Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site watmath.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!saquigley From: saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) Newsgroups: net.kids,net.nlang Subject: Re: Teaching children to be bilingual Message-ID: <9541@watmath.UUCP> Date: Tue, 23-Oct-84 13:53:08 EDT Article-I.D.: watmath.9541 Posted: Tue Oct 23 13:53:08 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 24-Oct-84 03:38:04 EDT References: <1505@ucla-cs.ARPA>, <858@ihuxb.UUCP> Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 20 My parents unsuccessfully tried to raise me as bilingual. My mother is french, my father english and I grew up in a french environment. Their main mistake was not to try to get me to speak english from the start. They decided I should be bilingual when I was 4 at which time my father decided to speak only english to me (he had been speaking french before) and i resisted all his attempts to teach me by refusing to speak english (I don't know why, but I remember understanding what he told me). He eventually gave up. Anyway, that was a complete failure. I guess you are all wondering why I am posting this in english if it was such a failure. Well, we did move to Canada eventually and I learned english in school as well as on the streets. I still speak to my father in french, except for his birthday when he gets a special treat. All this to say that one thing that MUST be done is to start as soon as the child is learning otherwise s/he will probably not be interested. Sophie Quigley ...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax}!watmath!saquigley