Learn Gaelic with your child
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Tearlach61
- Maor
- Posts: 206
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:30 am
- Location: Juneau
- Contact:
Ann an dòigh, sin a rinn mise. 'S e Gàidhlig an cànan a th' againn eadar mi fhìn 's mo nighean as òige. Ged a s' fheàrr leatha beurla bhruidhinn air ais thugam, cha toil leatha idir ma bhruidhinneas mi Beurla rithe neo ma bhruidheanneas mo bhean rithe ann am Gàidhlig. 'S oilbheum a th' ann dhi cha mhòr.
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Níall Beag
- Rianaire
- Posts: 1432
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:58 pm
- Language Level: Fluent (non-native)
- Corrections: I'm fine either way
- Location: Sruighlea, Alba
- Contact:
Anns mo bheachdsa, bu choir do a h-uile màthair a bhruidhinn ris a cloinn anns a cànan mathaireil.
"Mother's tongue is mother's milk," mar a chanas am Mahatma. (lit: math/mór anam)
Tha dhìth aig na chloinne "model" de cànan pearsanta 's tòcail.
'S docha gur e cùrsa math a th' ann an TIP. Cha chreid mi gur e, ach cha b' urrainn dhomh cho cinnteach a bhith. Ach tha fhios gu leòr agam gur e cànan gnothachail a tha iad a' teagaisg. Fiù 's gum bidh iad a' teagaisg "tha gaol agam ort" 's mar sin, chan eil e gu leòr.
We know full well that if you don't give kids the language to fully express their emotions, they will grow up... not being able to express them.
'S e bunn cànan tòcail a th' anns am màthair. Dad can speak any language he likes, but Mum should speak her first language. If the kid can express emotions in Mum's language, he/she can transfer the skill to other languages later on.
"Mother's tongue is mother's milk," mar a chanas am Mahatma. (lit: math/mór anam)
Tha dhìth aig na chloinne "model" de cànan pearsanta 's tòcail.
'S docha gur e cùrsa math a th' ann an TIP. Cha chreid mi gur e, ach cha b' urrainn dhomh cho cinnteach a bhith. Ach tha fhios gu leòr agam gur e cànan gnothachail a tha iad a' teagaisg. Fiù 's gum bidh iad a' teagaisg "tha gaol agam ort" 's mar sin, chan eil e gu leòr.
We know full well that if you don't give kids the language to fully express their emotions, they will grow up... not being able to express them.
'S e bunn cànan tòcail a th' anns am màthair. Dad can speak any language he likes, but Mum should speak her first language. If the kid can express emotions in Mum's language, he/she can transfer the skill to other languages later on.
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Tearlach61
- Maor
- Posts: 206
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:30 am
- Location: Juneau
- Contact:
Uill, tha seo a' crochadh air mar cho math sa tha i sna chànan eile, nach eil? Ma tha i math gu leòr san darna cànan, agus ma 's e sin a toil, carson nach bhruidhinneadh i ann dha?
Far an do dh' fuirich mi ann an Canada, b' aithne dhomh mòran pàrantan a bhruidhinneadh ris an cuid cloinne ann an cànan nach robh aca bho thùs. Agus tha mòran eilthireach a thigeas do na S.A. a bhruidhinneas do an cuid cloinne ann am Beurla gus am faigh iad adhart san duthaich seo. Tha caraid dhomh a chaidh a thogail san dòigh seo.
"If the kid can express emotions in Mum's language, he/she can transfer the skill to other languages later on."
Uill, tha beachdan eadar-dhealaichte eadar thusa 's mise. Nam bheachd-sa, ma gheibheas sinn greim creart air, ghabhaidh cànan dh' ionnsachadh cha mhòr aig aois sam bith, ach tha e nas fhasa nuair a tha thu òg.
Tha mi a' gabhail aithreachas mòr nach do cheachd mi Fraingis le mo nighean nas sine. Cha do smaoinich mi air ach nuair a bha i còig bliadhna a dh' aois 's bha seo ro anmoch. Cha robh i deònach, bha i cleachdte ri Beurla 's a dh' aindeoin nan criomagan de Fhraingis 's Ghàidhlig a th' aice, tha i aona-chànanach. Chan eil e nas fhasa nas fhaide.
