Question:
I am interested in people's opinion / anecdotes on learning the English
(American) language. If one is born in the U.S. or come to the U.S. as
a young child, does the child learn English better if the parents speak
it at home? I have heard of parents who speak English exclusively at
home to ensure that their child/ren are able to speak English. Do people
here think that is a good idea, i.e. should the kid practice English at
home even before he or she gets to kindergarten? I know some other parents
begin speaking English when their children are already in school and
others don't even try to speak English at home. What about reading books
to the child? Some parents never did although they did buy a few
records with story and book to follow along in. Well feel free to remark
on this subject as you wish.
Answer:
I don't think so. My parents almost never spoke to me in English (My
father took some English in Taiwan but was not very good, my mom
didn't know how to speak it at all), so me and my brother learned on
our own reading books (simple ones :), watching TV, and going to
school. I think me and my brother learned English pretty quickly this
way and neither of us speak with an accent in English or Mandarin.
Another case:
My cousin was born here. Her parents (her mom speaks English well,
her father, not as well) speak Chinglish (tm) (mixture of Chinese and
English) although mostly Chinese to her. She too speaks with no
accents in English or Mandarin.
My opinion:
I don't think there is a need for the parents to speak English,
definitely no need for exclusivity, to the children to ensure that
they will learn English well. It's all around them: at school
(assuming a normal public school), on TV and radio, in bookstores, and
most influential of all, friends. I say that unless you are going to
isolate this child in a non-English-speaking world (besides school),
there is no need.
Most people I know seem to be more apprehensive about their children
not learning their ancestrial languages, than English. Why are you
worried about them not learning English?
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