Growing up bilingual
Growing up bilingual By Natalie Storaker
Wollongong, October 14, 2014: Bilingualism refers to people who speak two languages fluently. The cognitive and social advantages of raising bilingual children are well documented. Growing up as bilingual child and raising bilingual children has its challenges and diverse expression and meaning. Switching between languages contributes to the development of problem solving and cognitive skills. According to the 2011 census, 76.8% of households in Australia speak only English at home. What country we are born in, and our heritage will influence how we perceive the world around us, affecting how we process situations. Mai-Britt Nygaard is a Norwegian raising her 2-year-old son, Kristian, in Australia. She is using simultaneous acquisition, meaning Kristian is learning both languages simultaneously from birth. “They say that bilingual kids learn to talk slower - but it’s such an individual process and Kristian is talking just as much as other kids in both languages.” “At 2 he has a good grasp of language, he knows who to speak Norwegian and English to, but I’m afraid that living in Australia will mean that English will take over,” she says. Mai-Britt learnt English from the age of 11, leaving her with slightly accented English.
Mai teaching her son Kristian to ski in Thredbo (Photo credit: Mai-Britt Nygaard)
“I think in Norwegian, I even still translate things sometimes except when I am having a conversation in English.”
Niels Storaker was born and grew up in Australia, raised by Norwegian parents who emigrated after WWII. His parents spoke only Norwegian at home until he turned 5, using sequential acquisition, the second method of bilingualism where the second language is established after the first. Assimilation was government policy at the time, and families were encouraged not to speak in their native tongue at home. “I have an affinity with Norway that comes from a long heritage,” he says. “People often say I’m more Norwegian than those who actually live in Norway and that comes from being stuck in a kind of time warp of doing some traditional things as my parents did 50 years ago. We still dance around the Christmas tree on the 24th December singing ‘Så går vi rundt om en enebærbusk’ [then we go round the juniper bush], Traditional Norwegian Christmas Kransekake (Photo credit: Natalie Storaker)
which most Norwegians wouldn’t do these days.” Niels has a strong English-Australian accent, and speaks Norwegian in an Oslo dialect. Having never learnt to fluently read and write in Norwegian has limited his ability to purely verbal communication. “In Norway I think in Norwegian, but at all other times it’s English,” he says. German born Claudia Erb, is raising her two children in Australia. Lars, 13, and Saskia, 10, understand German more than they can speak. “I sent Saskia to German school originally, but they only did 5 hours of English a week,” she says. “I didn’t want her to grow up with German as a first language in Australia. She is better off in an Australian public school than in the expat environment. I really feel she would have lost out on that connection with community.” Celebrating culture (Photo credit: German International School Sydney)
Language forms our identity, and bilingual people often feel a connection to both countries.
“For myself, the language I think in depends on the context, topic, and even the thought processes of that language,” says Claudia.
ENDS.
Wollongong, October 14, 2014: Bilingualism refers to people who speak two languages fluently. The cognitive and social advantages of raising bilingual children are well documented. Growing up as bilingual child and raising bilingual children has its challenges and diverse expression and meaning. Switching between languages contributes to the development of problem solving and cognitive skills. According to the 2011 census, 76.8% of households in Australia speak only English at home. What country we are born in, and our heritage will influence how we perceive the world around us, affecting how we process situations. Mai-Britt Nygaard is a Norwegian raising her 2-year-old son, Kristian, in Australia. She is using simultaneous acquisition, meaning Kristian is learning both languages simultaneously from birth. “They say that bilingual kids learn to talk slower - but it’s such an individual process and Kristian is talking just as much as other kids in both languages.” “At 2 he has a good grasp of language, he knows who to speak Norwegian and English to, but I’m afraid that living in Australia will mean that English will take over,” she says. Mai-Britt learnt English from the age of 11, leaving her with slightly accented English.
Mai teaching her son Kristian to ski in Thredbo (Photo credit: Mai-Britt Nygaard)
“I think in Norwegian, I even still translate things sometimes except when I am having a conversation in English.”
Niels Storaker was born and grew up in Australia, raised by Norwegian parents who emigrated after WWII. His parents spoke only Norwegian at home until he turned 5, using sequential acquisition, the second method of bilingualism where the second language is established after the first. Assimilation was government policy at the time, and families were encouraged not to speak in their native tongue at home. “I have an affinity with Norway that comes from a long heritage,” he says. “People often say I’m more Norwegian than those who actually live in Norway and that comes from being stuck in a kind of time warp of doing some traditional things as my parents did 50 years ago. We still dance around the Christmas tree on the 24th December singing ‘Så går vi rundt om en enebærbusk’ [then we go round the juniper bush], Traditional Norwegian Christmas Kransekake (Photo credit: Natalie Storaker)
which most Norwegians wouldn’t do these days.” Niels has a strong English-Australian accent, and speaks Norwegian in an Oslo dialect. Having never learnt to fluently read and write in Norwegian has limited his ability to purely verbal communication. “In Norway I think in Norwegian, but at all other times it’s English,” he says. German born Claudia Erb, is raising her two children in Australia. Lars, 13, and Saskia, 10, understand German more than they can speak. “I sent Saskia to German school originally, but they only did 5 hours of English a week,” she says. “I didn’t want her to grow up with German as a first language in Australia. She is better off in an Australian public school than in the expat environment. I really feel she would have lost out on that connection with community.” Celebrating culture (Photo credit: German International School Sydney)
Language forms our identity, and bilingual people often feel a connection to both countries.
“For myself, the language I think in depends on the context, topic, and even the thought processes of that language,” says Claudia.
ENDS.