Far an do dh' fuirich mi ann an Canada, b' aithne dhomh mòran pàrantan a bhruidhinneadh ris an cuid cloinne ann an cànan nach robh aca bho thùs. Agus tha mòran eilthireach a thigeas do na S.A. a bhruidhinneas do an cuid cloinne ann am Beurla gus am faigh iad adhart san duthaich seo. Tha caraid dhomh a chaidh a thogail san dòigh seo.
"If the kid can express emotions in Mum's language, he/she can transfer the skill to other languages later on."
Uill, tha beachdan eadar-dhealaichte eadar thusa 's mise. Nam bheachd-sa, ma gheibheas sinn greim creart air, ghabhaidh cànan dh' ionnsachadh cha mhòr aig aois sam bith, ach tha e nas fhasa nuair a tha thu òg.
Tha mi a' gabhail aithreachas mòr nach do cheachd mi Fraingis le mo nighean nas sine. Cha do smaoinich mi air ach nuair a bha i còig bliadhna a dh' aois 's bha seo ro anmoch. Cha robh i deònach, bha i cleachdte ri Beurla 's a dh' aindeoin nan criomagan de Fhraingis 's Ghàidhlig a th' aice, tha i aona-chànanach. Chan eil e nas fhasa nas fhaide.
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Níall Beag
- Rianaire
- Posts: 1432
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:58 pm
- Language Level: Fluent (non-native)
- Corrections: I'm fine either way
- Location: Sruighlea, Alba
- Contact:
"If the kid can express emotions in Mum's language, he/she can transfer the skill to other languages later on."
Uill, tha beachdan eadar-dhealaichte eadar thusa 's mise. Nam bheachd-sa, ma gheibheas sinn greim creart air, ghabhaidh cànan dh' ionnsachadh cha mhòr aig aois sam bith, ach tha e nas fhasa nuair a tha thu òg.
[/quote]
Yep, it is indeed easier to learn a language young, and a kid can successfully learn multiple languages in infancy.
Maybe I was too extreme, and maybe it doesn't always have to be the mother's first language, but I still think mums should only speak to their children in a language they are truly fluent in: the advert proposes learning Gaelic with your child, and from the pictures it seems Finlay includes mums in there.
A child will always speak his/her strongest language, given the choice (as your daughter does). I child who expects one language with one parent and another with another doesn't have the choice (your daughter falls almost into this category) and this is the accepted way to bring a child up bilingually:
Mum speaks only her strongest language to the child, Dad speaks exclusively in a different language.
For trilingualism, the mum and dad speak a third language to each other and that becomes the inclusive family language only used when all three are in the room. (ie neither mum or dad uses the language with the child in the absence of the other parent).
But if mum's a new learner (as with Finlay's poster), then she won't be able to provide a complete language model in the new language. This means that she will not be able to properly fix the two languages to individual contexts, because she will always face the possibility of needing something she can't say in Gaelic, and in such cases will have to switch to English.
Without having exclusive contexts for Gaelic and English, the child will either mix them or will just defer to English as the stronger (hence more expressive and useful) language.
The thing with you is that you were dad, and so not what is now politically-correctly termed "primary caregiver", so your youngest's strongest model of language wasn't from you. Your wife's English gave her the opportunity to learn emotional expression that your Gaelic probably wouldn't have been deep enough to supply. (This can be a problem even in fluent Gaelic families if they're missing certain areas of the language, and while I agree with Finlay that something should be done about this, I think this campaign is taking it 15 steps too far.)
As for speaking French with your eldest, hindsight is a wonderful thing. But be angry: someone should have told you about bringing kids up bilingually. I'm certainly angry, because I don't hear anyone talking about it -- the only place I've seen it properly covered is in my university course texts.
In fact, the last time I was in a room with Finlay, this came up. It was the Edinburgh Gaelic Community AGM and he started talking about "intergenerational transmission". The debate from there went to "bringing kids up in Gaelic". I asked why I've never heard anyone in the Gaelic community talking about bringing kids up <i>bilingually</i>. One parent (a learner) even said to me that they get "enough English outside the house".
