tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 31 06:43:53 1995
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Re:First Klingon Word
<account of teaching a child tlhIngan Hol snipped>
<There are two types of responses I generally get. Most people are
<curious, fascinated, or incredulous. If Alexander is with me (No, he's
<not named after Worf's son, but it helps ;) I can simply show them.
<When I told Krankor, he was elated! Then there are a few people who
<appear upset, disturbed. As if I'm going to mess up his mind by trying
<to raise him bilingually.
<I gently try to explain that linguistic research in first language (L1)
<acquisition shows that children being raised in bilingual environments do
<not become confused about the different languages in their environment.
<We seem to have an unspoken prejudice in this country for speaking
<anything but English.
Greetings!
I hardly think you will mess up his mind.
I grew up ina bilingual environment myself: I'm an American
with a German father and an Estonian mother (she speaks three
languages). We children always were exposed to German and English
while we grew up in the States. Interestingly, I understood and
reponded to German, but refused to speak it until I was seven
years old. We later moved to Munich, Bavaria, and immediately
was able to enter a German school.
It is a unique feeling to be able switch languages in one's
head and think in either, as well as write and speak in them.
However, it takes some doing to preserve the balance, and not to
favor one language too much. It certainly is an enrichment, and
gives you more mental flexibility.
The only thing one *might* criticise about what you're doing
is that some other language , such as French or Spanish
might be more useful to your son. On the other hand, I think
I'm sitting in a glass house when it comes to Klingon...
:-)
Cheers,
taj'IH