We made a rare trip to the Big City this weekend to do some shopping. There we ate lunch at a restaurant. Over on the next table was an American. My children noticed and were curious. They have met many English speakers and probably recognised that he was speaking English.
As we left my daughter of three said “hello” to him. She is by no means a shy girl.
While we do not speak English (my first language) at home, my children are keenly aware of the existence of English and its difference to the Japanese lanaguage. How they know this is because I always make sure they are exposed to natural English.
I often invite my Western friends over or go out with them so as to bring awareness to my children of a language which is not their own. And I talk to my parents, who live back home, at least two or three times a week by phone or internet. I make sure to show them what it is like to speak a language in its natural setting.
This alone I think is enough to help them develop it later, much to my wife’s dismay. She wants me to talk to the kids in English so as to get them bilingual. But I think it is not only unnecessary but also harmful.
Tyring to learn a language in a foreign language setting (that is, one that is not used in a place for any reason but for the sake of learning it) is not good at all. Ultimately, it brings about weak language skills and habits because of the lack of exposure to the language used in its natural environment. Without seeing how it is used in its natural conditions one must make guesses as to how to use the language.
The rules of language use are culturally defined more than anything else and therefore need to be shown as such, not only as a bunch of grammar points in a book or as a dialogue pattern on a language program. Being exposed to the real thing is always necessary for good language learning to occur.
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