more free they feel. Some languages have words to express feelings others don't, sometimes curses in one language hold more weight in another, etc.

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yd avatar
@ydreply

Yes, improved expression has been shown to give people an increased sense of freedom. And kids younger than 5 can learn languages by mere absorption. It's amazing the amount of things a child can learn.

I once was babysitting a group of kids, and I asked them which is their dominant hand. Then I encouraged them to use both hands. One kid was actually able to draw with one hand while practicing to write with the other! Kids are amazing.

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rabbitferris avatar
@rabbitferrisreply

I write in English with my right hand and Arabic with my left, I purposely did that. And yeah, kids are little sponges, I know a lid that for the first six months of her life her Mother only spoke English to her, and after that switched between their native Arabic and English. She's six now and between school and home she's on par with a native English kid of her age. Currently she knows a few words in Armenian and takes French and English in school on top of Arabic. These kids are going places, I'm so excited to see this.

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yd avatar
@ydreply

So excited for the future! This is amazing to know!

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