Which second language and why?

[hypatia]

The second (or third..) language should be based on personal preferences first, in my opinion. There is no point teaching a language you do not feel attracted to (whether it is how the language 'sounds', the culture etc) because it is a popular/useful language to have.
On the other hand, I know of some people who did not teach their native Flemish (Dutch) language, or Danish because it was not 'worthwhile' (not widely spoken enough) There is no doubt in my mind than grand-parents, carers, parents would teach a language they love with more enthusiasm.
In my case my daughter will be at least bilingual (french/english), and we're introducing her to a third language which is Mandarin. This is because we are close to China, Australia does a lot of trading with China and we love this language.
 

[vivianbkk]

We have no choice for my baby. I am Chinese, my husband is Thai, so she has to learn these two languages. The third language has to be English.

For my first daughter, we did the same to her. She is now 13, and she can speak all these languages very frequently. But it's a pity she is not very good at reading and learning Chinese.

[PY]

In my personal experience, my baby has to learn english because daddy, and spanish because mommy, she is 14 months old and she understand both language really good,but I am thinking to sign her up in the future for an inmersion japanese preschool, because It is important she to be introduce to an other culture outside the house, and I have some japanese friends, I love their culture.

I think it is a personal opinion,which other language your baby should learn, I will see what she needs to learn, this is becaming a competitive world and bilingual kids need to learn not only 2 languages, but 3 ,and why not 4 languages!

[GloriaD]

I picked the languages for my daughter based on which Languages will be more in demand by the time she is an adult .

see below:

Interesting Note:  most spoken languages by 2050

1. Chinese         
2. Hindu/Urdu    ( I pass on this one too hard for me  )   
3. Arabic             
4. English             
5. Spanish           

[purplefungi]

I'm having trouble deciding on languages. Besides English, Spanish and German are the only languages that I have had any classes on. Currently, I have listened to some Pimsleur Greek CDs and have a subscription for Rosetta Stone Chinese.

Spanish, since I live in Michigan, would be the easiest and most useful second language in my area. However, we live close to Dearborn, Michgian where a lot of people speak Arabic.

Ideally I would like to have my children learn the following: Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, and ASL.

That's a little ambitious though. Other people would think that I'm crazy. I guess, a more realistic goal would be simply to have an understanding of what other people are saying and to be able to communicate basic needs.

For computer languages, I'm going to start my boys off on GW basic (yes I know ancient), then C++, then visual basic. From there they can sprout off to whatever floats their boat.

[hypatia]

Oh no, PurpleFungi, this is not too ambitious. If your children have an interest in all of these languages, it won't make a difference for them whether they listen to 1 or 10 different languages.
I remember reading a text at Uni about a typical Indian man who would listen to 8 different language (and understand most of them) throughout is day. So many people master 3 & 4 languages and would use other ones in a limited way.

[staceycanada]

Wow what neat information. We have decided not to teach a second language just yet but had planned on french. It is the second most dominant language in Canada. However the information about most common(in demand) languages in the future was interesting. I may have to rethink my first thoughts.

[cybermommy]

I'm not a natural linguist, as I failed to even learn Mandarin, which is my parents' native language. My high school French was far more easily learned, being much more like English.

I was impressed when I was in Cameroon, West Africa, how many people spoke multiple languages, because there were so many languages in that tiny country. Even then, sometimes we had to have multiple translators to take a history from a patient--as many as 5 bridging the gap. Talk about room for translation error!

A thought about learning computer languages--do they change so that what you may teach them now may be obsolete by the time they can use it? I remember when I was in 7th grade, our school system made us learn BASIC. Not truly helpful for most of us. However my 10th grade typing class was probably the most useful class I ever took in school.

[purplefungi]

A thought about learning computer languages--do they change so that what you may teach them now may be obsolete by the time they can use it? I remember when I was in 7th grade, our school system made us learn BASIC. Not truly helpful for most of us. However my 10th grade typing class was probably the most useful class I ever took in school.

Some become almost obsolete. Not many people use BASIC, however we were forced to take it in high school before we could move on to C++. It's about as useless at this point as learning Fortran. I really like BASIC, though. It makes me hot, hot, hot!

