Wednesday 25 May 2011

Living in a Bilingual World (The One About the Song)

Arrorró mi niño/arrorró mi amor/arrorró pedazo de mi corazón..." (Hush, my child, hush, my love/hush, piece of my heart)

And that's how I learnt how to roll my R's. Or at least the romantic in me would like to believe that the sound of my mother singing this famous Spanish lullaby whilst holding me close to her chest was what made my tongue vibrate at such an early age.

However, according to a book recently published by a child's development expert, there could be other reasons why my preciousness should not be seen as an oddity, but rather as the rule.

Parents who sing to their children, argues Sally Goddard Blythe, author of the book, 'The Genius of Natural Childhood', are equipping their progeny with a linguistic arsenal from the time they're born. For the writer, our globalised world should never be too modern that it can''t accommodate nursery rhymes and lullabies. It's not just the linguistic factor that is at stake, but also the emotional one. Children who are serenaded by their parents or carers develop very strong affectionate bonds with those surrounding them.

This is particularly important when dealing with foreign languages. Lullabies, or canciones de cuna, as we call them in Spanish, carry the melodies and inflections of a mother tongue. I still remember when Son was born and Wife decided to speak to him in Spanish. After all, we had decided to stay in the UK and he was going to learn English anyway. Yet, after a couple of months, Wife realised that she would have to switch back to her maternal lingo as she found it hard to express her emotions and feelings in a language that was still alien to her, fluency notwithstanding. Part of her argument centred also on the children's songs with which she had grown up and which she now wanted to share with Son. I couldn't agree more with her decision.

Traditional melodies help children discover, use and develop a new vocabulary. They will very often make up their own phrases, based on the songs they listen to. What I've also noticed, too, from singing to my own children when they were little (although Daughter still asks me to serenade her before going to bed sometimes) is that they're more responsive to a parent's voice than a tape or CD. It's a two-way system.

Maybe it's just a wacky idea, but if I was to take a leaf out of Sally's book, I would suggest creating a similar environment for learners of foreign languages to the one babies and toddlers experience. A soothing room for adolescents and adults where they're sung what would be the equivalent of lullabies. Imagine that. Not just a more linguistically proficient world, but one where people would be more in touch with their inner emotions. It's enough to make me post the rest of the canción de cuna with which I opened tonight's column: este niño lindo que nació de día/quiere que lo lleve a la dulcería/este niño lindo que nació de noche/quiere que lo lleve a pasear en coche/Duérmete mi niño/duérmete pedazo de mi corazón (this pretty child who was born at daytime/wants me to take him to the candy shop/this pretty child who was born at night/wants me to take him out for a ride in the car/sleep, my child sleep, piece of my heart)

© 2011

Next Post: ‘Sunday Mornings: Coffee, Reflections and Music’, to be published on Sunday 29th May at 10am (GMT)

14 comments:

  1. Cuban, I think it makes a lot of sense on a whole lot of levels - people learn more when they're relaxed (and what's more relaxing than a lullaby); language is about rhythm as much as it is about words. The words of your lullaby reminded me of a beautiful lullaby here in South Africa Thula Baba

    Hope the link works. It's a song that always fills me with a longing, a yearning for the peace of childhood.
    Judy, South Africa

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  2. Grrr. Google Chrome and IE9 between them are going to drive me to drink! :( The link to the lullaby Thula Baba doesn't work - here it is to cut and paste

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rigz1C2Uhvk

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  3. Cubano, I think that it's a very sweet tradition to sing lullabies. As word smiths, I think we are hyper aware of the power of language from the very start. I read and sang to my daughter when she was still in my womb. I'm sure it had an affect on her precocious writing and speaking skills now.

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  4. There is indeed lots of research on the effect of music in early infancy. My daughter teaches Musicgarten, a program for babies and their parents, where singing, movement, and playful interactions are explored from birth through the early grades.
    Emotional bonding and early literacy are connected best through music.
    (littletimbre.com)

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  5. Thanks for your comments and those links.

    Greetings from London.

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  6. Intriguing idea, charming song!

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  7. Cuban, you won't believe this... I could hardly believe it myself when I read your post. Just have a look at the post I have scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday 28, at my Being Multilingual, and you'll see what I mean. Lullaby telepathy??
    Madalena

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  8. To a not yet verbal child, the sounds of language, whether spoken or sung, have to leave an imprint. But, if one is to believe Dr. Oliver Sachs who wrote Musicophilia, music has an ability to penetrate more deeply. An intriguing post.

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  9. I thought of you today when someone turned me on to this group and video: http://youtu.be/XbcqGjeNz7w

    I'm wondering if you know of them?

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  10. I always sang to my children when they were small. They would often choose a "song book" over a story book. But I feel this is dying out as people are increasingly embarrassed about singing aloud. So sad.

    Oon the bilingual note, my son-in-law is Welsh (it's his first language), but he never spoke to his children in Welsh, so they don't speak the language. Such a wasted opportunity. I'm not saying Welsh is especially useful, but it's another language, and it's so difficult that if you can master it you cna master anything!

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  11. That is an interesting idea. I have a two year old niece, who has just started talking in the native language (I am in India). We have been brainstorming on the best way to teach her English.

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  12. Such a lovely lullaby! I was told by a music teacher that music and language have a great affinity. If you have rhythm, you can learn a language much easier. I know that a lot of what I've picked up in various languages has been learned though song.

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  13. I still remember the lullabies my parents sang to me. I have very few memories that make me feel as loved as those.

    Jai

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  14. Many thanks for your kind feedback.

    Greetings from London.

    ReplyDelete

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