December 3rd, 2009
It may sound like an alarming question but I can’t help but wonder about the future ability of our kids to participate in our global world.
Four European countries (England, Germany, Belgium, and Sweden) have partnered to create ELIAS: Early Language and Intercultural Acquisition Studies. ELIAS aims to advance Europe-wide establishment of bilingual preschools and collaboration with non-academic educational institutions. Last year, they received a grant of 300,000 Euros (~$450,000) by the European Union to research bilingual education and intercultural awareness in children in 6 bilingual preschools. All of the preschools studied in Germany, Sweden and Belgium use immersion for teaching. Staff members are teachers that speak the language of the respective country and at least one native English speaker. I suspect this is because for kids this age, you can’t completely eliminate their native language because comfort and familiarity are key. However, the kids are addressed in each language by the respective native speaker and asked to respond in that language.
Researchers did observational studies and language assessment tests for 266 kids between the ages of three and five. They have found clear evidence that preschool age children can start to learn a second language in a preschool context. You can read more about the study and ELIAS at Science Daily.
In general, kids in Europe are studying foreign languages much earlier than kids in the United States. You could argue that it is more of a necessity in non-English speaking countries because English is becoming a lingua franca. But even the British government announced last year that by 2010, every child in England will start learning a modern foreign language in primary school from the age of seven.
Unfortunately, in the States, we have not yet caught up to what I think is becoming a new standard in the rest of the world. Until our schools make foreign language learning mandatory, it is up to parents and advocates to give this gift to our children. That’s why we created GoGo Lingo- to provide a fun way for young kids to start learning a foreign language. And so far, it’s working. I get many emails and phone calls each week from parents telling me their kids are learning Spanish by using GoGo Lingo- and having a great time doing it. Hopefully, we’ll be able to expand to additional languages soon and there will be many more resources in addition to GoGo Lingo to help parents raise active global citizens.
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November 27th, 2009
Earlier this week, I visited with a local preschool that has been using GoGo Lingo materials. They were so sweet to invite me to their Thankgsgiving party. Dressed as little turkeys, pilgrims, and Indians, these 3 and 4 year olds were fascinated by me. “Are you the cowgirl?” “Can I come to your farm?” “Where is your horse?”
They took me to their classroom to show me their artwork and danced with pride to our music. They took turns demonstrating their knowledge of different languages. I was truly touched.
This GoGo Lingo journey has not been the easiest that I’ve ever taken. Starting a company in good times is hard; in the midst of a recession, it definitely has its moments. But today, all of the sleepless nights and anxiety filled days were worth seeing these kids glow as they showed me their moves and sang to me in English and Spanish.
This Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for everyone has joined me on this journey. Thank you Jason, Dylan, Sarah, Dave, and Patrick. Thank you to all of the amazing advisors, mentors, friends and family. You know who you are. We are making this world a better place by teaching kids, and showing them the joys and richness of having an open mind towards differences. Gracias, mi amigos!
Posted in Uncategorized | 136 Comments »
November 24th, 2009
I just got back from the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages World Language Expo in San Diego. The last time I went to a language convention was the 1991 Latin Convention in Memphis, TN. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive because I know how rowdy things at a Language Convention can get! All kidding aside, it was wonderful to be around so many energetic, passionate people. Hearing so many different languages spoken as I walked through the halls was music to my ears. Clearly, Spanish and Chinese had the largest presence, but I was happy to see German and Italian still had their own little streets in the exhibit hall.
What surprised me though, was how many of the sessions I attended were focused on helping teachers become advocates for language learning, particularly with politicians. Budget cuts and No Child Left Behind have left many districts struggling. For instance, the foreign language program in Fairfax County, Virginia which has been around for several decades is currently at risk. It troubles me to realize that many programs are being cut when it is more crucial than ever for our kids to be well versed in other languages. In my eyes, we need to be teaching more foreign languages and at earlier ages in order for our kids to succeed in our global economy. Of course, math and reading are important but the research is quite clear on the academic and cognitive benefits of learning a foreign language. Here are a few of the highlights that I pulled from the Discover Languages website:
1. Language learning correlates with higher academic achievement on standardized tests.
2. Language learning is beneficial in the development of students’ reading abilities.
3. There is a correlation between language learning and students’ ability to hypothesize in science.
4. There is a correlation between second language learning and the development of linguistic awareness- specifically grammatical judgement and word recognition.
5. There is a correlation between young children’s second language development and the development of print awareness e.g. understanding the symbolic representation of print (a key milestone towards reading).
6. There is a correlation between high school foreign language study and higher academic performance at the college level.
7. There is evidence that students who received foreign language instruction scored better on tests of cognitive abilities such as evaluation- the highest cognitive skill according to Bloom’s taxonomy.