I've met several parents (mostly at SMO short courses) who complain that their kids (in FtMnG) won't speak to them in Gaelic. Well of course they won't -- English is easier and quicker. There is no quick fix that will give a new learner the fluency needed to speak to their kids. You can't learn a language at the same time as them because you cannot anticipate their needs with 100% accuracy, so you'll always have holes.
I'm all for kids being taught Gaelic in infancy, but first and foremost they must be taught a complete language by the primary caregiver or they will have problems expressing themselves in any language.
Uill, tha beachdan eadar-dhealaichte eadar thusa 's mise. Nam bheachd-sa, ma gheibheas sinn greim creart air, ghabhaidh cànan dh' ionnsachadh cha mhòr aig aois sam bith, ach tha e nas fhasa nuair a tha thu òg.
[/quote]
Yep, it is indeed easier to learn a language young, and a kid can successfully learn multiple languages in infancy.
Maybe I was too extreme, and maybe it doesn't always have to be the mother's first language, but I still think mums should only speak to their children in a language they are truly fluent in: the advert proposes learning Gaelic with your child, and from the pictures it seems Finlay includes mums in there.
A child will always speak his/her strongest language, given the choice (as your daughter does). I child who expects one language with one parent and another with another doesn't have the choice (your daughter falls almost into this category) and this is the accepted way to bring a child up bilingually:
Mum speaks only her strongest language to the child, Dad speaks exclusively in a different language.
For trilingualism, the mum and dad speak a third language to each other and that becomes the inclusive family language only used when all three are in the room. (ie neither mum or dad uses the language with the child in the absence of the other parent).
But if mum's a new learner (as with Finlay's poster), then she won't be able to provide a complete language model in the new language. This means that she will not be able to properly fix the two languages to individual contexts, because she will always face the possibility of needing something she can't say in Gaelic, and in such cases will have to switch to English.
Without having exclusive contexts for Gaelic and English, the child will either mix them or will just defer to English as the stronger (hence more expressive and useful) language.
The thing with you is that you were dad, and so not what is now politically-correctly termed "primary caregiver", so your youngest's strongest model of language wasn't from you. Your wife's English gave her the opportunity to learn emotional expression that your Gaelic probably wouldn't have been deep enough to supply. (This can be a problem even in fluent Gaelic families if they're missing certain areas of the language, and while I agree with Finlay that something should be done about this, I think this campaign is taking it 15 steps too far.)
As for speaking French with your eldest, hindsight is a wonderful thing. But be angry: someone should have told you about bringing kids up bilingually. I'm certainly angry, because I don't hear anyone talking about it -- the only place I've seen it properly covered is in my university course texts.
In fact, the last time I was in a room with Finlay, this came up. It was the Edinburgh Gaelic Community AGM and he started talking about "intergenerational transmission". The debate from there went to "bringing kids up in Gaelic". I asked why I've never heard anyone in the Gaelic community talking about bringing kids up <i>bilingually</i>. One parent (a learner) even said to me that they get "enough English outside the house".
I've met several parents (mostly at SMO short courses) who complain that their kids (in FtMnG) won't speak to them in Gaelic. Well of course they won't -- English is easier and quicker. There is no quick fix that will give a new learner the fluency needed to speak to their kids. You can't learn a language at the same time as them because you cannot anticipate their needs with 100% accuracy, so you'll always have holes.
I'm all for kids being taught Gaelic in infancy, but first and foremost they must be taught a complete language by the primary caregiver or they will have problems expressing themselves in any language.
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Seonaidh
- Posts: 1486
- Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:00 pm
- Corrections: I'm fine either way
- Location: Faisg air Gleann Rathais
Tha Niall ceart. Bha mi eòlach air teaghlach às a' Chuimrigh, dà phàrant a bha ag ionnsachadh a' Chuimris, dà nighean a bha a' bruidhinn Beurla agus aon mhac bheag ('s dòcha 7 aois) agus na pàrantan a' feuchainn ris àrachadh mar "Cymro Cymraeg". Ach cha robh cus Cuimris aig an teaghlach airson sin a dhèanamh gu cheart agus b' e balach glè ghallda a bh' ann.