Adult swim is a program that has many shows like “Robot chicken” this show is interesting and weird all at the same time. One of the episodes of Robot chicken had the stages of death. If you have children under the age of 9 you might tell them to get out of the room due to language.

http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/quicksand.html

This little clip explains the idea of facing death in a manner that is funny but true. I hope you liked the clip and that it helped you understand death in a lighter mood.

Hola! Bonheur!

Reading your blog was interesting what age is perfect for learning a new language and how do you teach a second language? For the first question studies have mainly talked about Neuro-plasticity and the time when children are still susceptible to learn another language.

Some studies say toddlers are the best age to learn another language however the window of plasticity is from three to about twelve years old. The reason some linguist say three is the best age is because of the dialect and accent of the other foreign language. Children who speak the second language at a younger age get the accent perfectly as if they have been speaking this language all their lives.

Another reason why a three year old will understand a second language is due to emersion. When exposing the child to a new language at a younger age they must adapt to survive it is nature’s way to protect a child. Children who are three years old only have their language to protect them, help them get food, and stay alive. 

Once the child starts learning their native language and is not exposed to another language it is not the end of the world. Teaching the second language at twelve and older will become more difficult but can be done. Most studies say learning a language past the age of twelve have a harder time with sentence sequencing and pronunciations of the foreign language.

The best way to teach another language is to immerse the child in the second language. Just like the three year old child who is exposed to the second language so must the young adult. Most classes teaching foreign language deals with sentence structure, conjugation of words and pronunciation. Most children are skeptical dealing with sentence structure because it is so different from their native language.

The best way to start a second language is speaking it and believe it or not watching movies in the second language. Watch cartoons and other programs in the second language this will help with the lingo of the culture and verb conjugation. Exposure is the best tool to us when teaching another language.

So to answer the two questions above the younger the child is the better and emersion to the language and culture makes learning more fun and easier. Another interesting fact I learned while looking for information on your questions was about bilingual children themselves. A common idea is bilingual children are likely to drop out of school.

The idea of bilingual children dropping out of school is due to criminologists, psychologists and other fields of science finding evidence for this phenomenon. Some criminologists believe minorities drop out of school because they do not understand the basic concepts such as reading, writing, and calculating math problems to succeed in school. Criminologists believe minority youth become frustrated with the school system causing them to revolt and participate in gang behavior. In some cases of minorities who can not speak English do participate in gangs however Feliciano study proves this statement wrong.

According to Feliciano in his study “The Benefits of Biculturalism: Exposure to Immigrant Culture and Dropping out of School Among Asian and Latino Youths” says differently. In this study young adults who speak only English were more likely to drop out of school rather then bilingual students. “These findings suggest that those who enjoy the greatest educational success are not those who have abandoned their ethnic cultures and are most acculturated.”(Feliciano, C82(4), 865)

Being a bilingual child in America is not all bad using other languages rather than English in the house is based on the parents. My father is bilingual learning Spanish and English at the same time and he has a Masters in Education.

 If I was a teacher I would try to start with English first then another language most common to the area I was teaching like Spanish. As a teacher I would also consider the length of exposure to the language and asses my class to determine if they are ready for another language. My advice would be to teach English first then start exposing your class to other languages so they will understand the difference.

I hope this advice helped you and good luck! Adios, A due

Work sited

Fleith, D., Renzulli, J., & Westberg, K. (2002). Effects of a Creativity Training Program on Divergent Thinking Abilities and Self-Concept in Monolingual and Bilingual Classrooms. Creativity Research Journal, 14(3/4), 373-386. http://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu

• Ruth L. Persky
• The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 38, No. 7 (Nov., 1954), pp. 369-371
  (article consists of 3 pages)
• Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations
• Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/320756

The Benefits of Biculturalism: Exposure to Immigrant Culture and Dropping out of School Among Asian and Latino Youths

Feliciano, C. (2001). The Benefits of Biculturalism: Exposure to Immigrant Culture and Dropping out of School among Asian and Latino Youths. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited), 82(4), 865. http://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu