I agree that the finite-ness to Japanese syllabics is to its benefit, but I think the idea that that's a massive benefit to children is a bit… patriotic, perhap

I agree that the finite-ness to Japanese syllabics is to its benefit, but I think the idea that that's a massive benefit to children is a bit… patriotic, perhaps? Children are language learning machines and your grandson would be making the same sort of progress were he being raised in a primarily English household, just as you (presumably) did. In my opinion, the cool thing here isn't how kana works; it's how our brains work.