Specifics

Lars,
  Your comment is interesting. What's to keep you from (for instance) using
three languages in succession on a three day cycle ?
  I am not criticizing your comment, it honestly never occured to me that
you couldn't raise bilingual kids without multiple language exclusive adults
in their vicinity.  Is this an accepted linguistic fact amongst the
second-language aquisition folks?  If so then it sounds as if "winter in
Beijing, summer in Florida" or a similar unusual living environment would be
neccessary for a single dad...
  If bilingual aquisition from a single speaker is a problem...this might
present a problem to home-schooling.
  And as far as their mother...well ....I'll leave that be for Jorg and the
peace of the list's sake .

brian
(humour ALSO not marked!)

d e e p b l u e h a l o


Date:    Thu, 8 Feb 2001 21:26:54 -0000
From:    Lars Henrik Mathiesen <thorinn@...>
Subject: Re: Specifics (was Re: Personal langs and convers

> Date:         Wed, 7 Feb 2001 13:46:52 -0500
> From: Brian Phillips <deepbluehalo@...>
>   I also intend to raise kids with multiple languages. At least
trilingual.
> Demographically the best "common" tongues are Mandarin and English
> (population wise) and then the two "odd children". ASL becuase it is so
> different, and Esperanto because it's the only widely used conlang.
>   I will likely continue to travel in retirement and so I suspect that the
> kids might pick up some other stuff from wherever we happen to be staying.
Now, this sounds very much like you intend to teach the kids two or
three of those languages yourself.

That's not the way it happens in natural multilingualism. I think you
need to have separate persons interacting with the children in the
different languages, or they simply won't have the necessary clues to
keep them apart.

I still don't think you'd be able to harm them by trying, but you'll
likely just make them ignore you and concentrate on the language their
friends speak. Or their mother, if your plans have a place for her.

Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT
marked)