Are there strategies to encourage language learning in children? Let’s see together what the Montessori method suggests
The child, already in the maternal uterus, has had the opportunity to hear the mother’s voice and, once born, it can potentially discriminate the phonemes of all languages. This ability, however, is lost within the first year of life. In addition, a language is “represented” in the brain as an additional mother tongue only if learned before 3 years.
If you want to grow a bilingual or multilingual child, it is therefore preferable to offer him more languages from birth. This is because, as Maria Montessori believed, in the period 0-3 years the child’s mind is a “unconscious absorbent mind“, That is, capable of assimilating everything that comes from the external environment without effort and involuntaryly.
How to teach a second language
Some tips to stimulate learning of the mother tongue have been well exposed in an article by the Montessorian pedagogist Annalisa Perino.
The principles at the basis of multilingualism are the same on which the acquisition of the first language is based. Sometimes it is thought that learning another language necessarily requires innovative and avant -garde strategies and methods, but but It is not so: If the child is exposed to the second or third language from the most tender age, to learn it he will activate the same acquisition mechanisms that are activated for learning the mother tongue.
Recent studies have also shown that In the age group 0-6 years old we “take care” easily of the sounds of any language. After this period of time it is certainly possible to acquire a correct pronunciation, but it becomes increasingly complex by gradually that we advance with age.
Adults, therefore, will have to speak to the child well and so much so that he can correctly learn the languages to which he is exposed. Let’s see some practical advice based on the characteristics of the Montessori method.
The description
It is very useful to accompany the daily routine of the child with the narration of what is happening around him. At the time of the meal – be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack – the mother can describe foods using one tongue and dad another. Or they will be able to decide to speak everyone English for lunch, for example, and Italian for dinner.
The moment of the “diaper change” can become the opportunity not only to describe to the child what mom or dad are doing, but also To encourage the learning of new words related to the body.
Nomenclature and pairing
In monolingual families, each object has its own name. In bilingual or trilingual families, each object has more names. In this case, mom or dad can present some objects in Italian to the child, and the next day present the same objects in the other language. The nomenclature will therefore be multilingual.
The adult must take care to say only the name of the object, punishing the word well and without using articles or adjectives that accompany the presentation. They will say, for example, «Ball», And will show the object. In this way the child will clearly connect the object to the sound. At the time of appointing things, The adult must have established exactly as a language he wants to use.
With an 8-9 months child the objects to be presented will be few: three or four at a time, e The sequence can be repeated in the following days. Generally, around 2 years, children will be able to satisfy the object to the relative nomenclature, pronouncing the corresponding name.
The short stories
From about 18 months, and differently depending on the maturity of the child in understanding, You can retrace the day with mom and dad using different languages. The story, however short, will help the child rework the events of the day just passed. The speeches and sentences must be clear, simple and linearand the terms used by adults will always be specific and scientific: say «dog“,”bau»Or”German Shepherd“It is not the same, and also to define the dog’s breed will give the child even more accurate and detailed information.
It is also necessary to establish the language in which the child is spoken from the beginning and avoid mixing: It starts and ends with the same language.
Avoid corrections
When the child is able to repeat our words, it is appropriate not to correct the pronunciationbut simply reduce the word in question correctly, without pretending that the baby will pronounce it once again. It will be the listening repeated to consolidate learning.
Children do not become bilingual speakers immediately, they first need a lot of listening to develop a certain auditory sensitivity. It is essential not to force, but to trust and let the child decide to express himself when the time will be.
Library at home
It is recommended to have a rich bilingual or multilingual library, where the child can find the “goodnight stories” and many stories to read together with mom and dad. It would be appropriate to have two (or more) versions of the same storyone for each language to which the child is exposed: in this way he will find the words of a story loved in all “his” languages.
If one of the languages is English, one could start with the books of Eric Carle. They are very loved by children, and are also available in the Italian translation.
Songs
Listening to songs in different languages allows the child to develop and expand their sound repertoire, and at the same time their vocabulary, guaranteeing a useful lexical consolidation exercise. Each language has a wide range of songs, nursery rhymes, ninne nanne suitable for being mimed and accompanied by dance. Listening to songs with different sound characteristics is part of that “listening education“Preparatory to the real musical education proposed by Maria Montessori.