Once you learn one computer language, though, it is easier to learn a second, and third, and fourth, and so on. Learning a computer language has helped me think more logically and ultimately has helped me in math and even in my profession (which ironically is a totally unlogical line of work). I used to make programs that would help me do my physic's homework, and in turn, I would learn the material better because I would really have to understand what I wanted from the program that I was making in order make it function.

My children will learn computer science or bust!

[staceycanada]

Oh see I learn something new here everyday, I never thought about computer language!

[shamar374]

I would start with your native language, consider other languages spoken by your relatives, then evaluate the languages spoken in your country, the social-economical factors and consider the interests of your child if he/she is big enough to show an interest in a particular language.

In my case, my husband speaks fluently 4 languages ( English, Spanish, Urdu and Punjabi) and has some knowledge of French, Dutch and Russian. At home we speak Spanish which is my native language. My mother speaks only Spanish and my mother-in-law only speaks Punjabi.

Both kids speak English and Spanish. The way we did it... I started to expose my son at a very early age to english videos and to baby games on the net, we did it together and I translated. I would teach him a new word in Spanish and repeat it in English.

He is now 4 years old and a fluent English speaker, Spanish have been more challenging (believe it or not) . Urdu and Punjabi have been in the back burner because my husband is working most of the time.

Now my son will learn a new word and ask me how it is said in English/Spanish, then goes to daddy and ask how it is said in Urdu; he also is interested in learning Chinese and Quechua so I am looking for material to give him some basic knowledge. The youngest kid just follow the footsteps of the older one and she speaks English and Spanish very clear.

This will take much time and dedication, take any opportunity to teach new words.

 

[Ana3]

I would learn Greek because the saying: It's all Greek to me"  literally applies to me since I am Greek.  Here is a cute web game for kids but I guess adults to:      http://teacher.scholastic.com/ACTIVITIES/athens_games/game.htm

Remember:The English language is indebted to Greek not only for its alphabet but also for a major portion of its vocabulary. If it were not for the ancient Greeks, the English language would not be the 26 letters that are used today. The English-speaking people would probably write in a different direction. Everyday vocabulary would be drastically altered, and it would be difficult to communicate about such subjects as government, religion, and science. Even English literature would not be nearly as diverse as it is today.   

Yasso

[purplefungi]

I would learn Greek because the saying: It's all Greek to me"  literally applies to me since I am Greek.  Here is a cute web game for kids but I guess adults to:      http://teacher.scholastic.com/ACTIVITIES/athens_games/game.htm

Remember:The English language is indebted to Greek not only for its alphabet but also for a major portion of its vocabulary. If it were not for the ancient Greeks, the English language would not be the 26 letters that are used today. The English-speaking people would probably write in a different direction. Everyday vocabulary would be drastically altered, and it would be difficult to communicate about such subjects as government, religion, and science. Even English literature would not be nearly as diverse as it is today.   

Yasso

Everything is Greek to me! I definitely feel like a stupid American sometimes.

[Ana3]

I have the Pimsleur CD for Greek and I do not like them for small children /toddlers. BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can anyone tell me how they like Rosetta Stone language course? 
Cons of Pimsleur  (the one I have) 1.just CD no dvds. 2.  no interaction on the computer such as test, games (important for children) 3.  I personally find it boring just listening to the cd. 
I would like to find a different program for my children.

[omimama]

     I wanted my daughter to learn a second language, but my husband and myself only speak English. I had trouble deciding which language, so we are doing several. So far we are studying French (which I think is my favorite), Spanish, Hebrew, Mandarin and ASL. I took ASL for two years so that's the easiest one for me. As for the others we listen to CD's, read books and watch videos via you tube. I have learned a lot.

I think the hardest part of learning another language is opening your mind to receive the sounds as real words. Once I stopped trying to translate the words in my mind, and just accepted them as another way of expressing something I found less resistance from my mind. For example, instead of thinking that "wu ai ni" means I love you, I think that "wu ai ni" is something I say when I want to express love. I hope that makes sense.

I dare not tell anyone about this for fear they will think I'm being too ambitious. But I believe that my little girl (and myself sometimes) has the ability to learn all of these and more.

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