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I am raising my sons to be multi-lingual (German and English) and it is a wonderful thing indeed to see the mind expansion that occurs on your average code-swit
by fit2rule 12y ago
I am raising my sons to be multi-lingual (German and English) and it is a wonderful thing indeed to see the mind expansion that occurs on your average code-switch .. especially in very young minds. "Daddy, the erdapfel sind too hot!", and "Das Feur makes me vv-aaaarmm!!" .. ;) Much amusement in such moments.
And socially, I think it sets the kids up a bit as well, because they are quite acclimated to the strange looks from strange people when you switch fluidly, between the languages. There is a huge caché, and the boys seem to be becoming aware of how to spend it.
- YAYERKA 12y agoThanks for your comment. It brings up positive nostalgic memories for me. I grew up speaking, reading and writing three different languages, as well as constantly hearing another being yelled through the phone. Not sure about the article; personally it's helped me be able to adapt quickly in lots of foreign places and realize that with a little time and enough "banging your head against a desk" anything can be understood (even Cyrillic alphabets).
- Jayd2014 12y agoSame here. Fluent in 4 languages. For me the best advantage is not learning just the language, but the whole culture. If you can't laugh to comedy standup stars and understand the culture of other people, it really doesn't help much if you are fluent in one language or more. Languages also promote a more liberal worldview and more tolerance for others.
- fit2rule 12y agoI agree with you - the moment you learn another language, you step outside the borders of your own culture, metaphysically, and are able to see things from a different perspective than what is normal. That's the value - and the liability - of language, in my opinion. The world would be a better place if we all spoke more than just our mother-tongues ..