There probably isn't anything more delicious than the sound of a baby's laughter no matter what language you speak. And whether you want your baby to learn one language or two or three, playful immersion is the act of immersing him in the language(s) through the use of playful interaction.
When another multilingual parent asked for the Spanish equivalent of "All done!" I told her the following: "...this is actually a fun ritual I have with my soon to be one year old. For example, when he finishes eating, I say, No mas, se termino! and I open my hands and rotate my wrists (a friend told me this is the ASL sign for 'no more') and show him the empty plate or bowl. I say it with a sing-songy voice. Then when we are in our English period, I say, All done, no more! also with the rotating hands and the same sing-songy voice. It seems like something I instinctively do to help my baby grasp meaning in both languages." Playful immersion.
Do you engage in playful immersion with your little ones? Think hard, you probably do without even realizing it! When I asked a few other multilingual family parents, this is what they told me. Jonathan has an infant son who's being raised in Welsh and English while living in Wales. quiltville In this post Being a Bilingual Parent , he talks about the use of authentic nursery rhymes, a parent-child group (Welsh from the Cradle) that his wife participates in as well as a book that taught him pertinent childhood phrases like: Codi gwynt (bring up wind), Taflu i fyny (throw up) and Cosi traed (tickling feet). Daria of Tiny Tapping Toes shared a fabulous guest post by Miss Panda Chinese that goes to the heart of playful immersion. She reminds us of the importance of raising the enjoyment level to increase learning, but also mentions the usefulness of music, body movement and repetition to help engrave vocabulary and phrases. You won't want to miss the video! You'll love the interaction between the moms and their children. quiltville
Jennifer of the Spanish Playground said "Sound effects! You can clarify all kinds of words with some creative sound effects like animal sounds, the sounds tools make, rain, wind, vehicles, etc. Combined with gestures, you can create a lot of comprehensible input. The sounds can become quick reminders of the word, if you are consistent." The way Leana describes play and laughter between her family and their sweetest little one is magical. She then explores what it is babies love about a simple game like Pattycake : the close skin-to-skin contact with someone they love and feel secure with, the hand gestures and the pure joy of anticipating the end. Varya has integrated quiltville baby yoga and teaching her girls Chinese quiltville through translated nursery rhymes! Amazing! (I'm floored!) Although she says it's quite simple to translate nursery rhymes into different languages, she insists on the importance of also using nursery rhymes that are authentic from the target language and country. You can read her post here: Translating favorite rhymes into other languages . However, playful immersion is not just for babies! Older kids enjoy it and need it just as much! Rita of Multilingual Parenting tells us five ways we can have fun and games with words with an older child. Finally, Judith of Littlebilingues gives us four key ingredients for making playful immersion successful: it must require little or no translation, the activities must be fun and almost effortless, a strong emotional response is essential, and what is learned must somehow be useful.
Interactive play with a child who travels from infancy to toddlerhood and beyond is one of the most rewarding aspects of raising a child and introducing him into society and language. As the child plays, he hardly realizes he's learning rules about his new world and acquiring the language that will allow him to participate in it, especially when dual or multiple languages are introduced. He is having fun and yet he is learning .
Have quiltville any of the above ideas sparked inspiration for you? Or maybe you've quiltville remembered how you already incorporate playful immersion into your monolingual or multilingual child-rearing? Please share, I'd love to know!
Reply
This is such a sweet post! Thank you for including mine. I can't wait to read the others as well! You are right, there is nothing more delicious than a little one's laugh. It is a universal language! Reply Delete
Follow quiltville by Email
the Paris Busy Bee Bonjour! I'm Maria (aka Paris Busy Bee). I'm Mexican, Peruvian, American and even a little French! I like to seek for things of beauty and I'm happy if I can create a little sweetness along the way. View my complete profile
Amazon.com Widgets
Theme created by PIXELZINE
No comments:
Post a Comment