8. There is evidence that foreign language learners score higher on IQ tests.
9. There is evidence that second language learners exhibit greater ability to depart from traditional approaches to a problem, and consider creative, new and different ideas.
10. There is evidence that early language learning improves cognitive abilities.
While there are more studies showing even more benefits, I thought 10 was a nice round number (and I don’t want to bore you). Our entire world is in the midst of change. And while there are many things that are important in helping our children develop 21st century skills, it is crucial that foreign language learning becomes a priority.
Posted in Language Learning News | 406 Comments »
November 16th, 2009
As you’ve probably guessed by now, Patrick and I are avid travelers. One of my fears about becoming a mother is that we won’t be as light on our feet any more. Which is why I was so happy when I was reminded this weekend that you don’t have to travel thousands of miles or spend hundreds of dollars to have amazing cultural experiences thanks to the beautiful diversity of the US population.
This weekend Patrick and I discovered Wat Thai, an amazing Thai temple in North Hollywood (basically Los Angeles). After a short 20 minute car ride, we both felt like we were in Bangkok again. The people we met were so friendly and amazing, the temple is gorgeous! Check out the pictures:
The front of the temple
On Saturdays and Sundays, they sell food- literally the best Thai food I’ve eaten since I’ve been in Thailand. We ate papaya salad, rice with two different kinds of chicken dishes, and pad thai- all for only $10. We both agreed we may make Wat Thai a weekend ritual.
It was an amazing day and I can’t wait for my baby to be old enough to enjoy the experience. I hope that exposing my baby to these kinds of experiences will make him/her a multicultural kid- one who is open minded, embraces diversity and therefore is able to be an active participant in our beautiful, global world.
Do you have a tip for an amazing, local cultural experience? I’d love to hear about it.
Tags: foreign experiences, multicultural kids
Posted in Cultural Happenings Around Town | 427 Comments »
November 13th, 2009
New research shows that the sounds of a newborn’s first cries (and I’m talking within the first week of life) may be influenced by the native language of their parents. A team of European scientists recorded and compared cries of 30 French and 30 German babies between 2 and 5 days old. They discovered that the babies cried in distinct patterns and melodies. The French babies’ crying patterns matched the intonation patterns of spoken French; while the German babies’ crying matched the intonation patterns of spoken German. The researchers think that during the third trimester of pregnancy, babies in the womb start to pick up the melody and rhythm of ambient language. Results of the study were published last week by the journal Current Biology.
So maybe I’m not so silly for placing a cell phone to my belly so that my in-laws can speak to their future grandchild. I just hope the baby’s crying will sound as exciting to me as Patrick does when he’s speaking to me in Portuguese.
Tags: foreign language, french language, german language
Posted in Child Development, Lost In Translation | 314 Comments »
November 4th, 2009
We just got a great review on KidGlue. Check it out: here.
Thanks for the support!
Posted in Uncategorized | 57 Comments »
November 2nd, 2009
A few weeks ago I wrote a post ranting about marketing that takes advantage of parents’ desire to have smart children. You know, the promises that this educational DVD is based on research and will turn your child into Einstein. Well, it seems that things are about to change. Disney has recently announced that they will refund $15.99 to anyone that has purchased a Baby Einstein DVD between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009 - no receipt required. I applaud Disney for making this bold move - hopefully others will follow in their footsteps and not over-promise what their products will do.
Read the New York Times article here.
Posted in Uncategorized | 83 Comments »
October 29th, 2009
My family is as multicultural as it gets. I was born in Iran and grew up in Nashville, TN. My husband is Brazilian but was born in France to Polish, Brazilian parents. Our baby that is going to be here in 12 weeks will automatically have three passports: U.S., Brazilian and Polish.
When we got married, I was forced to understand the nuances of “cultural differences” when Patrick proudly showed me the pictures of a friend’s pool party and the men were all comfortably and dare I say, proudly wearing speedos. Of course, Patrick tried to take advantage by citing “cultural differences” to anything that annoyed me- “Patrick, your half an hour late” - “It’s cultural”. “Patrick, you said you’d do x for me”, “It’s cultural” “Patrick, you left the toilet seat up again” -”It’s cultural?”.
Although at times, I’ve had to learn to compromise and adjust to the differences, overall the misunderstandings are quite funny and ultimately make our lives so much richer. The other day, I spoke to my sister-in-law in Brazil who had just seen a picture of me that actually showed I’m pregnant. Here’s the picture:
Excited, she called to compliment me. “You look so beautiful. Wow. I can’t believe it. You look great.”
Afsoun: “Thanks so much. You are so sweet”.
Sister-in-law: “You look so healthy. Even your face is swollen.”
Swollen? Is that what people mean when they say you look healthy? Is the whole notion of the “pregnant glow” just a nice way to say we’re swollen? Of course, these thoughts entered my mind but then I stopped myself.
Luckily, I know I’m not a large woman (I weighed in a little over 100 pounds at my first Dr.’s visit). ANd i know my bilingual sister-in-law was trying to compliment me. This was just one of those Lost in Translation moments that I’ve been laughing about for the past six weeks. I wonder what she’d say if I sent her a picture now that I’ve already gained 33 pounds? (No, that’s not a typo- mama is actually swollen these days :).
Do you have any funny Lost In Translation moments? Leave a comment or send them to me at afsoun@gogolingo.com.
Tags: bilingual, Foreign language learning for kids, multicultural
Posted in Lost In Translation | 388 Comments »
October 19th, 2009
Did you know that newborn babies are able to make distinctions of all of the sounds that are used in all of the world’s language, even languages they’ve never heard before? Whereas as adults we hear sounds differently depending on the languages we speak. Often times, we may not even be able to perceive the sounds of different languages, which is why we have accents. But babies, come in to the world wired to learn languages. In fact, Patricia Kuhl and her colleagues have done some fascinating research that shows that this window of opportunity may begin closing as early as 10 to 12 months when babies begin zoning in on the languages spoken to them.
Patrick has really taken this to heart. Every night he speaks to my belly in Portuguese. And when we’re traveling, I’ll even amuse him by putting the phone on my stomach to speak. Sure it feels awkward, and I have no idea if it’s going to really do anything- but it’s cute nonetheless.
If you speak another language, make sure to speak to your children in that language, even before they start speaking. If you don’t, there are tons of ways to expose your kids to foreign languages. Classes, music, CDs, local cultural events. Pick up our GoGo Lingo Spanish CD and both of you can learn together. We’ve just put the first few copies up on CD Baby
Posted in Uncategorized | 65 Comments »
October 14th, 2009
I am now 26 weeks pregnant and just learned that my baby has developed the ability to hear- not only me but also anyone I’m speaking to. At this point in my pregnancy, I’m amazed by my baby’s development and I’m shocked by the exorbitant amount of food that I can eat and still be hungry and the overwhelming abundance of companies that are telling me how to make my baby smarter…did I say baby? Oh, I meant fetus. Yes, there are companies out there selling products that they promise can help advance the intelligence of my unborn child. There are websites that promise to teach your fetus “25 words before they’re born”. And of course we’ve all heard the theories (thank you Baby Einstein) that playing classical music will help increase child development and prenatal development. (Incidentally, the famous “Mozart effect” phenomenon was based on a study showing improved spatial reasoning in college students in the 1990’s. Follow-up studies were not able to confirm the experiment’s results in adults or children.) Sadly, many of these companies claim to be based on research but the truth is that the research did not dictate product development. Really, it’s mostly a marketing gimmick- preying on parents who of course will do anything for their children.
I despise this. The initial idea for GoGo Lingo came out of research. I became obsessed, voraciously reading about the cognitive and linguistic processes that occur for children below the age of 8 and looked closely at the differences between monolingual and bilingual children. I read and debated not textbooks but the initial empirical studies that show how interactivity can improve learning. And I loved every minute of it. I am so energized by the fact that we have the tools to create something new that could be incredibly fun and effective and could help parents raise bilingual children.
I spent over a year just focusing on just the research- before I even began to decide exactly what GoGo Lingo would be. Research dictated the development of the website and music CD and it is why GoGo Lingo has many aspects to it- not just an online game but also a music CD (available really soon, I promise) because I know that for kids under the age of 3, sitting in front of a screen may not be the best thing. And I insisted on producing the CD so that parents could use it to introduce or reinforce the sounds of a foreign language to their kids, at any age without having to put them in front of a computer. Our goal is to eventually create many different tools that will help parents help their kids. Because unlike other claims, studies have already shown a positive link between knowing more than one language and creative thinking , problem solving skills, and higher scores on standardized tests. We know that learning a foreign language truly does have lifelong advantages for children.
Everything we’ve developed has been grounded in research. I don’t want to guilt or scare parents or start over-promising things. I’m not going to tell you that using GoGo Lingo will make your child bilingual or even fluent in Spanish because the truth is that learning a language is a process for which there is no single, magic bullet. And even though Patrick likes to speak to my belly every night in Portuguese, there is no evidence that that action alone is going to make my child more prone to the sounds of Portuguese than a baby born in an English speaking household. There is evidence that my baby may prefer to hear whatever languages we’ve been speaking, since he/she is familiar with those sounds but there is a big difference between preference and ability.
I’m all for giving your child advantages, but I think it is important for parents to drown out the marketing noise and decide which advantages really matter to them. I mean really, even if I could teach my fetus 25 words in the womb- will my child actually be any better off when he or she joins us?
What do you think?
Posted in Child Development | 216 Comments »
